We’ve been wondering about just who would be on a list of the top contenders for the Champion of the World in several categories of high-end audio equipment.

Contenders are either the products we know to be great and hearing them several times actually *sound* great, those that we suspect to be great, and those that are generally considered to be great.

Note that some of this has to do with fashion, and some has to do with popularity, and some to do with actual performance.

To put it simply, if you won the lottery today – what would you want to audition tomorrow?

Speakers:

Kharma Exquisite Grande, Midi Grande Exquisite and several others (rep, sound)

Marten Coltrane Supreme, Momento, Coltrane 2 (sound)

Audio Note (UK) Sogon and AN/E SEC Signature (sound,popular)

Focal Grande Utopia EM (rep)

Avantgarde Trio (popular)

Acapella Triolon and Campanile (sound)

Rockport Arrakis (rep)

Wilson Alexandria (rep)

Magico Q5 (rep)

MBL 101e (popular)

Avalon ISIS (sound)

Verity Lohengrin (sound)

YG Acoustics Anat (rep)

———–
…popular means that people just really like them.

Others? Anybody? Remember they have to be recognized as a tip top performer by at least some percentage of audiophiles.

There are a TON of speakers out there. This is the longest list we have in this little virtual battle of the top components competition here.

If you want to nominate others, please leave a comment!

We’ve been wondering about just who would be on a list of the top contenders for the Champion of the World in several categories of high-end audio equipment.

Contenders are either the products we know to be great and hearing them several times actually *sound* great, those that we suspect to be great, and those that are generally considered to be great.

Note that some of this has to do with fashion, and some has to do with popularity, and some to do with actual performance.

To put it simply, if you won the lottery today – what would you want to audition tomorrow?

Tube Amps:

The Audio Note (UK) Gaku-On (This is other worldly)

A slew of Audio Note (UK) amps using various tubes and configurations (Ongaku, Kegon, Kageki, etc.)

The Kondo Ongaku (still legendary)

The Lamm ML3 (an amazing performer)

The VTL (has a good reputation)

The WAVAC SH-833 (Most expensive and has a good reputation)

———–

Others? Anybody? Remember they have to recognized as a top performer by at least some percentage of audiophiles.

There are a TON of tube amps out there. There are even some with unique designs that perform quite well – but are not quite well known. The Berning OTL amps sound quite good, as do the LARS 300B amps.

If you want to nominate others, please leave a comment!

We’ve been wondering about just who would be on a list of the top contenders for the Champion of the World in several categories of high-end audio equipment.

Contenders are either the products we know to be great and hearing them several times actually *sound* great, those that we suspect to be great, and those that are generally considered to be great.

Note that some of this has to do with fashion, and some has to do with popularity, and some to do with actual performance.

To put it simply, if you won the lottery today – what would you want to audition tomorrow?

Turntables:

The big Continuum turntable (the hype has died down quite a bit, but I think it is still on the list)

The Clearaudio Statement (this has really good dynamics)

The Walker Proscenium (price has doubled in the last two years, yikes! but a top performer)

Goldmund Reference II

Rockport Sirius III (a classic and still a contender)

Brinkmann Balance and Lagrange (people find the simplicity and elegance very appealing, and they are a good performer)

Da Vinci AAS Gabriel (a set of interesting people we respect seem to like this turntable)

———–

Others? Anybody? Remember they have to recognized as a top performer by at least some percentage of audiophiles.

There are a TON of turntables out there. The big Transroter has a lot of bling but it relatively unknown. The TW-Acustic has a lot of arms – but many turntables now support this.

If you know of others, please leave a comment!