The 2001 Products of the Year
By John Atkinson, Kalman Rubinson and & Jonathan Scull   •   December, 2001 For the tenth consecutive year, Stereophile recognizes components that have proved capable of giving musical pleasure beyond the formal review period by naming its "Products of the Year."

There are five individual categories: Loudspeakers (including subwoofers), Amplification Components (preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.), Digital Sources (CD players, transports, processors), Analog Sources (phono cartridges, turntables, tonearms, FM tuners, etc.), and Accessories (everything else).

The two most important categories, however, are the "Product of the Year" itself—the best of the best—and the "Budget Component of the Year"—the best sound for the buck. There's also an "Editor's Choice" award, for which John Atkinson usually singles out the product that impressed him the most in the past 12 months. This year, Kalman Rubinson takes over that space to proselytize on behalf of a component that, in his view, blazes a trail to the future of amplification.

The formal voting procedure consists of two steps: First, each of Stereophile's hardware reviewers is asked to nominate up to six components in each of the seven categories. To be a contender, a product had to have been reviewed in Stereophile between the November 2000 and October 2001 issues, in a full Equipment Report, a Follow-Up review, or in Sam Tellig's or Michael Fremer's regular columns. We then put together a ballot form that lists all components nominated by three or more writers and/or editors. This process ensures that most of the nominees in most of the categories will have been auditioned by most of the reviewers. The prices listed were current at the end of August 2001.

Each of the magazine's 16 editors and reviewers gave three votes for his first choice in each category, two votes for his second choice, and one vote for his third choice (if any). JA tallied the votes; address your compliments and complaints to him.

The envelope, please...