Product of the Year and Exceptional Value Awards for 2008
Now that we are in our fourth year, we are expanding the scope of our awards somewhat. We feel that we have spent enough time with a wide enough range of gear to hand out a few more awards going forward.
The Product of the Year Awards go to the products that we feel are the absolute best in class, irregardless of price, though the Wadia i170 is only $379, so this is by no means an award that only goes to the most expensive product in its class.
Make no mistake, nothing we’ve reviewed this year has been less than great, but our Exceptional Value Awards go to the products that we feel offer that little bit extra in their respective price point, and are only for one year.
Product of the Year – Overall
Meridian 808.2 and DSP7200 CD Player/Active Loudspeakers
$51,990
www.meridian-audio.com
This pair offers everything that we find near and dear to our hearts at TONE. This stunning pair from Meridian looks fantastic, sounds fantastic and can be set up in about ten minutes. Once done, you sit back and dig the music, without fiddling with anything else. If you want to free yourself from audiophile nervosa permanently, this will set you free.
Product of the Year – Digital
Wadia170i iPod Dock
$379
www.wadia.com
A longtime innovator in the world of digital sound, Wadia had the foresight and the engineering chops to create the 170i. When used with a world class DAC and uncompressed files, it transforms the humble iPod into a serious compact music server by giving us unrestricted access to the iPods digital bitstream; a feat not yet accomplished elsewhere.
But that’s not the point. What makes this product insanely great is that it gives you a chance to turn your kids on to what high end sound can be. Put one of these on top of your equipment rack and let your kids and their friends enjoy your system. It’s the best way I can think of to seed the next generation of audiophiles.
Product of the Year – Analog
Spiral Groove SG-2 Turntable /Tri Planar mk. VII Tonearm
$19,999 (combined)
www.spiral-groove.com
www.triplanar.com
Sure, $20k is big dollars for a turntable and arm, but in todays world of $100k tables this one will satisfy like nothing else I’ve yet experienced. If you have 100 thousand dollars to dump into today’s troubled economy, I salute you. But if musical reality is your goal, you’ll be hard to do better than the SG-2 (or it’s big brother the SG-1) The SG-2 is elegantly understated, functional and extremely easy to set up. A perfect mix for analog bliss in my book.
Product of the Year – Amplification
Naim Superline phono stage with SuperCap 2 power supply
$8900 (combined)
www.naim-audio.com
A power supply that costs twice as much as the component it powers? Naim has always stressed the importance of power supply and this is their ultimate phono achievement. You can get into the Superline phono stage with either their Flatcap 2x ($1100) or the HiCap2 ($1900) but the SuperCap2 ($5950) is what rockets the Naim phono stage into the stratosphere.
Their top power supply gives you unrestricted dynamics, massive soundstage and a huge helping of legendary Naim PRaT. With a huge install base of Naim lovers, you can start small and as your vinyl obsession grows just trade up to a bigger power supply. Intelligent design from start to finish. Just keep your Snaics, Snaxos and Bundys in order.
Product of the Year – Accessory
Running Springs Dmitri Line Conditioner
$3,995 without power cord
www.runningspringsaudio.com
In a perfect world, a power line conditioner allows your components to deliver all they are capable of with no interference from the AC mains or other things connected elsewhere down the line; no more, no less. The Dmitri is as good as it gets.
Product of the Year – Audiophile Pressing
Mobile Fidelity, Frank Sinatra’s Nice n’ Easy LP and CD
$29.99 CD, $29.99 LP
www.mofi.com
This was a tough call, because there’s been so much great vinyl released this year. Though I’m not even a Frank Sinatra fan, this record really grabbed me with its clarity and realism. The guys at MoFi did such a great job on this record, it’s one of those rare treats that you can enjoy, no matter what level of system you own.
On a modest system, it will make your gear sound better than you ever thought it could, and on a stellar system, Frank will be standing six feet in front of you.
Product of the Year – Just Plain Fun – Budget Fun
AudioEngine W2 Wireless iPod Adaptor
$169
www.audioengineusa.com
Want to turn your iPod or iPhone into a hand held, wireless music system? Look no further than the AudioEngine W2. No software to load, no switches to configure and best of all no messy cables! Well, ok there is one cable from the wireless receiver to a spare input in your system, that’s it.
Plug the reciever into the wall and your system, plug the W2 into the bottom of your iPod or iPhone and you are ready to roll. Using Apple’s Cover Flow mode on an iPod Touch or iPhone feels like you have a baby Sooloos in the palm of your hands.
The AudioEngine W2 is the ultimate portable music machine and the most HiFi fun you can have for $169
Product of the Year – Just Plain Fun – Expensive Fun
Manley Massive Passive Equalizer-Mastering version
$6000
www.manleylabs.com
Laugh all you want about using an equalizer in a high end system, but let’s face it, there are so many records and CD’s out there with less than stellar sound, the Massive Passive will set you free if you take the time to learn its intricacies. There’s still no substitute for over compression, but a lot of things can still be improved by the Massive Passive’s scalpel like ability to boost and cut selective frequencies.
A great tool for the music lover and obsessive audiophile, to use it is to love it.
Product of the Year – Setup Tool
Jim Smith – Get Better Sound
$44.50 softcover, $64.50 hardcover
www.getbettersound.com
If you never listen to anything else we tell you, buy this book! Get Better Sound gives you thirty-plus years of setup knowledge in one place.
The MartinLogan CLX/Descent i Speaker System
$29,000 (basic finish with two Descent i subwoofers)
www.marinlogan.com
You might think it’s a little wacky to give a $29,000 speaker system an award for value, but it’s relative. Considering MartinLogan’s reputation for engineering, build quality and customer service, this is a speaker that stands up to others costing three times as much. To me that represents huge value. If you have the room and the system to support it, the CLX/Descent i combo is definitely a destination that you may never want to leave.
The Rotel RX-1052 Reciever
$899
www.rotel.com
Whether you are building a second system or brand new to the audiophile game, I can’t recommend a better anchor for your system than the Rotel RX-1052. It is well built, offers tremendous flexibility (built in MM phono, AM/FM tuner, headphone amplifier and tone controls) and a 100 watt per channel power amplifier.
The Rotel sounds great and takes up very little rack/shelf space, so it’s easy to integrate into your life as well. Rotel has kept the concept of the receiver alive and has done so with an example that outperforms the classics at a bargain price.
AV123 EL525T Speakers
$699 per pair
www.av123.com
AV123 is known for value and quality, so this award probably isn’t a huge surprise. These slim towers look great, sound great and are very room friendly. AV123 offers free shipping, so you can have these in your home in no time. Match em up with that Rotel receiver above and your favorite $500 CD player for a great $2,000 system!
Furutech AG-12 Phono Cable
$425
www.furutech.com
In a world full of highly priced cable, here’s something that delivers the goods at a price that still leaves some money in your wallet to buy records. There are some more expensive options out there, but I’m perfectly happy with the AG-12. This one is my personal reference and favorite.
Mystere ia11 Integrated Amplifier
$1999
www.mystere-usa.com
This was a tough call. The Mystere ia21 offers a bit more power, but the ia11 was an amazingly good sounding integrated amplifier in a compact (but very heavy) package, that offered up old school looks with 21’st century tube sound. the ia11 uses a pair of EL34 tubes per channel to offer up 40 watts of tubey goodness.
We hooked these up to a very wide range of speakers and were very impressed. Build quality and finish are top shelf, giving this one high pride of ownership along with the sound quality. If you want to dip your foot in the pool of vacuum tubes and have modest power requirements, put this one at the top of your list.
Aperion Bravus 8D Subwoofer
$499
www.aperionaudio.com
While so many people keep producing bigger subwoofers all the time, the new Bravus 8D is the bottom of Aperion’s line, offering a pair of aluminum-coned 8-inch woofers, 250 watt amplifier and parametric EQ in a very compact package. It even comes with a remote so you can adjust the subwoofer level from your listening chair!
If you are looking for an excellent match for your favorite mini monitors, or are building a HT system of modest size but do not want to sacrifice quality, put this one at the top of your list.
Harbeth Compact 7ES-3 Speakers
$3499 (basic finish, other finishes optional)
www.harbeth.co.uk
Forget most of your pre-conceived notions about the classic British sound. The latest version of the Compact 7 still has that wonderful midrange that Harbeth is famous for, but with extension on both ends of the frequency spectrum and the ability to play much louder than you would ever expect a speaker of this size capable.
If I could only pick one pair of speakers under $10k that I had to live with for the rest of my life, the Compact 7ES-3 would be my choice. (keep in mind I haven’t heard the new Harbeth Monitor 30.1!) The key here is balance, the Compact 7ES-3 does a better job of balancing all the aspects of good speaker design than most at any price.
Channel Islands VDA-2 DAC
$599, VAC-1 Power Supply $179 addl.
www.ciaudio.com
If you want amazing digital playback on a shoestring, the Channel Islands VDA-2 is the ticket. It’s only drawback is that it does not have a USB input. But, if you just need to make an existing transport or the Wadia i170 sound fab, ignore this mighty mite at your peril.
Dynavector P75 mkII Phono Preamplifier
$750 (less 12VDC power supply)
www.dynavector.com
Another great thing in a small package, the P75mkII is a great budget phono stage that plays way out of its league. Extremely quiet, it features MM and MC settings along with variable loading and Dynavector’s patented “Phono Enhancing” circuit for low output MC cartridges that does not require loading adjustments.
The compact size is also a plus if space is at a premium. Of course the P75 sounds great with Dynavector cartridges, but did a great job with every cartridge we tried it with, from the Lyra Olympos all the way to the Shure M97. You might keep this one a lot longer than you think, while upgrading the rest of your analog front end.
TW Acustic Raven Two Turntable/SME iV.VI Tonearm
$7500, SME Arm $3995
Should you only need one arm, you can purchase the Raven One for $6500, but if you are a serious vinyl lover, I highly suggest the dual arm configuration. That way you can easily run a second arm/cartridge combination for whatever suits your fancy; perhaps an arm with mono cartridge, or one MC and one MM, it’s a snap with the Raven.
The Raven also offers state of the art sound at a very reasonable pricepoint, with a huge helping of “money no object sound” for $7500. It’s easy to set up and works well with all the major arms. While the combination I list here is with the SME iV.Vi, I also had excellent luck with the Graham, Rega RB1000 and Tri-Planar.
You will have to spend well into the five figure range to have the ability to extract more sound from your records than the Raven Two.
Rega Ios Phono Stage
$3,195 in Black or Silver
www.rega.co.uk
www.soundorg.com (US)
I’ve always felt the Rega P9 could be the final turntable for all but the last 2% of Analog Fanatics, and I also feel that way about their Ios phono stage. Every one of my analog fanatic friends flipped when I told them the Ios was $5,000. They went mad when I told them it was really only $3195!
The Ios is musical, quiet and dynamic. Being solid-state, you just turn it on and forget it. With all of the gain and loading adjustments on the front panel, it is incredibly easy to use. The only shortcoming is that it just has one input, but you can’t have everything in a world class phono preamplifier at this price point, so I’m happy Rega spent all the money on the circuitry.
Rega Elicit Integrated Amplifier
$2,995 in Black or Silver (MM phono board, $145 addl., MC phono board $175 addl.)
www.rega.co.uk
www.soundorg.com (US)
The second product in Rega’s new line of premium components, (the Ios being the first) the Elicit amplifier is a compact powerhouse. With the same size form factor as the Ios above, the only thing that gives it away are the nicely machined holes in the top of the cabinet where the heatsinks are located.
Like all Rega products, the Elicit has a quietly understated look until you power it up. That’s when the magic begins, with its 80 watts per channel able to drive almost any speakers that you would want to pair it up with. The MC phono board is amazingly good for the money and the perfect addition for the casual vinyl listener, but the fanatic will want the Ios.
