If a few more companies get into these speaker-lamp combo designs, it just might define a whole new product category. Yamaha's YST001 speakers, however, offer up a couple of features that make them better suited for HT use. First and foremost, the cabinet design and front-facing drivers on these are a natural fit for the HT arena. Second, the lighting is rearward-facing, so using a pair of these speakers for front channels will bring an adjustable backlight to your display -- good news for those who want to produce better perceived contrast. From our mangled Japanese translation, the YST001 seems to be a combination of Yamaha's NS-M125 bookshelf speakers and a speaker stand with integrated lighting from Koizumi. Nice idea -- and the design seems to have avoided the gimmick of dynamic, colored backlights -- but ideally we'd like to see the speakers positioned closer to ear level. Read on for a couple of gallery shots.

[Via CyberTheater]