THE BEST OF THE YEAR 2022
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BEST PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR FOR 2022
Welcome to our 3rd Annual Best of the Year Awards issue. It has, without doubt, been our most difficult selection to date. There have been some truly wonderful discoveries and some incredible music made. Had not our traditional cut-off date for inclusion been the September issue, it would have been more difficult, still. Suffice to say, that there are some impressive products in this issue both reviewed and the award winners, of course.
In this respect, my research and curation of products for reviews are certainly to blame for the selection difficulties. Why bring a product in for review that is not quite up to snuff? Though when research/curation does not go as planned and the components is, well, not up to standards, we simply send the product back unreviewed and unmentioned. Why write bad or flaming reviews? That, apparently, is not our karma.
There are several categories of Best of the Year Awards—Editor’s Choice, The Best Product of the Year, Best Budget Products of the Year, and Best Products of the Year. Though based upon two products reviewed this year and a previously reviewed product, it was necessary, no, imperative to institute another award category—the Breakthrough Award.
BREAKTHROUGH productS of 2022
The Breakthrough Award was created to recognize those products that have ‘broken through’ the musical and technological barriers of high-fidelity, audio reproduction. To go a bit further, this award symbolizes a profound leap in unparalleled performance, for a product in a given category or sub category that places it without peers, seemingly, at any price point. It should be firmly stated ‘for the time being’ as technology continues its march forward. And lastly, the award knows no September boundary and, to the degree that it exist and has not been recognized among our prior awards, it will be brought forward.
MOLA MOLA TAMBAQUI
A time and space machine, indeed, for the when and where the Mola Mola Tambaqui transports one. Impossible it is, to write the concluding notes of this review, to break away from the spellbinding music or magic that this DAC/Headphone amplifier creates. Max Richter’s The Blue Notebook plays and the music sweeps over me as though my yellow-chair-tardis finds its way, through time and space, to this venue and that.
STAX SR-X9000
The new and undisputed flagship of the STAX earspeaker/headphone line is the STAX SR-X9000 electrostatic headphone! And after listening these past weeks, this was perhaps one of the easiest calls that I have made to date. Despite the fact that I have been listening to some truly incredible components from DACs to streamers to planar and magnetic headphones to cables and wires!
ABYSS AB1266 PHI TC
What happens when transparency is, seemingly, exceeded? Realism? Or, perhaps, seeming realism? This is the conundrum raised by the Abyss AB1266 Phi TC and its easy ability to make the best of the best headphones sound dull and uneventful, while it waxes on clear as a well-made bell or an outstanding opera diva, and as it upends electrostatics. Yikes!
EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS fOR 2022
GRIMM AUDIO MU1
There is, perhaps, no aspect at which the Grimm Audio MU1 does not excel across its functionalities and collective voices—both “better” and “best”. It is supremely transparent, easily able to resolve the most dense passages, movements and songs, and it lifts prodigious amounts of detail, most especially via its AES/EBU (4x) output.
K.E. Heartsong, Editor
AUDIONET WATT
Quite frankly, the Audionet WATT integrated amplifier is a stunning piece of audio engineering and industrial design. I tried to find flaws in it’s sonic performance, to no avail. I did not get a chance to evaluate the optional phono board, but if it is on par with the amplifier, it is worth the additional grand.
Andre Marc, Editor
BEST PRODUCT OF THE YEAR fOR 2022
ACCUSTIC ARTS PLAYER II
CD playback is back, alive, standing toe-to-toe with ALL formats (while clearly bettering most), and, in this evolved iteration, it is better than ever. And with that, I, we, enthusiastically honor the Accustic Arts Player II CDP with our highest award, the DIAMOND AWARD, for cutting-edge-excellence in the rebirth of what was briefly thought extinct, dead, forgotten. Long live CDs!
K.E. Heartsong, Editor
SCANSONIC MB-1B, MB10
The Scansonic MB1 B standmounts are the best monitors we have heard to date under $3000, by quite a large margin. In fact, when my Spendors eventually have seen better days, the MB1 B will take their place. They are refined, addicting to listen to, and are lookers to boot. The optional stands work beautifully with the speakers, and even improve them visually, but their cost may give some pause, but they are very nicely made. If they were priced more modestly we would say they are a mandatory purchase.
Andre Marc, Editor
SCANSONIC MB-2B
Looking for a high performing loudspeaker with a sophisticated air and a small envelope? The Danes have a way with transducers, and the folk at Scansonic HD may have just what you’ve been searching for. Scansonic HD’s MB2.5B is the little black dress of loudspeakers; it works well with every genre in intimate environs. An affordable price and dapper design sets the MB2.5B apart from most of the boxy competitors and, with its deep diving low end, truthful midrange and silky top, it’ll deliver the goods without draining your bank account.
Oliver Masciarotte, Editor
BUDGET PRODUCT OF THE YEAR fOR 2022
RSX POWER8
The RSX Power8 clearly holds to the dictum, “Do no Harm,” to the system in which it is being utilized. What it, in fact, offers is pure, clean power, a testament to the meticulous parts selection, research, and conscious minimalism all employed in its design. The results are a greatly lowered noise floor, transparency, a wealth of dynamics, freed detail. And at the RSX Power8’s price point—$429—suffice to say, that it has no competitors at 3 to 4 times is cost.
K.E. Heartsong, Editor
GESHELLI LABS JNOG2 & ERISH2
Disinterested in ostentation, Geshelli Labs believes in real world pricing with high fidelity performance. Their JNOG2 plus ERISH2 are a petite and potent bargain. With just enough character to put flesh on bone, the classy little twosome sets your music free without excessive color or dispensable features. Yes, you can spend more, far more, and will receive a tad more transparency or a huge clot of “character.” I recommend that instead, you opt for the glow of tiny LEDs and lovely, very affordable sound.
Oliver Masciarotte, Editor
SCHITT AUDIO FREYA+
The Schiit Freya+ gets our highest recommendation. For $899 you get a triple mode line stage, with a 128 stepped attenuator, rarely used but beautiful sounding 6SN7 tubes (new production Tung Sols to boot) and a nice metal remote control. The Freya+ with the design changes noted above, only commands a $100 premium over the original Freya, which is amazing.. If you have no desire for tubes, the Freya S is available for less.
Andre Marc, Editor
The best products of 2022
THE BEST TO $899
The Schiit Freya+ gets our highest recommendation. For $899 you get a triple mode line stage, with a 128 stepped attenuator, rarely used but beautiful sounding 6SN7 tubes (new production Tung Sols to boot) and a nice metal remote control. The Freya+ with the design changes noted above, only commands a $100 premium over the original Freya, which is amazing.. If you have no desire for tubes, the Freya S is available for less.
The Clarus Audio CODA is by far the most transparent and highly resolving USB DAC/Dongle that I have had the pleasure to review. It continually frees a wealth of information across the entire frequency spectrum—bass, midrange, treble—with great abandon. And yet the CODA is imminently musical, rich, textured, never harsh. The CODA renders a soundstage that can be quite cavernous when called for and also quite intimate. From bass to midrange to treble the CODA is transparent, musical and its overall performance far above $299.
The RSX Power8 clearly holds to the dictum, “Do no Harm,” to the system in which it is being utilized. What it, in fact, offers is pure, clean power, a testament to the meticulous parts selection, research, and conscious minimalism all employed in its design. The results are a greatly lowered noise floor, transparency, a wealth of dynamics, freed detail. And at the RSX Power8’s price point—$429—suffice to say, that it has no competitors at 3 to 4 times is cost.
Disinterested in ostentation, Geshelli Labs believes in real world pricing with high fidelity performance. Their JNOG2 plus ERISH2 are a petite and potent bargain. With just enough character to put flesh on bone, the classy little twosome sets your music free without excessive color or dispensable features. Yes, you can spend more, far more, and will receive a tad more transparency or a huge clot of “character.” I recommend that instead, you opt for the glow of tiny LEDs and lovely, very affordable sound.
THE BEST TO $1.8K
Astell&Kern SE180 $1499. A DAP that travels and that does not leave one yearning for one’s home-based desktop or even one’s HiFi system! I would have thought the SE180 the Astell&Kern TOTL DAP when judged by its abilities, but it is not. Are those above it that good? Or does the employment of new technologies in the SE180—TERATON ALPHA Audio Technology and Astell&Kern’s Next Generation AMP Technology—push it beyond them? …
ZMF Atticus. Absolutely gorgeous in aesthetic, prodigiously musical, mesmerizingly transparent, offering an immensity of soundstage second to very, very few. And then there is its beguiling camphor wood aroma, that rises from its hardened Seahorse case that entrances the senses. The collective experience is, perhaps, what sailors might have encountered in their ensnarement as they listened to the otherworldly voices of the Sirens en route to home or plunder. … I had heard and read good things about the ZMF Atticus, but I was not prepared…
The HeadAmp GS-X Mini ($1,795-$2,175) offers up prodigious detail, and resolves beautifully with a richness and natural warmth that are both beguiling and compelling. It has one of the best dynamic ranges that I’ve come across at its price point. And, as I stated above, though there are better headphone amps, they come at multiples of its price. There are few of which I am now aware at anywhere near its price, or even at double its price that can compete.
The DENAFRIPS Pontus II’s ($1,700) talents are prodigious and when its price is considered, relative to the incredibly expensive DACs and the way-over-the-top, incredibly expensive DACs, it is, decidedly, in the mix and on stage with the best and a giant killer! …The Pontus II is a champion of resolution and detail, a champion of dynamics, transient speed, and staging, and a champion of a realism and musicality… that is so engaging, so texturally and tonally rich, as to present a rather mystifying conundrum.
THE BEST TO $3.0K
ZMF Véríté ($2499.99) Gorgeous. Incredibly transparent, resolving, detail rich, fast, fast, fast, and astonishingly musical. The sum of the Véríté’s talents speak to something other than a dynamic headphone, something imbued with a good measure of the planar magnetic tribe, and, at times, the electrostatic tribe as well. An exceptionally talented chameleon able to meet the task at hand with all its best skill forward!
The Aurorasound HEADA headphone amplifier is musical from ‘Square One,’ ‘Jump Street,’ ‘Scratch’ or, practically, as soon as you turn it on, though it gets worlds better, thereafter. A beautiful heirloom, endgame piece to pass down. Solid state dynamics, resolution, detail and married to tube liquidity and musical bliss. What more could you ask for? If you’re looking for an endgame headphone amplifier and, perhaps, your amplifier is even more expensive, try this one.
The Spendor A2 is one of the most delightful speakers I have had in my system. In fact, I have not heard speakers I have enjoyed as much at this price point, other than several Magnepan models. Magnepans, however, do require more set up consideration, and plenty of amplifier power. The A2, in contrast, is very easy to integrate into virtually any appropriately sized room, and will pair with any high quality amplifier over 25 wpc.
Wow! I’ve just come upon a headphone—the ZMF Atrium ($2,499)—that bridges three separate headphone technologies/worlds in a single form. And not in a slipshod fashion, given that it rises to TOTL status across all three worlds and at nearly half to one third the cost of the reigning TOTLs. Further, it does all of the above while being absolutely gorgeous. …The Atrium’s abilities are without question, and to date it is without a like competitor that can so successfully and easily bridge the three technologies/worlds.
MEZE AUDIO LIRIC
As mentioned above, the MEZE LIRIC ($2,000) is, in many respects, a synergistic coupling of the traits of its pricier siblings, each distinct in its own way, and its less expensive siblings as well. And thus Meze has superbly synthesized these various elements within the LIRIC at a price point that puts it at the center of the family line and with a voice all its own.The LIRIC’s combined traits will challenge not only much more expensive dynamic headphones but planar headphones and, perhaps, an electrostatic headphone or two. The Meze LIRIC is an easy GOLDEN KEYNOTE award winner for all its combined talents—its ability to capture the listener…
THE BEST TO $5.5K
The Scansonic MB1 B/MB 10 standmounts are the best monitors we have heard to date under $3000, by quite a large margin. In fact, when my Spendors eventually have seen better days, the MB1 B will take their place. They are refined, addicting to listen to, and are lookers to boot. The optional stands work beautifully with the speakers, and even improve them visually, but their cost may give some pause, but they are very nicely made.
The DENAFRIPS Terminator II ($4,500) checks all of the required music lover and audiophile boxes easily and well and is a prodigious talent, especially when its price is taken into account. DACs within its ‘ambient’ pricing circle should take pause and perhaps never agree to a side by side comparison, lest they suffer a humiliating defeat. The DENAFRIPS Terminator II extends the price to performance ratio a great deal more than anticipated and performs far, far beyond its price point.
MEZE AUDIO EMPYREAN ELITE
The Meze Empyrean Elite ($4,000) appeared to pierce the electrostatic sphere time and time again, as its transparency would lay bare microdynamic and spatial cues, air and ambiance, while finely parsing instrumental timbres and textures, together with a natural tonality that I had not believed possible of planar headphones. And then there was its layering and transient speed, the entirety of which separated it clearly from its sibling, and its sibling from its former flagship status and it itself, to a larger degree, from all other planar headphones.
THE BEST TO $7.0K
The STAX SRM-T8000 ($6,000) is, decidedly, the TOTL of the STAX energizer line, as it incorporates all that its siblings do, in terms of transparency, resolutions, transient speed, etc. and on a level far above them all. The SRM-T8000 is an apex musical component that ticks the boxes across, well, all relevant parameters and then provides a near transcendental listening experience. At least, it did so for me. In truth, I was not prepared for the leap in performance that the STAX SRM-T8000 offered.
Did I mention how extraordinarily immersive the STAX SR-X9000 ($6200) is? Well, you will experience the sounds, the emotion, the ambiance, the ease, and even the ‘sights’—silverware and dishes clinking, the muttered voices of the inconsiderate, a waitress taking orders, muffled coughs, miscues, etc. It will all seem tangible and will be incredibly new to a great many. It was new to me and I have ‘mad’ years and much experience in this hi-fi thing. One listen.
The Audio Hungary Qualition X200 ($6,550) is in our estimation a highly successful product, and even more so when taking into consideration it’s price point. You get a heck of a lot for $6500. Along with high grade workmanship, a slew of welcomed features like built in Phono, headphone amp, subwoofer outputs, remote control, and more, make this a well thought out package. There is plenty of wattage to drive even power hungry speakers Then there is the sonics.
The Alta Audio Alyssa is an exceptional loudspeaker in every way if you covet true to life imaging, authentic texture, and genuine, foundational bass without compromise. If one can do them justice spacewise, and you are the type of listener who appreciates coherence and natural musical expression, these are a must audition. Michael Levy and Alta Audio in our estimation have a class leading product on their hands. We can’t think of another two way monitor at its price point we prefer.
THE BEST TO $10.0K
The Trilogy H1 energizer ($6850-Silver) is the child of electrostatics and single-ended triodes and it is sublime in the extreme. In many ways the H1 moves beyond even its top competitors, as the synergy of its ‘talents’ enable the transcendence of its like priced competitors and draws it to near parity with those peers priced far above. Did I mention the Trilogy H1’s blazing, transient speed, its outstanding transparency, its hypnotic immersiveness and delicious tonality? Yes. Well, okay.
Blue Hawaii SE Electrostatic Headphone Amp $7,995. Our highest award—the DIAMOND AWARD—goes to the Blue Hawaii Special Edition electrostatic headphone amplifier. It is truly the synthesis of an exceptional electrostatic/dynamic headphone amplifier, and may well become an endgame component for many a headphone fan well-versed with the electrostatic world (or not) and who loves music to no end. Perhaps it should be no wonder why electrostatics in general come away with so many awards.
THE BEST TO $15.0K
The Bricasti Design M1SE ($15,000) is, indeed, the “The Synthesis of Transparency and Beautiful Music!” Its abilities to extract next-level transparency on recording after recording, as well as its competence to resolve that which other DACs cannot is outstanding and pedigree enough. But the M1SE does not stop there. There is a profound three-dimensionality, a richness, and a palpability generally associated with single-ended triode tubes. And in this respect the solid state M1SE is preternaturally engaging.
The Mola Mola Kula integrated amplifier ($13,500) is, to our ears, a state of the art in one box amplification solution. The rich midrange, the perfectly articulated and controlled bass, along with the amp’s overall grip on the music and speakers, makes it one of the great integrated amps of our time, and we have heard a few. Add the absolutely superb, user configurable phono stage, and the state of the art DAC and streamer module, and you have a package that would dazzle even the most jaded audiophiles. As a bonus, it is captivating visually.
There is, perhaps, no aspect at which the Grimm Audio MU1 ($11,400) does not excel across its functionalities and collective voices—both “better” and “best”. It is supremely transparent, easily able to resolve the most dense passages, movements and songs, and it lifts prodigious amounts of detail, most especially via its AES/EBU (4x) output. It is also natural and richly musical in a way that makes it compelling and immersive and fluid as if an analog rendering.
PerfectWave SACD transport and PS Audio DirectStream DAC ($12,498) Seriously, if you have a mountain of CDs like a number of my friends and consider yourself a connoisseur of media—CDs, SACDs, downloads—the PerfectWave SACD transport and the PS Audio DirectStream DAC represent a one-stop powerhouse that will keep you seated in the listening chair for countless happy hours with its transparency, its detail and richness, its startle factor, and its engaging musicality.
THE BEST TO $15.0K+
The Audience Front Row Cables (full loom: $24k+) pulled a very convincing electrostatic imitation on me in the sense that every scintilla of information—data, music—was beautifully revealed and noise was banished to some other distant, non-parallel dimension. Or, at least, it certainly seemed that way. The Audience cables distinguished themselves like the STAX SR-X9000 had done, which ultimately led to the SR-X9000 winning one of our highest awards for 2022. These cables are not inexpensive by any means…
“You-are-there” describes succinctly my experience with the Viva Egoista STX ($17,000) electrostatic headphone amplifier. And it is an experience that will not soon be forgotten. As mentioned, the Top-Of-the-Line STAX SRM-T8000 is not a contender, though at approximately one third the price, it shouldn’t be. It isn’t. As I write this, there is no competition for the Viva Egoista STX electrostatic headphone amplifier. Where that contender may come from has yet to be discovered…
Quite frankly, the Audionet WATT ($18,800) integrated amplifier is a stunning piece of audio engineering and industrial design. I tried to find flaws in its sonic performance to no avail. I did not get a chance to evaluate the optional phono board, but if it is on par with the amplifier, it is worth the additional grand. The final words we can muster about the Audionet WATT is that it is a gentle giant. It has muscle to spare, but distills its arsenal elegantly, using velvet gloves when needed, and bringing down the hammer when called upon to do so.
Formidable. The Accustic Arts Player II ($22,500) rendering of CDs bested its streaming counterparts and even higher resolution versions of the same CDs(!) time and time again, regardless of genre. And this came as quite the surprise. It is also preternaturally engaging and immersive, alive, dynamic, incredibly resolving, and, at the same time, the doppelgänger of analog. This being no small task for a ‘digital playback’ component. And it serves, beautifully, two worlds—CD playback and streaming.
