Budget Component of the Year
Magnepan .7 loudspeaker ($1400/pair; reviewed by Herb Reichert, August 2015, Vol.38 No.8 Review)
Our list of finalists for Budget Product of the Year contains a little of everything—an amp, a cartridge, a computer-audio accessory, a portable music player, two turntables, and some speakers. It was from the last group that Stereophile's reviewers selected the Magnepan .7—the first time a panel speaker has won in this category. Herb Reichert wrote that he could very happily live with the two-way, planar-magnetic .7, whose only concession to thrift had to do with size, not quality: "With every recording, I thought: Who needs more than this?"
Notes on the Votes: In at least one respect, our 2015 Products of the Year results are more encouraging than last year's: In 2014, no product placed in both the Budget and Overall Product of the Year categories—but as you'll see below, this year there was one: the PonoPlayer, which also won as Digital Product of the Year. This is almost as good as 2013, when the KEF LS50 loudspeaker was voted Budget Product of the Year and Overall Product of the Year. (Unless I'm mistaken, we have yet to see a single product take top honors in three categories. In 2010, it seemed possible that the Peachtree iDecco might win or at least place in four categories—Digital, Amplification, Budget, and Overall—but that didn't happen.)
Finalists (in alphabetical order
Audioengine A2+ loudspeaker ($249/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, April 2015, Vol.38 No.4 Review)
AudioQuest JitterBug
Bowers & Wilkins 683 S2 loudspeaker ($1650/pair; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, September 2015, Vol.38 No.9 Review)
Emotiva Audio Pro Airmotiv 4S loudspeaker ($299/pair; reviewed by Robert J. Reina, April 2015, Vol.38 No.4 Review)
Music Hall Ikura turntable ($1195 including tonearm and phono cartridge; reviewed by Robert J. Reina, December 2014, Vol.37 No.12 Review)
Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable ($699 including tonearm; reviewed by Herb Reichert, March & July 2015, Vol.38 Nos. 3 & 7 Review)
Pono PonoPlayer
PS Audio Sprout integrated amplifier
Revel Performa3 M106 loudspeaker
Soundsmith Carmen phono cartridge
Notes on the Votes: In at least one respect, our 2015 Products of the Year results are more encouraging than last year's: In 2014, no product placed in both the Budget and Overall Product of the Year categories—but as you'll see below, this year there was one: the PonoPlayer, which also won as Digital Product of the Year. This is almost as good as 2013, when the KEF LS50 loudspeaker was voted Budget Product of the Year and Overall Product of the Year. (Unless I'm mistaken, we have yet to see a single product take top honors in three categories. In 2010, it seemed possible that the Peachtree iDecco might win or at least place in four categories—Digital, Amplification, Budget, and Overall—but that didn't happen.)
Finalists (in alphabetical order
Audioengine A2+ loudspeaker ($249/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, April 2015, Vol.38 No.4 Review)AudioQuest JitterBug
Bowers & Wilkins 683 S2 loudspeaker ($1650/pair; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, September 2015, Vol.38 No.9 Review)
Emotiva Audio Pro Airmotiv 4S loudspeaker ($299/pair; reviewed by Robert J. Reina, April 2015, Vol.38 No.4 Review)
Music Hall Ikura turntable ($1195 including tonearm and phono cartridge; reviewed by Robert J. Reina, December 2014, Vol.37 No.12 Review)
Pioneer PLX-1000 turntable ($699 including tonearm; reviewed by Herb Reichert, March & July 2015, Vol.38 Nos. 3 & 7 Review)
Pono PonoPlayer
PS Audio Sprout integrated amplifier
Revel Performa3 M106 loudspeaker
Soundsmith Carmen phono cartridge
