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B&W Signature 800 Speakers

MSB Platinum Plus Link DAC with the Signature Mods. There is none better, not even close.

Tivoli Audio's (Henry Kloss) Model Two radio, with Model Subwoofer and Model CD. Nobody can beat it at the price, period!

My new Sony SCD-XA777ES CD/SACD player, which replaces my Sony 705ESD. It has the sound quality (when an appropriate disk is playing in it) of my turntable system without the ritual of vinyl and stylus cleaning. The old player is continuing on in the system of a friend who had no CD player (or any music source except for the Dish TV receiver box).

The Bryston 4B SST poweramplifier (replacing the 4B ST) driving a pair of B&W Nautilus 802's in combination with the Tact RCS 2.0 roomcorrection pre-amp. The Bryston 4B SST is a giant leap forward. I compared the latest 4B SST with the much more expensive ML 334 and the 4B SST is the better amp. It has more dynamics, more neutral, less effort at really high sound pressure levels. For the money, the 4 B SST is the best amp one can buy.

mbl 111B loudspeaker. I own its big brother, the 101d. These two speakers are incredible in the special way they give the illusion of the stage.

SCD-XA777ES

NBS Omega cables (interconnects, speaker cables, and power cords). Though pricey, they ara simply the most musical I have ever heard. They fare equally well with all types of music from chamber music to large-scale big bands to the Rolling Stones on SACD.

Pioneer Elite DV-47Ai: A truly universal player—CD, DVD, DVD-A, MP3, SACD, DVD-R, CD-R, CD-RW, Firewire, all the outputs an would need (sorry no XLR), progressive scan, and all for a fraction of of the cost of some other players.

Wilson Audio Sophias

Any SACD player. I don't care about digital copies or the small number of discs available. It'a all about the music and with SACD, there's more "there" there.

Linn Kivor Tunboks hard-disk music server—a bridge between high-end audio and the PC, a window into the future.

What products?.....yawn

Arturo Salvatore's comment on the Decware company with outstanding price to quality ratio.....................everything I Have is heavily modified ..........nuff said

Disclaimer: I am completely unqualified to pick a product of the year, except for myself. So, my personal product of the year is the Sony SCD-CE775 (SACD changer). I purchased a very well respected DAC to bring life into my CD front end two years ago, and it did. This Sony player, however, has rendered it obsolete to me! Hybrid SACDs and the CD layer on this machice are simply more enjoyable and lifelike than the same disks played on my former digital front end. That this level of performace is available at barely 30% of the cost just two years later is amazing. What I sell my old equipment for will pay for the Sony plus dozens of new hybrid SACDs! Now that is technology at its finest...

Sumiko's Sonus Faber "Cremona" loudspeakers are capable of performing musical magic when used in concert with associated high quality ancillary components. I urge every audiophile to listen to these speakers before purchasing anything else.

It's a tough call. I don't know if I could pick a single one, although Polk's new LSi series of speakers is a contender, as are the Musical Fidelity A3.2 components (those don't qualify by the print magazine's standards, do they?). A couple of others are the Revel M20 and the Music Hall MMF-7 turntable—I'm in total agreement with the magazine on those.

Silence.

Not having heard any of the contenders, I really can't choose one. However, judging from the reviews, I really want to demo the Musical Fidelity DAC!

Don't have one. It is hard enough to distill all of the articles with specs and writer's opinions years after a product comes out let alone actually get some hands on experience with "new" equipment to make an informed opinion. What are we paying you guys for anyway?

My product of the year is the Bel Canto DAC2. To my ears, it significantly betters the Arcam CD23T for just over half the price. I'm not saying it is the best DAC or CD player on the market, but it certainly sets a benchmark for anything remotely close in price.

Wilson-Benesch CHIMERA

The Phillips SACD1000 at its lower (50% of the original)price. For $1000, there is nothing that can touch it. It trounces the Sony 777ES (Class A+????). You'd probably have to spend three times as much on a 16-bit player to get better performance in all areas. Massed violins actually start to sound unlike someone rubbing steel wool and massed cellos are pretty good too. This player is really great on material with loud high anbd low frequency content at the same time. Two examples, both on Telarc, The 1812 disc (not even counting the title track) and Sam McClain's Blues For the Soul. But best of all, I don't have to worry about buying anything else digital for a while, so I can save up for a really good phono cartridge.

The PS Audio HCA-2 amplifier. Great sound combined with very high efficiency. Was this not the original promise of solid-state? A musical, cool-running amplifier at a reasonable price.

The WADIA 270/27ix. I finally got it! And it makes me happy!

Infinity Intrmezzo 2.6 speakers! Great value with great performance!

My 15 year old Linn LP12.... it keeps going and going and going.... Truly the Energizer Bunny of Audio.

Can I include an older product? Anyway, over the summer, I added an M&K MX-2000 subwoofer to my system. Yeah, the addition created better soundstaging/imaging, better tonal balance, etc, etc, blah blah blah. Yeah, all those things are fine and dandy, but why I choose this as my personal product of the year was it just plain made the music fun to listen to. I really have been listening to a lot more music ever since I got it.

Viola Audio Labs Bravo power amplifier.

I have 2: An amplifier and a universal format player with remote volume control, that are connected via digital cable. Have you seen those?