Vote

SACD, DSD and Napster

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.

Sony SCD777es

Cambridge D500 CD Player. The absolute best buy in its price range. Its sound and build-quality outperform CD players two and some even three times its price. Fully Upgradeable.

Creatove Nomad MP3 player - a 6gb hard disc in a portable case = 100 hours of uninterupted music . . .

APEX ADA-600A DVD Player. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's not a Denon, but...a machine that let's you play any DVD and copy any DVD has to be the great...."if you can't join 'em, beat 'em"

Revel Performa F20. A lot of amazing monitor speakers have come out recently and they seem to just keep getting better. This is the most recent, and probably the best sounding, that I've heard so far.

Alon Circe - The best speaker I've heard-blew. It away the JM-Lab and the others I auditioned. THE BEST!

Denon's AVR-4800 receiver - I've had mine for about three months. Larry's review was right on target. I can't believe he smoked the beast!

Theta Dreadnaught.

PSB Stratus Goldi Just bought 'em and lovin' it.

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?

Digital-Signal Processing Devices. DSP will take the trial and error out of speaker selection and room set-up.

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.

Bel Canto Dac-1

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!

Monsoon M700 speaker system. An outstanding value for the money. Not perfect, but good enough to fool audiophiles in blindfold tests.

THE LOUIS BELLSON EXPLOSION- Great CD

Pound for Pound (Dollar for Dollar)-it is the Rotel RCD-971. Yes there are better sounding products out there, but not in this price range.

I have been so impressed with the procudts from Revel. I wasn't in the market for new speakers. There was no reason because I was quite happy with what I have now, but after heaing the Revel product line I'm looking!

Lexicon MC-1

Thule PR250, my favorite pre in its price range.

PS AUDIO POWER PLANT-300 WoW, that is a great addition. It made me enjoy my stereo again...

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.