Overall Component of 2016
Wilson Audio Specialties Sabrina loudspeaker
The Wilson Audio Sabrina impressed RD with its seriously good bass, its ability to create a soundstage that's "wide and deep, with images on it precisely defined," and its ability to sound far larger than it is—and impressed the rest of us for offering Wilsonian levels of quality at a price that, while not exactly cheap, is a lot more affordable than we might have expected. That the entry-level Sabrina can travel via UPS instead of freight truck is icing on an already very nice cake.
Notes on the vote: Again, we see a first-place winner garner almost twice as many votes as the runner-up—and again, we see the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 take second place! (Remembering that it took Ronald Reagan a number of tries to win the Presidency, I can only wonder if 2017 will be the O-rang's year.) The third-place winners, with only one point fewer than the O/93, are the far smaller but no less animalistic AudioQuest DragonFly D/A headphone amplifiers. Also notably, the DragonFlys were the only winners that placed in three categories. (The Wilson Sabrina, DeVore O/93, and Elac Debut B6 loudspeakers each placed in two.)
Finalists (in alphabetical order)
Audeze LCD-4 headphones
AudioQuest DragonFly Red & Black D/A headphone amplifiers
AudioQuest NightHawk headphones
Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 loudspeaker
Chord Hugo TT D/A processor
DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 loudspeaker
Lyra Etna SL phono cartridge
Marten Coltrane 3 loudspeaker
Nordost Valhalla 2 Reference interconnects & speaker cables
PSB Imagine T3 loudspeaker
Simaudio Moon Evolution 780D D/A processor
T+A Elektroakustik DAC8 DSD D/A processor ($3995, reviewed by Jon Iverson in October 2016, Vol.39 No.10 Review)
TotalDAC d1-tube-mk2 D/A processor
Vandersteen Model Seven Mk.II loudspeaker
VTL TL6.5 Series II Signature preamplifier
YG Acoustics Carmel 2 loudspeaker
The Wilson Audio Sabrina impressed RD with its seriously good bass, its ability to create a soundstage that's "wide and deep, with images on it precisely defined," and its ability to sound far larger than it is—and impressed the rest of us for offering Wilsonian levels of quality at a price that, while not exactly cheap, is a lot more affordable than we might have expected. That the entry-level Sabrina can travel via UPS instead of freight truck is icing on an already very nice cake.
Notes on the vote: Again, we see a first-place winner garner almost twice as many votes as the runner-up—and again, we see the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 take second place! (Remembering that it took Ronald Reagan a number of tries to win the Presidency, I can only wonder if 2017 will be the O-rang's year.) The third-place winners, with only one point fewer than the O/93, are the far smaller but no less animalistic AudioQuest DragonFly D/A headphone amplifiers. Also notably, the DragonFlys were the only winners that placed in three categories. (The Wilson Sabrina, DeVore O/93, and Elac Debut B6 loudspeakers each placed in two.)
Finalists (in alphabetical order)Audeze LCD-4 headphones
AudioQuest DragonFly Red & Black D/A headphone amplifiers
AudioQuest NightHawk headphones
Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 loudspeaker
Chord Hugo TT D/A processor
DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 loudspeaker
Lyra Etna SL phono cartridge
Marten Coltrane 3 loudspeaker
Nordost Valhalla 2 Reference interconnects & speaker cables
PSB Imagine T3 loudspeaker
Simaudio Moon Evolution 780D D/A processor
T+A Elektroakustik DAC8 DSD D/A processor ($3995, reviewed by Jon Iverson in October 2016, Vol.39 No.10 Review)
TotalDAC d1-tube-mk2 D/A processor
Vandersteen Model Seven Mk.II loudspeaker
VTL TL6.5 Series II Signature preamplifier
YG Acoustics Carmel 2 loudspeaker
