Let’s face it, 2020 was not the best year. In fact, it wasn’t even a good year. I’m thankful to have had music to help me get through this very difficult time. Without audio shows, live concerts and so many other things that I take for granted in daily life, sitting back to listen to good music on great components has helped me pass these months of shelter-in-place.
I was fortunate to review some very good products this year. I am happy to single out a few of them for my Best of 2020 list. Products that make this list spent some time in my home system in the past 12 months. Here we go, and congratulations to the 2020 “Best of” winners. Notice, I do not have a best analog winner this year as I have changed to an all digital system.
I’ve also asked our writers to nominate the “best of” from their reviews in 2020. We know you enjoy reading their reviews and will appreciate seeing what they picked as the best of 2020.
Best Product of the Year – Innuos Statement
As I said in my review, “The Innuos Statement has done more to change my opinion of digital music reproduction than anything has before. It let me discover that there is a lot of music in those digits. I had just never heard it before.”
As a devoted vinyl guy, I didn’t think I could convert to a digital system and be satisfied. While losing most of my vision has had a lot to do with this change, I can honestly say that the Statement and streaming Qobuz give me hours of satisfaction. Congratulations, Nuno Vitorino and Amelia Santos of Innuos for your brilliant design! From the moment I installed the Innuos app on my iPad Pro and touched PLAY, I knew the Statement was never leaving my system. It is just that good!
Best Amplifier – Butler Audio MONAD A100s
Robin Wyatt, the exclusive Butler Audio dealer for North America, says the MONAD A100 monoblocks sound like neither a transistor amp nor a tube amp. As I said in my review, “I pretty much agree with that statement, but I can easily hear the good sound that I love so much from a great 300B amp without the downside.”
These monoblocks are pure Class A, 100-watt transistor amplifiers, and they each use a single 300B tube. The 300B tube is not used as a driver tube or as an input tube, but it somehow brings the sound of the 300B tube into the circuit. This results in an amp with the tonality of a 300B SET amp without the weaknesses of a 300B SET or a transistor amp. Now, it’s not a transistor amp that sounds tube-like or vice versa. These monoblocks just sound like beautiful music. And, yes, I have to confess, these monoblocks are now part of my system.
Best Speakers – Electrostatic Solutions Quad ESLs
From Part 3 of my review of these speakers in March, here are five reasons these speakers are on this list.
- They are still the most transparent and fastest speakers that I have ever heard.
- Even with all that speed and transparency, they have wonderfully rich tones and harmonics.
- They produce the most realistic soundstage I have ever heard.
- They aren’t restricted to amps with a maximum of 25-watts. I found they sounded best in my room with the Butler Audio or PureAudio 100-watt, Class A amps.
- With the right amp, they cause almost no listener fatigue.
Best Integrated Amp – LTA Ultralinear Integrated
There has been very little time in the last two years that I haven’t had at least one piece of Linear Tube Audio gear in my system. So, I feel qualified to say that most people will find it hard to understand what these incredible electronics sound like until they hear them for themselves. LTA says the Ultralinear is for those that demand the best but want to keep it simple.
This review is available online here.
Best Power Distributor – Clarus Concerto
The Concerto at $3,600 from Clarus Cables is their full-featured power conditioner model. It has eight hospital-grade outlets divided into three groups. Two are optimized for analog components, four for digital components, and two for high-current amplifiers. It also includes a lifter/manager for the power cables. You can read my full review here.
The Concerto is as good as any active power conditioner I have heard in my system at any price. This would include conditioners from Synergistic Research, High Fidelity Cables, Shindo, Audience, Torus, Bybee, Furutech, and Isoclean. I listened to the Concerto for weeks and never once thought it was hurting my dynamics. In fact, it was just the opposite.
Best Cables – Audience frontRow USB Audio Cable
We recognized the Audience frontRow Cables as our Product of the Year for 2019. We aren’t the only publication to sing their praises. Now, the Audience frontRow USB cable joins all the other frontRow cables in my reference system. For these cables, the front row refers to where they are positioned in the plethora of audio cables. They surely belong there.
The USB audio cable, like all of the frontRow cables, employs MORRE technology, which gives me more (excuse the pun) of what I like to listen to. In my system, this resulted in me listening more like I listen to live music. To me, this is a very good thing. In short, my system just sounds more like live music. You can read my full review here.
Writers’ Choices for Best of 2020
In 2020, Adam, Drew and Ken also reviewed some outstanding products. Their individual preferences are very different, but they each know what sounds good to their ears and what they like to listen to.
Adam LaBarge’s 2020 Best of Awards
In his review of the Stager Silver Solids Interconnects, Adam wrote, “It seems to be a rarity to find something that has both value and significant quality, but that is exactly what fell into my lap with the Stager Silver Solids Interconnects.”
Manufactured by Marc Stager’s Stager Sound, the interconnects are an unshielded symmetrical pair of 99.9% pure silver 24 gauge cables with Canare F-10 RCA connectors. Stager uses translucent Teflon (PTEE) to insulate the cables. While their size and lack of a covering may give you the impression that they are delicate, they are well constructed and can handle being connected and disconnected numerous times.
Fantastic and Affordable
Also on Adam’s list is the Orchard Audio PecanPi® DAC. In his review, Adam said, “I purchased the PecanPi® DAC before I even said I would write a review for it. Everything else I have heard from Leo Ayzenshtat, the owner, and engineer of Orchard Audio, has been fantastic and affordable.”
In fact, Adam liked this DAC so much that he thought it was worth the risk to spend $499 on the DAC and hope that it would be something he wanted to live with. From Adam, “After four, five, six months now, I’m not really sure how time works any longer, but I am confident I made the right decision in buying the PecanPi USB DAC.”
Drew Gagliano’s 2020 Best of Awards
Drew’s first pick is actually a pair, the Benchmark LA4 preamp, and the AHB2 power amplifier. In his review, he said, “Once I heard the Benchmark LA4 preamp and AHB2 power amplifier, I thought, “This could be my last preamp and amplifier purchase, ever. As I lived with them and dove into my favorite music, I was continuously impressed by their flawless performance. Every time I listened to music, it was an introspective and emotional journey.”
Drew says if you value transparency and accuracy, the LA4 and AHB2 will perform beyond your highest expectations. He felt that for $5,598, there is no better way to get closer to the music.
How Can These Speakers Sound So Good?
In his review of the Wharfedale EVO 4.2 Bookshelf Speakers, Drew said that from the very first listen he asked himself how could a pair of speakers under $1,000 sound so good. Part of the answer to this question is that Wharfedale has been around since 1932.
He says some audiophiles may not appreciate the unique Wharfedale house sound, since it errs on the side of warmth and musicality. Wharfedale’s unconventional driver combination, an AMT with a dome midrange is what makes it so unique. He thinks it’s this unconventional driver combination that delivers an exceptional listening experience.
Ken Redmond’s 2020 Best of Awards
“From the moment I lowered the tonearm and began to listen to this cartridge, I was struck by what I heard and by what I didn’t hear. In fact, I was virtually paralyzed in my seat by what I was hearing. The quality of the sound from this cartridge was so different that I had to take some time to process it.” This is how Ken started his review of the E1 Optical Cartridge from DS Audio.
Ken went on to explain that for him this cartridge is an audio waypoint and represents high-value new technology. It is a major departure from how he normally thinks about a particular product category. In fact, he went on to say that he has not had a better listening experience with any other cartridge. It does everything you need a cartridge to do to get you closer to the music.
Congratulations again to the designer of this product, Tetsuaki Aoyagi. If we ever get to go back to shows again and you happen to see Aki, don’t miss the chance to say hello. I can’t wait to see what else he will be bringing to the market in the future.
A Radical Departure for Tonearms
ViV Lab is located in Kamakura, Japan, and this tonearm is the brainchild of designer Koichiro Akimoto, who wanted to challenge the tonearm design world with some radical new thinking.
In his two-part review, Ken said, “The Viv Lab Rigid Float tonearm represents some radical and somewhat ‘uncomfortable’ challenges to conventional thinking. It challenges deeply engrained ‘laws’ about tonearm design. This can make a lot of people feel uneasy about getting on board to try it. I can only offer that many of the best designs, not just in audio, have been departures from conventional thinking.”
Ken says this product belongs on the “best of” list for sheer innovation. You will want to read both Part 1 and Part 2 of this two-part review.
