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The 2003 Products of the Year 2003 Editor's Choice

2003 Editor's Choice

Apple iPod

Not much needs to be said about my choice for 2003. The admission may not earn me any points in politically correct audiophile circles, but Apple's cute little iPod was the product I most enjoyed using this past year. Its large-capacity hard drive and ability to play back uncompressed AIF and WAV files pushes it ahead of run-of-the-mill portable players, while its intuitive, playlist-based interface is a harbinger of how all of us will be surfing our recorded music libraries in the near future.

Barry Willis said it best in a private e-mail: "…

The 2003 Products of the Year 2003 Budget Product of the Year

2003 Budget Product of the Year

Apple iPod (See "Digital")

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Atoll Electronique IN 100 integrated amplifier ($1075; reviewed by Sam Tellig, Vol.26 No.4, April 2003)
Benchmark Media Systems DAC1 D/A processor (review) ($850; reviewed by John Marks, Vol.26 No.7, July 2003)
Meadowlark Swift loudspeaker (review) ($995/pair; reviewed by John Marks, Vol.25 No.11, November 2002)
Monitor Audio Silver S2 loudspeaker (review) ($749/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, Vol.26 No.8, August 2003)
Music Hall MMF-9 turntable (see "Analog")
Naim Nait 5…

The 2003 Products of the Year 2003 Product of the Year

2003 Product of the Year

Quad ESL-989 loudspeaker (see "Loudspeakers")

Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
Classé Omega monoblock power amplifier
dCS Verdi-Purcell-Elgar Plus SACD/CD playback system
Focal-JMlab Grande Utopia Be loudspeaker
Manley Steelhead phono preamplifier
Naim NAC-552 preamplifier
Parasound Halo JC 1 monoblock power amplifier
SME 30/2 turntable
VTL TL-7.5 Reference preamplifier
Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy 7 loudspeaker
Slow and steady wins the race again.

The Quad ESL-989 barely edged out two of our Amplification winners—the earth…

The 2003 Products of the Year Previous Awards

Sidebar: Previous Awards:

Stereophile's Products of 2002
Product of the Year: Halcro dm58 monoblock power amplifier (review)
Joint Budget Components:
Grado SR125 headphones
Music Hall MMF-7 turntable
Revel Performa M20 loudspeaker (review)
Joint Loudspeakers:
Rockport Technologies Antares (review)
Joseph Audio RM7si Signature Mk.2 (review)
Amplification Component: Halcro dm58 monoblock power amplifier (review)
Digital Source: Sony SCD-XA777ES multichannel SACD player (review)
Joint Analog Sources:
Graham 2.2 tonearm (review)
VPI TNT V-HR…

Meridian Digital Theatre surround-sound music system

I am biased: On very little evidence, I remain convinced that, in the near future, high-quality music reproduction will be multichannel. While most multichannel demos are still egregiously and aggressively ping-pong, I have attended a few successful demonstrations of discrete multichannel reproduction that have impressed me so deeply that I hunger to have all the music I love transported to me (and me to it) in this way.

One recent example was at a Sony preview of a prototype multichannel Super Audio CD player. Not only was I convinced of the rightness of the SACD's reproduction of sound…

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DSP6000 loudspeaker: Good, old-fashioned stereo
The first big boxes to arrive contained a pair of DSP6000 digital speakers and a bonus 508-24 CD player. My intent was to become familiar with Meridian's flagship speakers in the two-channel paradigm with which I am experienced. The 508-24 was provided so that, while the final touches were made on the production of the Reference 800 DVD/CD player, I could get comfortable with Meridian's integrated systems approach. Although these three units were installed by Meridian's Marc Koval, I was easily able to modify the setups and add a few other…

Meridian Digital Theatre surround-sound music system Page 3

I also used the second digital input and the volume control of the DSP6000s to audition a few 24-bit/96kHz audio DVDs from Chesky and Classic, played directly into the speakers by my trusty California Audio Labs CL20 CD/DVD player. With the digital circuitry of the Meridians, I was going full 24/96 all the way to their power amps, and boy, it was nice. The step up from 16-bit/44.1kHz to 24/96 didn't so much change the dimensions of the window through which I listened as seem to bring the performance closer.

Compared to the EOS and the Duetta, the tonal balance of the DSP6000 was a bit…

Meridian Digital Theatre surround-sound music system Page 4

The 800 replaced pairs of tiptop transports and DACs, from mbl and Burmester, but I didn't mourn their absence. Compared to the German duos, the 800 Reference seemed to differ less in sound quality than in operation and ergonomics. The 800 requires no pucks or mysterious trap doors; just hit Open on the remote, insert the disc, hit Play, and enjoy. Going back through all the discs I used to differentiate the Burmester, mbl, and Levinson DACs that I reviewed in December '99, I could not find one that was not completely satisfying on the 800. In consideration of its performance as a player and…

Meridian Digital Theatre surround-sound music system Page 5

The 861 can process two-channel PCM input, Pro Logic, DTS, MPEG, and MLP. (I had no suitable source material for the latter two processes.) Pro Logic, DTS, and MPEG were also available in THX modes, supposedly optimal for domestic listening. Both DTS and MPEG come in "Music" variants. Compared to the original DTS, designed for theater use, DTS-Music has a lower output from the low-frequency effects (LFE) channel, but MPEG-Music is quite vaguely described. From a PCM input (such as S/PDIF from a CD or DVD player's digital output), the 861 can process the following formats:

Direct: Plain…

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The only orchestral disc with which I preferred Direct was the recent Nature's Realm disc from Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Water Lily WLA-WS-66-CD). This spectacular recording was made with a single crossed pair of mikes, and sounded right only with a Blumlein arrangement of the two DSP6000s, each toed-in 45 degrees. In either Music or Trifield mode, the precision of instrument placement was obscured.

Synthesizing surround
Meridian's 861/DSP6000 proved a superb two-channel system, and the addition of a center channel (Trifield) was almost always an…