Vote

Foundation Research LC1 line conditioner. Made an unbelievable difference to my system.

Audio Physic Avanti III

The Alesis ML-9600 MasterLink hard-disk recorder/CD burner. It will record 16/20/24 bits at 44.1/48/88.2/96 kHz, and has some editing capabilities also. Will record/play analog/digital, with fairly good A/D and D/A converters built in. What's not to like? Around $1K, depending on where you buy it. And don't say "pro" stuff doesn't count, as there are still a few pro devices on the Recommended Components list.

Sonus faber Cremona!

Audio Video hard drives.

A good bottle of single malt scotch. The current state of the industry is both depressing and exhilarating. OK, how about one of them 24/96 audio boards, then?

Upsampling by dcs . . . but why don't they provide a single box solution for CD upsampling/SACD play back for those who need one for physical space issues as well who wish to avoid paying for three separate components, thus driving up overall expenditure to silly levels? I, for one, would be happy to pay $5000–10,000 USD for such product but $28,000 for all three (transport, digital upsampler, DA converter)!

Hard Drive Servers. These mechines have a lot of potential. They will have to offer 80GB drives and high quality analog/digital output before the potential is realized.

The TacT RCS 2.0!

The TacT RCS-20 (two-channel room correction preamplifier), eliminating the most underestimated problem in music reproduction: room distortion, ie standing waves, sound reflections/cancellations, uneven bass response, channel unbalance, time smearing, delayed reflections, etc. The TacT rcs 20 is a genuine breakthrough product, making the biggest and most cost effective improvement the audiophile can realize in his or her system, no matter what system, no matter what room. You can throw away all the room treatment divices, too.

MBL 101d Radialstrahler speakers

Sony DVP-NS900V Combining SACD and DVD in one attractive styled, priced and sounding box!

Regarding the new digital formats, I'm not anough of a mug to shell out more than I can afford on a format that may not last the course, especially at UK prices. I'll wait and see which one turns out to be the Betamax of the 21st centiry, THEN I'll put my money down. Maybe by then there'll be a decent choice of reasonably-priced titles available and I won't have to import from Region 1.

Sony XA777 ES SACD/CD player for its no compromise SACD playback, top-notch Red Book performance and even better sound when modified.

The PS Audio Power Plant! Rather than upgrade your components, clean up your incoming power. You'll be amazed at the difference in sound, and it's a lot cheaper than upgrading already expensive pieces!

What I would like to see is a single new standard high resolution disc media that is also recordable and backwards compatible with the CD. Where is a new high resolution audio broadcast media? Technology is being held back by the bean counters in the copy protection departments!

tube amplifiers

There is nothing on the immediate horizon that has me "chomping at the bit." I don't want to waste money on a universal player with features I won't use down the road anyway. All I need is a nice shiny upsampling DAC and I'll be happy for a long time to come.

The speakers I built myself. I'm not into snake oil or the latest gadget. I have two well designed, solidly built speakers that I would compare to any commercial speaker. They look great, sound great, are one of a kind, and I enjoy listening to them.

XM Satellite Radio.

With a big collection of CDs, my favorite audio product is a CD player(in fact I just bought a Mark Levinson No. 390s).

Digital preamps, like those from Tact, with others expected to jump into this fray over the next few months.

My ears!

Hybrid SACDs and room correction, although the lack of a SACD digital output keeps audio from truely converging.

Naim Allae loudspeaker

Richard Gray Power Co. products. Outright one of the best products and technologies on the market right now for high end systems. If you think your system is clean, plug a RGP400 in and see what you hear. It's like adding 1000 cold cranking amps to your system. A reserve power storage unit that never runs hot yet maintains a constant current flow for your system. Not a conditioner—that can be added after the RGP400 if that is what you desire. Single biggest change I have ever made that made the entire system respond better!

Oh this is so easy and it doesn't cost me a dime. MY EARS

The new Pioneer universal SACD/DVD-A/CD player DV-47A is going to keep me alive until digital interfaces come-out at a reasonable price.

I guess I would have to say that I dont really have a favorite audio product, rather I have two. I am very interested in the prospects of SACD, I already own a two channel SACD player and I can't wait til SACD finally comes into fully the multichannel arena. My only hope is that they dont screw it up and make the sound as bad as it is on movie recordings. And really make it a true audiophile quality media. The other product that seems interesting is impedance matched components. I feel that there is something to be said for that. I think that may solve many of the problems of getting good sound

New high-end turntables are the most amazing audio creations ever built. True technological art, lovely to look at, wonderful to use and beautiful to listen to. If you don't interact with a very cool turntable and a vinyl record, you are missing great fun with your system. Amazing turntables sure have the greatest wow factor in all of the audio world. This is the golden age for spinning records. Hands-on enjoyment with a work of art, that makes beautiful music. You are missing out if you don't enjoy this while you can.