1996 Component of the Year
Nagra-D 4-channel open-reel digital recorder Review)
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker
Audio Alchemy DTIPro 32 jitter attenuator
Audible Illusions Modulus 3/3A preamplifier
Dunlavy Audio Labs Signature SC-VI loudspeaker
Jadis Eurythmie II loudspeaker ($40,000/pair; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.19 No.3, March 1996 (footnote 1) Review)
JMlab Grand Utopia loudspeaker
Krell Audio Standard monoblock power amplifier
Lexicon DC-1 surround-sound processor
Mark Levinson No.331 power amplifier
Meridian 518 Digital Audio Processor
Transfiguration Temper phono cartridge
Wadia 27 D/A processor
Wilson Audio Specialties WATT/Puppy 5.1 loudspeaker
Wilson Audio Specialties WITT loudspeaker What a field! Still the Nagra-D was the clear winner, despite heavy competition from the Dunlavy SC-VI. The Nagra seems destined to impress everyone who comes in contact with it. Well, why not? Very few devices do what they are designed to with as little fuss and bother as the Nagra—and nothing we've seen to date does it better. We can't think of another component that so totally dominates its sector of the industry. Under the circumstances, Overall Component of 1996 seems the least we could call it.
Footnote 1: Before you all rush to e-mail me about the presence of the Jadis in the list of Product of the Year nominees when it didn't make the cut for Loudspeaker of the Year, this is an anomaly of the current nomination/voting procedure. It is possible for a product not to get enough nominating votes in its individual category yet still do so for overall Product of the Year.—John Atkinson
Aerial Acoustics 10T loudspeaker
Audio Alchemy DTIPro 32 jitter attenuator
Audible Illusions Modulus 3/3A preamplifier
Dunlavy Audio Labs Signature SC-VI loudspeaker
Jadis Eurythmie II loudspeaker ($40,000/pair; reviewed by Jonathan Scull, Vol.19 No.3, March 1996 (footnote 1) Review)
JMlab Grand Utopia loudspeaker
Krell Audio Standard monoblock power amplifier
Lexicon DC-1 surround-sound processor
Mark Levinson No.331 power amplifier
Meridian 518 Digital Audio Processor
Transfiguration Temper phono cartridge
Wadia 27 D/A processor
Wilson Audio Specialties WATT/Puppy 5.1 loudspeaker
Wilson Audio Specialties WITT loudspeaker What a field! Still the Nagra-D was the clear winner, despite heavy competition from the Dunlavy SC-VI. The Nagra seems destined to impress everyone who comes in contact with it. Well, why not? Very few devices do what they are designed to with as little fuss and bother as the Nagra—and nothing we've seen to date does it better. We can't think of another component that so totally dominates its sector of the industry. Under the circumstances, Overall Component of 1996 seems the least we could call it.
Footnote 1: Before you all rush to e-mail me about the presence of the Jadis in the list of Product of the Year nominees when it didn't make the cut for Loudspeaker of the Year, this is an anomaly of the current nomination/voting procedure. It is possible for a product not to get enough nominating votes in its individual category yet still do so for overall Product of the Year.—John Atkinson
