Products of the Year

Accuphase A-300 monoblock power amplifier
($49,950/pair; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.46 No.12, December 2023 review)

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)
Balanced Audio Technology REX 500 power amplifier
($25,000; reviewed by Rogier van Bakel in Vol.47 No.6, June 2024 review)
Dan D'Agostino Relentless Master Audio Systems preamplifier
($149,500; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus in Vol.47 No.9, September 2024 review)
Linn Klimax 800 monoblock power amplifier
($90,000/pair; reviewed by Jason Victor Serinus & John Atkinson in Vol.47 Nos.5 & 6, May & June 2024 review)
Parasound JCA100 Tribute monoblock power amplifier
($30,000/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson in Vol.47 No.6, June 2024 review)
PrimaLuna EVO 300 Hybrid integrated amplifier
($6995; reviewed by Ken Micallef in Vol.47 No.8, August 2024 review)

JVS reviewed powerful solid state amplifiers from Burmester, EMM, JMF, Krell, Linn, Plinius, and Vitus between November 2023 and October 2024, but only the Accuphase became one of his references. "The more I listened to the A-300 monoblocks, the more I wanted to listen," he wrote in his review, adding that in his too-busy life, "every occasion for listening was an occasion indeed, a special event." Created to help celebrate the company's 50th anniversary year, in 2022, the A-300 in the laboratory exceeded its specified powers, clipping at 210W into 8 ohms, 385W into 4 ohms, and 610W into 2 ohms. JA concluded that the Accuphase A-300's measured performance indicated that it would have no problem driving low impedances and that it offered very low distortion, especially into 8 ohms. It was also a very quiet amplifier, with very low noise even at the highest gain setting. JVS's conclusion? "Some amplifiers may sound more neutral. Some will undoubtedly give you more of this or more of that. But few will leave you yearning to play every piece of music you can think of as you relish how beautiful and satisfying it sounds."

Notes on the vote
The voting was initially very close, but as more ballots arrived, the Accuphase pulled ahead, with only the Parasound monoblock staying close. Ultimately, the Accuphase took the prize, though the Parasound was not far behind. And props to the relatively affordable PrimaLuna integrated amplifier, for doing well in the scoring against the very much more expensive competition, and to the Linn Klimax, for being the finest-measuring amplifier to spend time in my test lab.