1. Sonos Bu150
Bring the noise to every single one of the 32 rooms in your palace, sire. This system makes it stupid simple to listen to your digital downloads, to Internet or satellite radio, or to the music on a subscription service (like Napster) in any room of your house that has a tinier-than-ever zone player unit (two are included in the new 150 bundle). The remote allows you to sync the whole house to rock to Van Halen, while you lip-sync to ABBA in the boudoir.
We dig: Seamless setup, sound quality up to snuff for all but the creepiest audiophiles.
We don’t: Expensive. Like all these systems, it won’t play the DRM’ed songs you bought from iTunes.$999, sonos.com

2. Slim Devices Squeezebox Duet 
This is basically a less pricey, more techy version of the Sonos system. Like the Sonos, the kit’s sleek remote has a color screen that helps you easily navigate through gigs of digital music while playing it in different rooms. But if your collection consists of the Coldplay catalog and you’re tired of guests crying, subscribe to a service like Pandora, and the remote becomes an Internet jukebox at your fingertips, allowing access to millions of songs. The kit comes with one receiver and one remote; you can add up to eight receivers ($150).
We dig: Cheaper than the Sonos—with the same great sound quality.
We don’t: Long, painful setup. $399, slimdevices.com

3. Tivoli Audio NetWorks
Tivoli’s classy hardwood-clad table radios have been making bachelors and their pads look smart for years. Their new NetWorks model one-ups ’em all. When your overnight guest flips it on to find it tuned to a live Nepalese disco station, she’ll think you’re about 10 times more worldly than you are. The tabletop tuner’s secret to locking in far-off stations? It accesses your (or your neighbor’s) wi-fi network to lock in thousands of stations all across the planet, both Net-based and terrestrial. Tune in, Tokyo!
We dig: Crisp design, bangin’ sound.
We don’t: Our unit had a wimpy wi-fi range, and we wish the Internet radio song titles were displayed.$600, tivoliaudio.com

4. Philips Streamium NP1100/37
This simple black box connects to your stereo and wirelessly links in
to your PC’s music collection, so you can do the rusty birdcage to your digital downloads in the den without having to hang out in Pa’s home office. The included remote doesn’t have a big navigable screen like the Sonos’ and Squeezebox’s (sad!), but you can still use it with the receiver’s screen to peruse your own files, lock in an Internet radio station, or search through the seemingly endless tracks on Rhapsody’s subscription service.
We dig: It’s cheaper than the other systems and has cool retro graphics.  
We don’t: It’s not Mac compatible. $149, usa.philips.com