Joint Budget Components of the Year
Roon 1.3 music app
Wharfedale Diamond 225 loudspeaker Once again, Roon 1.3 finds itself in the winner's circle, this time sharing the honor with a distinctly overachieving stand-mounted loudspeaker: the Wharfedale Diamond 225. The diminutive Wharfedale, which combines a 1" tweeter and a 6.5" mid/woofer in a reflex-loaded cabinet made of MDF, was described by Herb Reichert as "a connoisseur-level audio component," and was similarly hailed in Follow-Up reports by Ken Micallef and me. Some day, this review pair will make its way beyond New York State!
Notes on the Vote:
Again Roon earned a healthy number of first-place votes: five. The Wharfedales won the same number of votes overall, but in a spread that included one fewer first-place vote than Roon. Second place was a tie between the AudioQuest Niagara AC power conditioner, which took third place in the Accessory of the Year voting, and the VPI Prime Scout, this year's Analog Component of the Year. Third place was also a tie, between the AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon headphones and the Denon DL-103 phono cartridge. That's right—two third-place showings for a 52-year-old product in a category that was supposed to be dead 20 years ago. Is this a great industry or what?
Finalists (in alphabetical order)
AudioQuest Niagara 1000 AC power conditioner
AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon headphones
Denon DL-103 phono cartridge
Emotiva XPA Gen3 two-channel power amplifier ($999; reviewed by Herb Reichert, August 2017, Vol.40 No.8 review)
Rega Research Brio integrated amplifier ($995; reviewed by Ken Micallef, October 2017, Vol.40 No.10 review)
Rega Research Planar 3 turntable
VPI Prime Scout turntable with JMW 9 tonearm
Wharfedale Diamond 225 loudspeaker Once again, Roon 1.3 finds itself in the winner's circle, this time sharing the honor with a distinctly overachieving stand-mounted loudspeaker: the Wharfedale Diamond 225. The diminutive Wharfedale, which combines a 1" tweeter and a 6.5" mid/woofer in a reflex-loaded cabinet made of MDF, was described by Herb Reichert as "a connoisseur-level audio component," and was similarly hailed in Follow-Up reports by Ken Micallef and me. Some day, this review pair will make its way beyond New York State!
Notes on the Vote:
Again Roon earned a healthy number of first-place votes: five. The Wharfedales won the same number of votes overall, but in a spread that included one fewer first-place vote than Roon. Second place was a tie between the AudioQuest Niagara AC power conditioner, which took third place in the Accessory of the Year voting, and the VPI Prime Scout, this year's Analog Component of the Year. Third place was also a tie, between the AudioQuest NightOwl Carbon headphones and the Denon DL-103 phono cartridge. That's right—two third-place showings for a 52-year-old product in a category that was supposed to be dead 20 years ago. Is this a great industry or what?
Finalists (in alphabetical order)
AudioQuest Niagara 1000 AC power conditionerAudioQuest NightOwl Carbon headphones
Denon DL-103 phono cartridge
Emotiva XPA Gen3 two-channel power amplifier ($999; reviewed by Herb Reichert, August 2017, Vol.40 No.8 review)
Rega Research Brio integrated amplifier ($995; reviewed by Ken Micallef, October 2017, Vol.40 No.10 review)
Rega Research Planar 3 turntable
VPI Prime Scout turntable with JMW 9 tonearm
