Products of the Year

Lyra Etna SL phono cartridge ($9995; reviewed by Michael Fremer, July 2016, Vol.39 No.7) There are revolutionary products and there are evolutionary products, and this year's Analog Product of the Year would seem to be one of the latter: the Lyra Etna SL cartridge is, as of now, the culmination of designer Jonathan Carr's multi-decade effort to advance the art of phono transduction. Essentially a low-output (0.25mV) version of the already well-regarded Etna, the SL is wound with fewer turns of wire, resulting in lower moving mass and contributing to what Michael Fremer described as offering greater helpings of "the small shifts that make music breathe and come to life." The use of very high-quality pre-preamplification is virtually mandatory—not a problem, one assumes, for those for whom a $9995 cartridge is within reach. That said, the Lyra Etna SL is hardly the most expensive phono cartridge on the market—but it is, in Mikey's words, "Carr's best work yet."

Notes on the vote: The Lyra cartridge and this year's second-place winner—VPI's Scout Jr. turntable and tonearm (an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge is included)—received the same number of votes, the distinction being that all of the Lyra's votes accorded it either first- or second-place status, while the VPI's votes were split between first and third place. Third place went to the Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamp, which received only one less point than the VPI 'table.

Finalists (in alphabetical order)

Abis SA1.2 tonearm ($1775; reviewed by Herb Reichert, April 2016, Vol.39 No.4 Review)
Audio-Technica AT-ART1000 phono cartridge ($4999; reviewed by Michael Fremer, October 2016, Vol.39 No.10)
Dynavector DV-20X2L phono cartridge ($995; reviewed by Herb Reichert, June 2016, Vol.39 No.6 Review)
Luxman EQ-500 phono preamplifier ($7490; reviewed by Art Dudley, May 2016, Vol.39 No.5 Review)
Music Hall MMF-7.3 turntable & tonearm ($1595 with Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge; reviewed by Ken Micallef, September 2016, Vol.39 No.9 Review)
Oracle Delphi Mk.VI Second Generation turntable ($7850; reviewed by Art Dudley, February 2016, Vol.39 No.2 Review)
Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono preamplifier ($2995; reviewed by Herb Reichert, June 2016, Vol.39 No.6 Review)
Roksan Radius 7 turntable & Nima tonearm ($3500; reviewed by Herb Reichert, October 2016, Vol.39 No.10 Review)
SME Model 15 turntable & 309 SPD tonearm ($9299; reviewed by Michael Fremer, January 2016, Vol.39 No.1)
TechDAS Air Force One turntable ($105,000; reviewed by Michael Fremer, April 2016, Vol.39 No.4)
VPI Scout Jr. turntable & tonearm ($1600 with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge; reviewed by Herb Reichert, February 2016, Vol.39 No.2 Review)