2024 Audioholics Product of the Year Award Winners!

The 2024 Audioholics Product of the Year Awards highlight exceptional audio gear across various categories, including receivers, loudspeakers, and subwoofers, based on rigorous reviews and comparisons within their respective price classes. A recurring theme in the reviewed products for 2024 includes the prevalence of curved cabinets and abundant deep bass performance, often requiring substantial amplifier power and budget for audiophile-grade super towers. Several companies have elevated performance and price points with new series launches, while others have refined existing models, leading to a selection of outstanding products and unexpected innovations. In the category of A/V Multi-Channel Receivers, the Onkyo TX-RZ70 is recognized for its impressive feature set, including Dirac Room Correction with Bass Control, and extensive streaming options like AirPlay 2, Spotify, Chromecast, and Sonos. Its hardware performance is notable, delivering 118 watts/ch into 8 ohms with seven channels driven and 265 watts into 4 ohms with two channels driven. The TX-RZ70's pre-amp outputs, utilizing ESS Sabre DACs, also demonstrated excellent performance, allowing for flexible high-powered setups with outboard amplifiers. Its current sale price further enhances its value. For Hi-fi Two-Channel Receivers, the Yamaha R-N2000A stands out. This receiver combines traditional high-end stereo hardware with modern features such as bass management for subwoofers, HDMI ARC, and USB Audio. It incorporates a massive toroidal transformer and a generous capacitor bank for robust power delivery, maintaining stability even with 2-ohm loads. ESS Sabre DACs ensure clean audio at the pre-amp stage. The R-N2000A also boasts a luxury build quality with level meters, a sturdy chassis, and solid brass binding posts, making it a top choice in its price range. The Best Audiophile Loudspeaker Series award goes to Arendal Sound 1528. Known for delivering overbuilt quality at reasonable prices, Arendal Sound surprised with their high-end 1528 line, surpassing their 1723 THX-certified series. The 1528 Tower is praised for its impeccable build quality, extreme dynamic range, excellent directivity, and linear response with deep bass extension down to 20Hz. Its waveguide-loaded lithium-magnesium tweeter provides transparency across the frequency spectrum. The series also includes a matching center speaker and bookshelf speakers that offer full-range, tower-like sound in a more compact form, provided they are paired with sufficient amplifier power (200+ watts per channel at 4 ohms). Arendal Sound's 60-day trial period further reduces risk for audiophiles. The SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Floor-Standing Loudspeaker is recognized as the Best High-Performance Tower Speaker. These large towers feature an array of drivers and an unusual enclosure shape, delivering a smooth, neutral sound with a slightly elevated bass. The four 8-inch bass drivers provide significant displacement potential, offering tight and controlled bass without the need for a separate subwoofer for most users. The two 5.25-inch midrange drivers complement the low-frequency headroom, and the diamond-crusted tweeter with an 'organic cell-lattice diffuser' completes the package. These speakers benefit from a potent amplifier. For Best Affordable Tower Speakers, the RBH Sound Impression 85-i Floor-Standing Speakers are highlighted. These slim towers are notable for being domestically manufactured in the USA, a rarity for affordable home audio loudspeakers. They offer low bass extension for their class and a neutral sound signature. Constructed with HDF cabinetry, a satin finish, and quality drivers and crossover components, they provide excellent value for just over $1,000 per pair, making them ideal for those seeking a space-saving floor-standing speaker without a subwoofer. The Dayton Audio OPAL1 Bookshelf Speakers are named Best Affordable Bookshelf Speakers. These speakers represent a move towards higher-end offerings from Dayton Audio, featuring a massively overbuilt, gloss-finish design. They deliver unexpectedly deep bass extension for stand-mount speakers, surpassing many tower speakers, though this comes at the expense of sensitivity. The OPAL1s are commended for their warm, inviting sound and subwoofer-like bass, offering superb build quality and performance at $800 per pair. AudioSmile Little British Monitor (LBM) receives the award for Best Compact Desktop Speakers. These high-end desktop loudspeakers are lauded for their exceptional build quality, weighty feel, and attractive appearance. Their audio performance is impeccable, with accurate frequency response suitable for studio monitoring and excellent dynamic range for their size. The LBMs offer broad, even dispersion, including unusually good vertical dispersion, which is beneficial for varied listening positions in a desktop environment. They represent a blend of performance and value in their class. In the subwoofer category, the Hsu Research VTF-TN1 is named Best Subwoofer. This flagship model improves upon its predecessor with a higher-performance configuration, better port design, and lower bass extension. Surprisingly, Hsu Research also reduced the price and extended the warranty to five years. The VTF-TN1's smaller footprint facilitates multi-sub systems for achieving linear in-room response. It excels in both movies and music applications, offering near infrasonic extension, powerful mid-bass punch, low distortion, and sharp time delay performance. The RSL Speedwoofer 10E is recognized as the Best Affordable Subwoofer. Priced at an accessible $299, including shipping, this entry-level model delivers high-performing low-frequency extension. It capably extends below 30Hz in-room and maintains composure even when driven hard, producing over 100dB in bursts at 30Hz and above. The 10E also boasts excellent time domain performance for a ported subwoofer and a build quality superior to comparably priced alternatives, featuring internal bracing and acoustic stuffing. RSL's commitment to making great bass accessible is applauded, with recommendations for multi-sub setups to enhance bass response and system headroom. Finally, the Focal 1000 IWLCR Utopia In-Wall Loudspeaker receives the award for Best In-Wall Loudspeakers. Despite being out for a couple of years, Audioholics' direct experience in 2024 deeply impressed the reviewers. These speakers challenge preconceptions about in-wall audio, rivaling and often surpassing many free-standing reference speakers in pinpoint imaging, soundstage, dynamics, and clarity. They incorporate state-of-the-art materials like a pure Beryllium tweeter mounted in a waveguide and Focal's 'W' Sandwich Cone Drivers. The tweeter-midrange assembly pivots, allowing for angling towards the listener and mitigation of reflections. The driver array's nested design controls vertical dispersion while maintaining horizontal dispersion, ideal for home theater applications. The modular design allows for daisy-chaining Utopia IWSUBs to create a full-range system down to 28Hz using a single amplifier channel, exemplified by Audioholics' own reference theater built around this series. These comprehensive features justify its recognition as a top product of the year. Despite a lower volume of reviews in 2024 compared to previous years, the emphasis remained on quality, leading to a challenging selection process for the Product of the Year awards. Readers are encouraged to explore other reviewed contenders in each category to find products that best suit their individual needs. Audioholics plans for more insightful reviews and new audio gear coverage in 2025. #AudioholicsAwards #ProductOfTheYear #AVReceivers #Loudspeakers #Subwoofers #HomeTheater #AudiophileGear #SpeakerReviews #AudioTechnology #AudioholicsAwards #ProductOfTheYear #AVReceivers #Loudspeakers #Subwoofers #HomeTheater #AudiophileGear #SpeakerReviews #AudioTechnology