Pint-Sized Powerhouses

The Small-Speaker revolution has been fought and the down-sized revolutionaries have won big. Now, when the Village People sing about staying at the Y.M.C.A., there are speakers that will squeeze into the Y's tiny rooms and still deliver awesome sound. Several technological advances have made all this possible: Woofers incorporated into the latest small speakers can move as much air as their larger cousins; and light diminutive-dome tweeters are capable of uncanny brightness and volume. Although minispeakers may never replace the big boys, they do yeoman's service in any room smaller than a concert hall. And when it's time to move, you don't need muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger's to get those boxes out the door.