Size <em>does</em> matter… when you're having ear sex

Going bigger isn't always the wise path, unless you're Steven Seagal, and your fat footsteps have marched right up to the Dalai Lama. Going big smartly: the Astute range from Origin.

Following the "unavoidable law of physics" that, with speakers, bigger is always better, this British sound firm produces deliberately upsized drivers, then helps its giants blast away unimpeded by distortion, vibration, or feedback by hanging them from an assortment of sleekly minimalist stands, thus giving them "zero resonance", and a slight persecution complex.

The Speakers: Their cylindrical shape produces a "uniform radiation pattern" (so things sound good everywhere in the room), while their sheer size (40cm diameter) allows "high dynamics, low distortion, and huge bass depth", letting these suckers run from a room-rumbling 40hz, to a dog-freaking 20000hz, or just about the lowest/highest range possible for the human ear to detect. Oh, and you can hook your iPod up to them!

The Stands: Coming in a dozen prefab designs (bespoke jobs are also possible), these range from the transparent Perspex Contemporary [1], to the modestly named Magnificent [2] wooden wedge, to the tuning fork-like Balance [3], which adds a "touch of mystery and illusion" -- though if you're getting Paul Daniels without Debbie, it's just not worth it.

So confident are they of their eye-popping audio that they'll even let you "arrange an audition", bussing in a pair of sound-blasters to your home, which, as an offer, is pretty hard to kill.