The 2000 Products of the Year
By John Atkinson   •   December, 2000 Since 1992, Stereophile has named a select few audio components its "Products of the Year." In doing so, we recognize those components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period.

There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers), Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.), Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors), Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.), and Accessories (everything else).

The two most important categories, however, are the "Product of the Year" itself—the best of the best—and the "Budget Component of the Year"—the best sound for the buck. There's also an "Editor's Choice" award, which John Atkinson reserves to himself to single out the superb-sounding product that impressed him the most in the past 12 months.

The formal voting procedure consists of two steps: First, Stereophile's hardware reviewers are asked to nominate up to six components in each of the seven categories. To be a contender, a product had to have been reported on in Stereophile between the November 1990 and October 2000 issues, either in a full Equipment Report, in a Follow-Up review, or in Sam Tellig's or Michael Fremer's regular columns. We then put together a ballot form that included all components that had been nominated by three or more writers and/or editors. This process ensures that most of the nominees in most of the categories will have been auditioned by most of the reviewers. The prices listed were current at the end of August 2000.

Each of the magazine's 16 editors and reviewers gave three votes for his first choice in each category, two votes for his second choice, and one vote for his third choice (if he had a third choice). JA tallied the votes; address your compliments and complaints to him.

The envelope, please...