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Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier ($3500; reviewed by John Atkinson & Herb Reichert, July & December 2016, Vol.39 Nos. 7 & 12 review)

In an era when planar-magnetic headphones are increasingly common, it's fitting that our first Headphone Product of the Year is an amplifier unfazed by difficult loads. Indeed, the Pass Labs HPA-1, which also functions as a two-input, line-level analog preamplifier, is comfortable with loads ranging from 15 to 600 ohms—and, as John Atkinson discovered, this MOSFET-based design plays with authority.

Roon 1.3 music app ($119, one-year subscription; $499, lifetime); reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, July & September 2017, Vol.40 Nos. 7 & 9 review)

Although some of this year's wins surprised me a little, and at least one shocked me all the way into the next county, I don't mind telling you: I totally saw this coming. The cloud-based Roon music app, created by some of the folks who were behind Sooloos, has few peers when it comes to organizing the user's digital-music collection, and it enriches the listening experience by streaming metadata—liner notes…

Roon 1.3 music app
Wharfedale Diamond 225 loudspeaker

Once again, Roon 1.3 finds itself in the winner's circle, this time sharing the honor with a distinctly overachieving stand-mounted loudspeaker: the Wharfedale Diamond 225. The diminutive Wharfedale, which combines a 1" tweeter and a 6.5" mid/woofer in a reflex-loaded cabinet made of MDF, was described by Herb Reichert as "a connoisseur-level audio component," and was similarly hailed in Follow-Up reports by Ken Micallef and me. Some day, this review pair will make its way beyond New…

Kii Audio Three loudspeaker

As Kal Rubinson wrote when he reviewed our 2017 Product of the Year in the September 2017 Stereophile, "almost everything about Kii Audio's Three loudspeaker is a refreshing splash of cool water." That's especially true if one defines refreshing—and splash and cool—as meaning "different." And my oh my, is this year's winner ever different. The three-way, six-driver Kii Three is distinct from most other loudspeakers—and all previous Products of the Year, as far as I know—inasmuch as it is self-amplified and -preamplified,…

Audiodesksysteme Gläss Pro Vinyl Cleaner ($4199)
Without playing a note, the Audiodesksysteme Gläss Pro Vinyl Cleaner rocked my listening world. This wonderfully designed car wash for LPs accomplishes far more than I expected: reduction in noises of all kinds, and a magical lifting of yet another veil from the music. Brilliant!—Sasha Matson

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 loudspeaker & Kii Audio Three loudspeaker (Joint Award) ($84,990/pair & $13,255/pair)
These remarkable products prove that the traditional loudspeaker paradigm has…

When Mozart died on December 5, 1791, he had completed only the opening Introit of his Requiem. For most of the other movements, he had written only the vocal lines and a few fragments of orchestration, including a partially figured bass. The music for the…

The Swissonor TA10, a contemporary tonearm designed for the Thorens TD 124 turntable (1959–1970), challenged me to set aside some of the things I thought I knew about phonography. On at least one of those counts, it succeeded.

Handmade in Switzerland and modeled on the Thorens TP 14 tonearm of the 1960s, the TA10 ($3990) improves on its predecessor with an effective length of 240mm, which Swissonor says is the longest that can be achieved with a stock TD 124 armboard (the TP 14's effective length was only 210mm), and replaces…

When this second sample arrived, I noted that its container—which arrived in perfect shape—was marked TA10 2.09. Only then did I take a closer look at the first box, which I now saw was marked TA10 2.06. The two arms looked outwardly identical.

But they weren't. The vertical bearings were…

Editor: There are several problems with Art Dudley's review of the TA10.

First Problem: Mounting on a Thorens TD 124 turntable. The original plinth was designed for 8" tonearms, later for 9" tonearms. Solution: There's no problem with Swissonor's #29.0 plinth, which is designed for tonearms up to 10" or longer than 11".

Second Problem: Bearing function. As with every item, this TA10 was tested on a TD 124, and several parameters, such as bearing preload, were fine-adjusted by ear, using an Ortofon SPU Classic cartridge. The complete job, from A to…