Yamaha isn’t the first manufacturer to create a USB speaker system, but its NX-U10 promises to drown out the competition’s puny output with a 20W power rating. According to Yamaha it’s 20 times more powerful than rival systems. The sound boost comes from Yamaha’s PowerStorage Circuit technology, which increases the potential output from the 5V USB connection from 0.5Wx2 up to 10Wx2. The NX-U10 needs no external power supply, so only requires a single connection if you’re hooking it up to a laptop- the audio is transferred digitally to the speaker. Alternatively you can power if from four AAA batteries or using the mains adaptor if you want to hook it up to an MP3 player instead.

Price: £149
Where to buy: www.yamaha-uk.com

Getting big sound levels out of your iPod needn’t cost a fortune thanks to iStuff’s new Domino speaker dock. Slip your trusty musical pal into the dock connector on its top and it’ll pump out an impressive 30W of power – more than enough to fill a decent-sized living room – without distorting the sound. It is available in white with black speaker cones, or decked out the opposite way round if that is more in keeping with your interior décor. Everything is in one box, which houses the amplifier, power supply and sub-woofer inside its body, so you won’t end up in a cable tangle, and there is a remote control so you can easily kill the bass if the walls start vibrating.

Price: £100
Where to buy: www.ipodworld.co.uk

The new MPX speakers from Voix are certainly unusual when compared to your normal sound system. The tall towers include not only the left and right speakers, but also a subwoofer for enhanced bass, so you only need to have two units in your lounge. They also take up relatively little floor space. Although they are tall – just over 1m each – they’re quite slim so they shouldn’t be too imposing. Each speaker is capable of delivering 72 Watts of audio, which when combined with the 36-Watt subwoofer creates a total power output of 180 Watts – more than adequate of the largest of lounges. You’ll also find an iPod dock perched on top, so you can easily listen to tunes stored on your portable player. There’s a normal audio in jack of the other devices.

Price: £259
Where to buy: www.voixltd.com