Providing the best bang for the buck of any product we tested for this story, the Wharfedale LoudMan speakers are as beautiful and fragile as butterflies. That limits their usefulness outdoors, but inside, they're handy little sounding boards.

Coming in a wide range of vivid colors, the LoudMan looks exactly like a double CD case. Opening up the "case" reveals two exposed transducers pressed against fiberboard panels. That's how you're supposed to play the LoudMan, but doing so exposes the transducers to rain, wind and dust; twice, our audio cable brushed against a transducer, distorting the sound.

Be gentle with them, though, and you've got a terrific pair of $40 speakers. We got useful audio response down to 200 Hz and some treble up to 6 kHz, with a peak at 250 Hz, giving the sound a bit of weight. The LoudMan played all our test tracks decently, though it bungled the mix of an electronic track that leaned too heavily on low bass. Unfortunately, it runs for only 4 hours on four double-A batteries.

The LoudMan is light, portable, cheap, and friendly. As long as you don't expect a very rich sound, you'll probably be satisfied with this colorful contender.