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The speakers of CES 2011

Speakers used to be boring black boxes. As CES 2011 shows, that's no longer the case. Here are some of the most unique speaker and home audio designs we saw at the show.

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1 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Samsung HT-D7100: Home theater in a cube

Heard of a home theater in a box? The Samsung HT-D7100 takes that notion literally. It's got all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a current Blu-ray home theater system--3D, Netflix, streaming media, built-in speakers--but the modular design allows it to work when combined (in cube mode) or with the speakers separated for better stereo imaging.
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2 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

"Play Ball!"

That's not the beginning of baseball season. It's actual the name of Moneual Interactive's unique home theater PC (two spherical speakers flanking a central PC/docking station).
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3 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Dolby: A CES institution

Yes, Dolby technology is already in pretty much every home theater, home audio, and TV you can buy today. But that doesn't stop the company from rolling out new standards (and demoing them to CES attendees, as shown here).
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4 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Kanto's SYD 5 gets stylish

Kanto's iPod boombox, the SYD 5, isn't new, but the funky new paintjobs are.
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5 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

The LP van

"The world's smallest portable record player" by Stokyo rides around in a circle on your LP, playing sound through the van's speaker. It's not new (we highlighted it in 2009, and have seen similar models for at least 10 years), but it never fails to bring a smile to people's faces.
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6 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

B&W: The Diamond standard

Bowers & Wilkins' 800 series Diamond speakers aren't new, but they're just as lustworthy as when they were first introduced.
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7 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Panasonic's stylish shelf systems

Panasonic is updating its stylish iPod/iPhone speaker systems for 2011. Unlike many competitors, some of these models also offer CD playback--a nice bonus for those of us who haven't ripped everything yet.
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8 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

A cavalcade of headphones

There is no shortage of stylish headphone designs at CES. These models are by Merkury.
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9 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Just a dock and its will to survive

Yes, this fancifully painted Kicker iPod speaker dock is playing "Eye of the Tiger."
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10 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

A tube of sound

Omicron's Tubus iPod speaker docks go for a cylindrical look.
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11 of 16 Sarah Tew

Samsung ups its style quotient

Among the big manufacturers, Samsung's home theater designs were among the most stylish of CES 2011.
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12 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Have a seat

These iTam speaker docks double as a stool (though you wouldn't want to sit on one while your iPod or iPhone is docked.)
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13 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Captain Nemo would approve

Here's a close-up look at Bowers & Wilkins's aptly-named Nautilus speaker.
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14 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

AblePlanet goes commando

AblePlanet's headphones get the camouflage treatment.
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15 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Speakers fit for a pharaoh

A pyramid-themed computer speaker from Perfect Choice.
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16 of 16 Sarah Tew/CNET

Polly wanna speaker

These standing iPod speaker docks by Parrot bring a splash of color into your home.

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