Penaudio's Sami Pentillä brought an entirely new line of loudspeakers to CES: the Ambient series.

"Aren't you concerned that people will think Ambient speakers will fade into the background?"

"That's exactly what we want them to do—cosmetically! We thought our Charisma and Chara were striking, but many consumers don't want to look at their loudspeakers, they want them to blend in with their decor. The Ambient speakers don't really shout 'Look at me.'"

The floorstanding Ambient Chronos ($7000/pair) looked pretty striking to us, but we were there for the sound. The Chronos didn't disappoint. Its side-firing 8.5" aluminum woofer got the down low surprisingly, um, low—while the front-mounted .75" fabric tweeter and 4.75" midrange driver were harmoniously detailed.

Fade into the background? Not hardly.