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Ayre KX-R preamplifier ($18,500; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.31 No.11, November 2008 Review)

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)
Benchmark DAC1 USB Pre D/A preamplifier ($1595; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.32 No.3, March 2009 Review)
Boulder 865 integrated amplifier ($12,000; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.32 Nos.4 & 8, April & August 2009 Review)
Conrad-Johnson Classic SE preamplifier ($1750; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Vol.32 Nos.2 & 7, February & July 2009)
Nagra BPS phono preamplifier ($2399;…

Sennheiser HD800 headphones ($1400; reviewed by Wes Phillips, Vol.32 No.7, July 2009 Review)

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)
Channel D Pure-Vinyl LP-ripping program ($229; reviewed by Michael Fremer, Vol.32 No.3, March 2009)
Keith Monks Audio Works Omni record-cleaning machine ($6495; reviewed by Art Dudley, Vol.32 No.5, May 2009 Review)
PS Audio Power Plant Premier AC regenerator ($2195; reviewed by Robert Deutsch, Vol.32 No.2, February 2009 Review)
Shure SE310 earphones ($300; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.32 No.9,…

John Atkinson: Two solid-state preamplifiers, the Ayre KX-R ($18,500, November 2008) and the Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8 ($15,000, September 2009), both which proved that it is possible to design an active component that lets through more of the music than a straight piece of wire can!

Jim Austin: DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Nine loudspeaker ($6500/pair, December 2007 & May 2009). Art Dudley got it precisely right when he spoke of the Gibbon Nine's "sheer humanity." This loudspeaker may be named for a nonhuman ape, but communicating human emotion, and the deep…

Peachtree Nova D/A integrated amplifier

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)
Bel Canto USB Link 24/96
Benchmark DAC1 USB Pre D/A processor
Cambridge Audio DacMagic D/A processor
Musical Fidelity V-DAC D/A processor ($299; reviewed by Sam Tellig and John Atkinson, Vol.32 Nos.5 & 12, May & December 2009 Review)
Oppo BDP-83 universal player
PSB Imagine B loudspeaker ($1000/pair; reviewed by John Marks & John Atkinson, Vol.32 Nos.2, 4, 6, 8, & 10, February, April, June, August, and October 2009 Review)…

Ayre Acoustics QB-9 USB D/A converter

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order)
Ayre Acoustics KX-R preamplifier
Boulder 1021 disc player
Cambridge Audio DacMagic D/A processor
dCS Scarlatti SACD playback system
Meridian 808i.2 CD player
Peachtree Nova D/A integrated amplifier
Sennheiser HD800 headphones
Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX Series 3 loudspeaker
YG Acoustics Anat Reference II Professional loudspeaker

Though Wilson Audio's big MAXX 3 loudspeaker earned more first-place votes (four) than any other…

Stereophile's Products of 2008
Product of the Year: Sooloos music server system (review)
Joint Budget Products of the Year:
Paradigm Atom v.5 loudspeaker (review)
Rega Planar 3-24 turntable & RB-301 tonearm (review)
Joint Loudspeakers of the Year KEF Reference 207/2 (review)
Revel Ultima Salon2 (review)
Joint Amplification Components:
Conrad-Johnson ACT2 Series 2 preamplifier (review)
Parasound Halo JC 2 preamplifier (review)
Digital Source Component: Sooloos music server system (review)
Joint Analog Source…

In discussing how these terms apply to high-performance audio, I suggested that if audio designers are to succeed in this highly competitive field, they must be sharpeners: they must pay attention to differences that may be very small but that, in the…

In earlier SL1s, the line stage had 26dB of gain. This worked well with most amplifiers and with typical box, planar,…

Setting up the Renaissance in my system was pretty simple: Take off the cover to make sure the Gain switches are set to Low (they were) and the MC/MM switches to MC (they were); and transfer the input and output cables from my SL1 Ultimate to the SL1 Renaissance, making sure to plug…

By transparency I mean the ability of a component to let me "see" into the music, so that it is obscured as little as possible by the technology involved in reproducing it. Not having JA's experience in engineering recordings, I can't say to what extent the reproduction matches what was heard in the recording session, but I can tell when it sounds more like live music and less like a reproduction. (Strangely enough, this is the case even when…