Sony's DAV X10 purports to be the 'ultimate designer home cinema system'. And it certainly looks the part, with a glass-topped main unit, touch-sensitive controls and conical speakers

Solid DVD performance, with respectable upscaling, Super Audio CD compatible and makes a pleasing job of 2-channel SACD recordings, It looks gorgeous!

Subwoofer tends to distort with bass-heavy soundtracks, Surround placement vague and movie soundtracks sound forced, Needs to be driven hard in a mid-sized living room

Doesn't offer enough to live up to our very high first impressions

Denon's first foray into the increasingly-crowded soundbar arena, the X-Space DHT-FS3, is at least a stylish entrant, with a piano black finish and curved main speaker unit that is considerably more slender than rival models we've seen from Philips and Ya...

Entertaining virtual surround performance, Pleasing aesthetics

Directional mid-bass, Limited muscle

A cautious entry into the world of soundbars by Denon

The HT-X200 is quite possibly the most gorgeous 2.1-channel system we've ever come across. The main unit, which can be mounted horizontally or vertically, boasts a sleek curvy black design and displays text in large blue letters - all of which makes it st...

Very good looking, Easy to set up and use, Decent pictures

Poor audio

Does an awful lot right, but badly let down by disappointing audio

Among this LG system's many snazzy features is an 80GB hard-disk drive, which allows you to rip CDs in MP3 format and create a library of your favourite music - as well as store JPEGs for instant playback.

Great range of features, Excellent pictures, Very attractive, Highly attractive, 80GB hard drive, Great pictures

Occasional problems with dialogue

A well featured system that does very little wrong

With a considerably higher price tag than most of the other systems on test, the DAV-X1V needs to pull something special out of the bag. It gets off to a great start features-wise, with a five-disc DVD player being the most notable advantage.

Strong features list, Versatile compatibility, Excellent sound and pictures

Costly

It's not cheap, but if you can justify the expense you won't be disappointed

There have been several 'pseudo-surround' technologies over the years, but few work as well as Philips' Sonowave, which is found on this devilishly good-looking system.

Improved looks, More accomplished all-round performance, Excellent greyscale detailing, Great range of features, Excellent pictures, Very attractive, Attractive, Sonowave is excellent, Excellent pictures

Quite pricey, No speakers, Reflective of ambient light, Pricey

Looks the part and delivers great performance too

Home networking takes your home entertainment experience to the next level, and this sophisticated 3.1 system makes it possible. Its Ethernet port lets you route music or video from your PC to the system, and view it on your main home cinema display.

Network connectivity, Solid sound and pictures

Expensive

The price will be a turn-off for some, but it's just about worth it for the performance it delivers

Single-box home cinema systems are seldom just about audio quality. Aesthetics and convenience are also crucial factors to their target audience. And few systems seem to show quite as full an understanding of this factor as Sony's new DAV-X10

Very pretty, Solid connectivity, Good pictures, Easy set-up and use

The sound is nothing special, Speakers not as stylish as the main unit

Flash Harrys will consider the slick X10 money well spent, but performance hounds may feel a tad short-changed

You have to take your hat off to Philips for coming up with the most innovative and literal interpretation of the one-box home cinema solution. Its SoundBar is easily the most practical TV-friendly form-factor in its class

Hgihly practical form factor, Genuine surround sound effect

Poor stereo imaging, No HDMI input

Delivers pseudo surround-sound in one of the most innovative and convenient packages available

This mirror-finished miniature looks like a similar proposition to LG's Chocolate box at first sight, but the price has doubled. So what has Panasonic sneaked in here? Quite a lot, actually.

Looks fabulous, Useful hard drive with neat online CD-ripping features

Non-existent surround sound, No HDMI in, Unfriendly user interface

Looks like a winner and has some great features, but fails to deliver convincing audio and looks poor value for money