Soundstage HiFi Products of the Year for 2016

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That list is very consistent with the gear they actively promote. Hence, no Vitus as usual. Though strangely no Magico products rated...this time.
 
I can't help it, but I find that list slightly odd. There's very little in this year's selection that would excite me, except the Devialet Silver Phantom which I got to give my wife some WAF, as she did not want square boxes of any sort in the living room.


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I've followed Soundstage for over fifteen years and they have a target audience different than TAS and AS. They also have different parts of their review process aimed at different expenditure levels. Their reviewers generally stay in the segment of the market they are comfortable with and review products that they would be in line to purchase or would like to be able to purchase. For example Jeff Fritz who is from the "Ultra" segment only reviews products that are "top dollar" like JV and Doug Schneider, who has been with the magazine from the beginning, reviews and recommends products from any segment that he considers value performers from that segment. So if you understand that their reviews and recommendations are from at least five different web-zines and market segments then their awards make more sense. If you are looking for Magico, Solution, Vitus and the other favored brands from the other two then you are looking in the wrong place.

I see some very high quality products in their list, but then I don't judge audio products based on their advertising expenditures or cost.
 
Good thinking, Jack. I like it. There particularly is a point in whether there is any value for a regular hi-end aficionado in JV reviewing another $100.000 box in combination with his eight other $100.000 boxes and his $100.000 cable looms. Sounds good like that? No shit, Sherlock.

My comment of course also reflects a personal bias, at least on two counts. Maybe I should have said, I did not see what I was expecting to see. And some of the products do deserve attention, like the Gryphon. But I have not auditioned it properly and am not in the market for a powerful integrated.

The second bias is that I might prefer a slightly different type of sound, than what usually receives praise in this publication. E.g. One of the guys had the Hegel H300 as their reference for years, I bought one and sold it after 6 months because I found it to be too thin sounding for my liking. Similar with the Hegel H30, tested it and heard the well defined bass, but was not impressed because I felt there was too little happening in the midrange. That said, I think both the Ayre KX-5 and VX-5 (which I own in the 20 version) received high praise and a reviewer recommendation from Soundstage.

To sum it up, the two latter ones are my best audio purchases yet, but I did not see anything like them on the list. Hence my comment.


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KeithR said:
No Wilson products? You're slipping Dan :)
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@Jack, good point. The awards weren't for the whole Soundstage Network, though it gets confusing as you said. Personally I think Soundstage should just have one, large, comprehensive Product of the year list like TAS. My 2c.
 
"This year’s award winners were chosen from among the products reviewed in 2016 for one of our editorial sites -- SoundStage! Hi-Fi, SoundStage! Ultra, SoundStage! Access, or SoundStage! Xperience -- and which received a Reviewers’ Choice award when the review was published."

So from lower priced to their version of "High Priced."
 
Melbguy1 said:
That list is very consistent with the gear they actively promote. Hence, no Vitus as usual. Though strangely no Magico products rated...this time.
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Jeff Fritz has been a Magico supporter since Day 1 and owns Q7MK2s. In fact he just posted a review of the M-Pods. Not sure what you're getting at.
 
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