Watching the loudspeaker industry struggling to cope with the demands of flatscreen television displays has been an unedifying sport.

This Swedish entry is a light and affordable system– and certainly one of the funkiest looking around.

The most affordable yet by a significant margin.

Edifier was an unknown name to us until a box arrived from PC Nextday containing a set of M3200 speakers. They look rather strange because the two satellites are very tall and slender and have the appearance of a pair of vases

The Genius SW-Flat 2.1 700 aren't like any other speakers here and look a bit weird. As you may have guessed from the model name, Genius is putting a certain emphasis on the flatness of this set of 2.1 speakers - an aim it has achieved as the subwoofer and satellites are indeed fairly flat

Acoustic Energy is a British company that makes Hi-Fi speakers and this has led to some significant differences when you compare its Aego M series speakers with more typical PC and laptop kit.

Mordaunt-Short has crafted an enviable reputation in the world of sub/sat speaker systems. Both its Premier and Genie packages have been universally well-received, but compared with the new Alumni, they now just seem lacking

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 Yamaha.

AVI is moving inexorably away from being simply one of the better names in hi-fi. AVI still produces its standard - and very well received - range of electronics and loudspeakers, but is now intent on leading the charge in bringing computer music into our little fold

There was a time when much of the best loudspeaker technology emanated from the UK - but sadly, those days are mostly over. With the singular exception of B&W, most truly interesting and high-class loudspeaker design now comes from North America, the Far East and elsewhere in Europe.

Griffin's Amplifi is a mid-priced iPod speaker system with plenty of volume, is very simple to use and will tuck away on a desktop or table without taking up too much space

This system certainly gives you a lot of box for your buck, with five separate speakers and an active sub in addition to the centre unit. You even get metal and MDF stands for the front speaker pair

Performance and affordability are key requirements for anyone seeking out a home cinema speaker package, and Mordaunt-Short seem to have struck the right balance with its new Alumni speaker range

Despite the assertions of many loudspeaker designers that they are the future, and regardless of their considerable success in the pro-audio world, they just haven't caught on.

The YSP-900 is a third-generation model from Yamaha's acclaimed range of Sound Projectors. It's the smaller of the two surround speaker systems currently in the range and is ideally suited towards 32in and 37in flatscreen TVs

These great-value iPod speakers sport a minimalist look. Although its long, bicycle handlebar shaped dock can be hooked-up to an included (and rather stylish) subwoofer, it doesn't quite create the mess of cabling that blights similar efforts.

Scandyna is really into desktop audio. For PC and Mac users in particular, this Micropod SE 2.1 system offers far better sound quality than any regular computer speaker set-up and can even be used as good traditional end-of-the-room stereo

Philips' offering to this group test can be used as a straight iPod speaker system, but it's also got functionality as a radio alarm clock. It's ideal for anyone after something for the bedroom who would like the option of waking up to their own music rather than Terry Wogan's wit.

Operating alongside electronics brands like Cambridge Audio, Mordaunt-Short has been an integral part of Audio Partnership for a number of years.

Normally found on powerful home cinema speakers, the KEF badge on this novel iPod system guarantees some serious audio prowess.The bitrate that your iPod music is encoded in will decide how much, of course, but the Picoforte One - an even meatier Picoforte Three model is also available - offers some serious all-round power.

For an iPod speaker system to be deemed '2.1' it must have a subwoofer, but instead of offering a separate bass speaker, InTempo has hidden it in the rear of the IDS-03. It helps explains why this sleek black system is so big

Singing out of tune or getting the words wrong can ruin the morning ablutions, but until now the bathroom hasn't been the place for serious audio equipment. It still isn't, despite Ez'ech's new waterproof iPod speaker being able to withstand being plunged a full metre underwater.

It's hard not to laugh at the Drop speakers from the Iberiodanish (a Danish company that now resides on Spain's Costa Brava) Scandyna. That's the point, though. They are small, cute and fun, as well as funny.

An American brand that began operations in the mid-1990s, Revel, like JBL, is part of the Harman group. It draws on the resources of the group's elaborate research facility in Northridge, California, so there's some family resemblance

The T3 may be the baby of the entry level REL range of subwoofers but it has all the key features of its range mates, with the exception of a little less internal volume, and a tad less horsepower