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First Watt J2 power amplifier ($4000; reviewed by Herb Reichert, October 2016, Vol.39 No.10 Review) This is the first time in memory that a distinctly low-power (25Wpc) amplifier has taken top honors, or even placed, in our Product of the Year voting. That the amp in question is also solid-state makes the choice all the more remarkable; and that it sells for a reasonable price—relative, that is, to the prices of most similarly distinguished, perfectionist-quality power amplifiers—is cause for jubilation. Designed by Nelson Pass and produced by the…

Lyra Etna SL phono cartridge ($9995; reviewed by Michael Fremer, July 2016, Vol.39 No.7) There are revolutionary products and there are evolutionary products, and this year's Analog Product of the Year would seem to be one of the latter: the Lyra Etna SL cartridge is, as of now, the culmination of designer Jonathan Carr's multi-decade effort to advance the art of phono transduction. Essentially a low-output (0.25mV) version of the already well-regarded Etna, the SL is wound with fewer turns of wire, resulting in lower moving mass and contributing to what…

AudioQuest DragonFly Red & Black D/A headphone amplifiers ($199 & $99; reviewed by Art Dudley, September 2016, Vol.39 No.9 Review) Like our Analog Product of the Year, AudioQuest's two new DragonFly DACs are evolutionary—which is forgivable, given the originality, even audacity, of the first DragonFly, our Computer Audio Product of the Year for 2012. This year's models are no bigger but are considerably more sophisticated—both have new microcontrollers and new DAC chips, and both use less power—while the Red has higher output voltage and the…

Audeze LCD-4 headphones ($3995; reviewed by John Atkinson, July 2016, Vol.39 No.7 Review)
AudioQuest Niagara 7000 Low-Z Power Noise-Dissipation System ($7995; reviewed by Michael Fremer, February 2016, Vol.39 No.2 Review) We finally come to one of only two ties for first place in 2016: between an expensive pair of headphones and a no-less-expensive power conditioner.

Are the Audeze LCD-4s the best headphones you can buy? In his review, John Atkinson came close to saying just that, describing them as "the best-sounding headphones I've heard in…

AudioQuest DragonFly Red & Black D/A headphone amplifiers
Elac Debut B6 loudspeaker
Perhaps the nicest thing about this tie for 2016 Budget Product of the Year is that one can easily imagine the Elac Debut B6 speakers and either of AudioQuest's new DragonFly DACs in the same system. No less nice is the fact that you could buy both—assuming even the costlier DragonFly Red—and still get change from a $500 bill, if such things still existed.

While we're handing out laurel wreaths, let's not forget that AudioQuest has, in the…

Wilson Audio Specialties Sabrina loudspeaker
The Wilson Audio Sabrina impressed RD with its seriously good bass, its ability to create a soundstage that's "wide and deep, with images on it precisely defined," and its ability to sound far larger than it is—and impressed the rest of us for offering Wilsonian levels of quality at a price that, while not exactly cheap, is a lot more affordable than we might have expected. That the entry-level Sabrina can travel via UPS instead of freight truck is icing on an already very nice cake.

Notes on the…

Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Renaissance Black Path Edition preamplifier ($9990; reviewed by Robert Deutsch, December 2015, Vol.38 No.12 Review)
The Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 Signature preamp was Stereophile's Product of the Year in 1993. Now, 23 years later, when I consider possible candidates for this honor, I can't think of a better choice than the latest version of the SL-1. How's that for longevity?—Robert Deutsch

DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 loudspeaker ($8400/pair)
For every piece of gear I review, the final proving…

Although I've never tried one, I think "lifestyle" audio systems are a bit of a joke. My in-laws' decade-old Bose Wave Radio sounds good for what it is, although its obvious flaws—boomy, undefined lower mids masquerading as bass, a frustrating lack of sonic and musical resolution, etc. —become grating fairly quickly. These days, there are far more accomplished and expensive lifestyle systems out there, but because I haven't tried them I won't comment on them, except to say that I'm not really…

Six years. Has it really been that long? Yes, I was there at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011, making the rounds to collect material for my show report. That's when I first heard the Triton Two loudspeaker from GoldenEar Technology. If the word gobsmacked were part of my normal vocabulary, I would have been tempted to use it. With sound quality way out of proportion to its price ($2499.98/pair at launch, later increased to a still-very-reasonable $2999.98/pair), the Triton Two went immediately to the top…