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SACD, DSD and Napster
It's the season when <I>Stereophile</I> salutes the Products of the Year. You can read about our picks in print this month's (December) issue, or on the Web next week. But in the meantime, what is your choice for this year's best?
Cambridge V500 DAC/DD processor. I purchased this piece for high quality DD processing (it's much better than what I've heard from DVD players), but found that with a Panasonic DVD player as a transport (and XLO cables), it was better for two-channel reproduction than my $1000 CD player. It uses Burr Brown 1702 DACs for the front two channels and retails for $500! Note: I tried 3 brands of DVD players as transports and different cabling, and this was the best combination for my system.
Any of the Sony SACD players. This process represents the first successfull digital attempt to significantly close the gap with vinyl. But, it may be a meaningless accomplishment if the SACD process does not become the industry standard for the next generation of home replay technology. We all know that Betamax was a superior video tape technology, but we also know what happened . . .
Mark Levinson No.32 Preamp. I was totally amazed by how much my previous preamps (Krell, Audio Research and Mark Levinson)had been keeping from me. It is not subtle. Second mention, the PS Audio Power Plant. It's not a new idea (sorry, Paul) - my Mark Levinson No.33Hs have done it for five years. The No.32 has it also. I now can add my other components to the list of reference grade gear. Nice job.
Wilson WATT/Puppy 6.0 Loudspeaker. The Japanese call it kaizen, a process of steady improvement model year after model year. Start with a rough product that has something special about it, then refine (tweak?) it into ever more sophisticated versions. Wilson does this. The W/P6 is a great speaker reflecting years of experience, offering a price/performance combination suited to high end two-channel audio rigs as well as high end home theater setups. When are you going to review it?
Like a melomane and a young audiophile I can't make a choice for "this year's best...",but I'm going to give you my humble opinion. "Products of the year" make me think about more than this year releases , it's bigger, are the ones that couldn't be surpass by the news ones. And the "very" news like SACD and DVD Audio stuff..., well there aren't too many choice it's Sony or Marantz, and on the other hand technics DVD Audio, I choose Marantz SA-1 SACD player!. In the classic stage I'm going to mention a lot of "friends" that make us enjoy the music or make us dream year by year, like: krell's 350MC, KCT, FPB 600c; Mark Levinson No 32, No 33H; B&W's Nautilus 800, Silver Sinature Accuphase DP75V, etc. I don't know if it's wrong or if I'm wrong but I don't need to think a lot about...you already know all of then. I can wait to read about your opinion, many thanks.
Pioneer DV-37 The new bench mark for DVD players. This player will double the picture quality on any TV, interlaced or progressive. Projection TV pictures will look as if you spent that extra $20,000. No other single product has ever made this much improvement in video viewing for such a small price!
My vote for product of the year goes to the VIBRAPOD! This remarkable gizmo sells for about six bucks each and looks kinda like a hockey puck. When my husband ordered them, I was still reeling from the sticker shock of our Meridian speakers and couldn't imagine that we NEEDED anything else, but the minute I heard the sound post-VIBRAPOD, I was sold. They really made a huge What a great idea.