Products of the Year

Headphone Product of the Year

Ampsandsound Red October & Red October XL headphone amplifiers
($14,000 & $18,000; reviewed by Alex Halberstadt in Vol.47 No.11, November 2024 review)

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order)

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO MKII headphones
($599; reviewed by Herb Reichert in Vol.48 No.3, March 2025 review)

T+A Solitaire T Bluetooth/wired headphones
($1700–$1849; reviewed by Rogier van Bakel in Vol.48 No.5, May 2025 review)

Woo Audio 20th Anniversary WA24 headphone amplifier
($12,999; reviewed by Herb Reichert in Vol.48 No.7, July 2025 review)

The Red October XL primarily differs from the basic Red October in two ways: the presence of even larger, more complex output transformers, with more interleaving and 30W cores; and a significantly higher price. "Moving to the larger amp was akin to looking at a scene by a terrific Renaissance painter like Andrea del Sarto and then looking at a Caravaggio," wrote AH. "On the surface the differences are subtle, but in the ways that matter the two are as distinct as night and day. The XL proved most obviously different from its smaller sibling in the incredibly specific way it portrayed textures, which seemed to glisten, imbued with uncanny presence, liquidity, and an almost endless array of tone colors. The sound was bigger, airier, and more dynamic, with a surer depiction of space."

Notes on the vote
This was a very close race, but the Ampsandsound crossed the finish line with a clear margin.