The most varied group to be voted on, there was very little spread in the balloting—with one exception: Grado's remarkable $69 headphones. Both Corey Greenberg and Sam Tellig raved about the SR60s in print. Pretty much every other writer who tried them voted for them. Detailed without sounding fatiguingly bright, with excellent bass and silky-smooth highs that let you listen to music for hours without fatigue, these inexpensive cans not only sound…
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Accessory of 1994:
Grado SR60 headphones ($69; reviewed by Corey Greenberg, Vol.17 No.6, 1994; Sam Tellig, Vol.17 No.10, January 1994 Review)
Budget Component of 1994:
Grado SR60 headphones
Boy, this was a tight-fought battle, all five contenders offering more than a glimpse of high-end sound at prices almost anyone could afford. (The now-discontinued Optimus CD player was recently seen on sale at just $89.95!) But having scooped up the "Accessory of the Year" award, the all-conquering Grados just swept all before them. If only they weren't so uncomfortable!
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Audio Alchemy DAC-in-the-Box D/A processor
HeadRoom Supreme headphone amplifier
NHT SuperZero loudspeaker…
1994 Component of the Year:
Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-IV loudspeaker
As the votes trickled in on my fax machine, every one of these components was at one point in the lead for the High End's most prestigious award. But it was the superb Dunlavy SC-IV that edged ahead at the final post. A well-deserved winner in my humble view, in that it really does redefine what audiophiles should expect from a loudspeaker at the $5000/pair price point.
Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Audio Research VT150 monoblock power amplifier
Mark Levinson No.30.5 D/A processor
Accuphase…
Editor's Choice:
Rogers/Harbeth/Spendor/KEF BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker ($896/pair–$1199/pair; reviewed by J. Gordon Holt, Vol.3 No.12, Spring 1977, & Vol.4 No.1, December 1977; Dick Olsher, Vol.7 No.4, June 1984; John Atkinson, Vol.11 Nos.2 & 3, February & March 1988, Vol.14 No.10, October 1990, Vol.16 No.12, December 1993; Corey Greenberg, Vol.17 No.1, January 1994 Review)
Back in the early '70s, the BBC needed a physically unobtrusive nearfield monitor loudspeaker for use in mobile broadcast studios. Accordingly, they instructed their design department, which at that…
On November 23, 6–9pm: Excel Audio in Newport Beach, California, invites everyone to join us to experience Wilson Audio’s latest, the Chronosonic XVX, driven by D’Agostino electronics with digital by dCS and vinyl played on the Clearaudio Statement turntable. In attendance will be Bill Peugh from Wilson Audio, Dan D’Agostino from D’Agostino Master Audio Systems, Garth Leerer from Musical Surroundings, and Jesse Luna from dCS. Everyone is welcome and food will be served.
The first vote I ever cast was in 1964, when I was 10 years old. Our fifth-grade teacher, a psychotic harpy who fined students 25 cents if they dropped a pencil, directed us to elect a Class President and a Class Treasurer: positions of indeterminate powers, although it was generally understood that they did not include the ability to wage war or annex adjoining classrooms. In retrospect—I didn't realize it at the time—the very loud nominating process was straight out of Lord of the Flies, and even before the day's final votes were cast, it was clear that the winners would not be chosen on…
Loudspeaker of 2019
Revel Performa F228Be ($10,000/pair; reviewed by Kal Rubinson, February 2019, Vol.42 No.2 Review)
There's nothing strange about a Loudspeaker of the Year win by a three-way reflex-loaded floorstander. What distinguishes the Indonesian-made Revel are both the degree of refinement apparent in its design and a level of value that led Kal Rubinson to declare that this speaker exists as a challenge "to justify charging any significantly higher price for a domestic loudspeaker." KR found the F228Be to be "very transparent" to whatever he fed it and praised…
Amplification Component of 2019
Pass Laboratories XP-22 preamplifier ($9500; reviewed by Jim Austin, June 2019, Vol.42 No.6 Review)
Things have changed since the era when audio perfectionists regarded the preamplifier as the true heart of their system: a time when the Audio Research SP-10, Conrad-Johnson Premier Three, Spectral DMC-10, and Klyne SK-5 ruled the Earth. These days, we tend to publish more reviews of power amps than preamps, and our POTY lists have reflected that (im)balance. So some of us were especially pleased to see 2019's top amplification honors go to…
Analog Source of 2019
Sutherland Engineering Little Loco phono preamplifier ($3800; reviewed by Brian Damkroger, October 2019, Vol.42 No.10 Review)
Although phono preamps that work on the current-amplification (as opposed to voltage-amplification) principle still account for a small minority of the market, that technology took a big step forward in 2019 with the Sutherland Engineering Little Loco, itself a less expensive version of the company's recent Phono Loco. The Little Loco is designed for moving-coil cartridges only, and even then not every make or model of…
Digital Source of 2019
Mytek Brooklyn Bridge streaming D/A processor ($2995; reviewed by Jim Austin, September 2019, Vol.42 No.9 Review)
Brooklyn-based Mytek is no stranger to the POTY winner's circle. Indeed, this year's Digital Component of the Year, the Brooklyn Bridge streaming D/A processor, is based upon Mytek's Brooklyn DAC, which was our Joint Digital Component of the Year for 2017. As JCA pointed out, "The Brooklyn Bridge retains all the main features" of the Mytek Brooklyn, from full MQA decoding to analog line-level and phono inputs, and adds streaming and…