Robb Report audio awards 2025.......laugher list is a more appropriate title.

[Blumlein 88]

Opening paragraph and a half:

For a third year in a row, the annual Robb Report Audio Awards continue the tradition begun in 2023 by our editors of bringing top-flight audio products to the attention of music-lovers whose lifestyles and budgets are as diverse as the music they listen to. As every automobile enthusiast knows, once behind the wheel, it’s not always the fastest and most costly car that captures your heart. The aesthetic, tactile, and aural sensations that make a car special are precisely those defining qualities that characterize a remarkable audio component as one that stands apart from the rest—price and specifications be damned.

These real-world recommendations take into consideration the relative value, quality, and performance each piece of gear delivers, with inevitable comparisons to the very best and most costly products available. That’s precisely where the most surprising discoveries are made and the greatest satisfaction is derived. Our editors have always taken particular pleasure in sharing gear whose performance far outdistances its price tag. snip................

The 2025 Audio Awards: The 44 Best Headphones, Earbuds, Speakers, Turntables, and More

Robb Report's Audio Awards name the best audiophile gear of 2025, from headphones and earbuds to speakers and turntables and more.

robbreport.com

Best speaker is the Wilson Watt/Puppy. $35k/pair.

Best Solid State Integrated Amplifier: Dan D'Agostino Master Audio Systems Momentum MxV. $65k for which you do not get the optional phono or digital module. However according to Robb's expert editors "while not inexpensive, it is an exceptional value for those seeking the very best."

Among their various categories are of course cables which they say should cost around 10-15% of the system total with naturally Audioquest being suggested.

 

[mhardy6647]

$65k for which you do not get the optional phono or digital module.

So... you can hook it to naught buy, e.g., a tape deck or a tuner, then?

 

[Mikig]

well, out of 44 products I only save 2…! it practically made the ranking of what I'm not interested in!!

 

[Blumlein 88]

So... you can hook it to naught buy, e.g., a tape deck or a tuner, then?

Well the phono module only adds $5k to the cost and $10k for the streaming digital module. Without those I guess you can feed it the analog out of a DAC or yes tuner, tape deck whatever with analog signals.

 

[Sokel]

I'll make arrengements to listen to iTron today already!
I usually don't like Avantgarde, too much attention-seeker speakers.

But boy, iTron is a beauty! I don't even care how it measures or sounds, these look like speakers for the main house.

 

[mhardy6647]

Well the phono module only adds $5k to the cost and $10k for the streaming digital module.

Veritable bargains! I therefore rescind my previous snark.

(although it would be cool to see some rich, ironic hipster tech bro hook an eight-track deck to one...)

 

[aschen]

A couple choices on the list arnt too bad, or at least better than i would expect. Maybe by chance

 

[Mart68]

A couple choices on the list arnt too bad, or at least better than i would expect. Maybe by chance

Yes - Technics SL1300, QUAD amps, KEF LS60, MoFi Sourcepoint 10 are all in there. Seems to be recommendations at every price point except the bargain basement which I suppose is understandable given the nature of the publication.

I mean there's nothing wrong with those D'Augustino amps and if your accountant tells you that you have too much money - well why not?

Only the bit about cables is truly bollocks:

''Discussions about cables, which like politics or religion in the real world, can incite riotous discourse in the audio community. Unbelievers cry “snake oil,” while acolytes swear on beatific sonic visions wrought by speaker wires costing more than a Toyota. The truth, savvy listeners know, lies somewhere in between. “

Err... no it doesn't, Robb me old boy.

I never heard of Robb Report until I saw an episode of 'The Sopranos' where Tony was reading it. I looked it up to see what it was he was so interested in.

 

[teched58]

Stereophile has sunk so low that their release this week of "Recommended Components 2025 Edition" gets no coverage at all and instead we are talking about the Robb Report's audiobling buyer's guide.

 

[Madlop26]

''Discussions about cables, which like politics or religion in the real world, can incite riotous discourse in the audio community. Unbelievers cry “snake oil,” while acolytes swear on beatific sonic visions wrought by speaker wires costing more than a Toyota. The truth, savvy listeners know, lies somewhere in between. “

Err... no it doesn't, Robb me old boy.

"Some people think the earth is a sphere, others the earth is flat. The truth, savvy listeners know, lies somewhere in between", sure haha

 

[dedobot]

Stereophile has sunk so low that their release this week of "Recommended Components 2025 Edition" gets no coverage at all and instead we are talking about the Robb Report's audiobling buyer's guide.

The discussion at bottom is interesting. Threats of murder and burial, literally

 

[terryforsythe]

At the top of the article it states:

"Robb Report editors and writers test hundreds of the finest audio products in the world every year. We've mined those reviews to name the best audiophile gear of 2025."

Given what we know about subjective audio equipment reviews, that statement tells the well informed to ignore the recommendations.

 

[mhardy6647]

"Some people think the earth is a sphere, others the earth is flat. The truth, savvy listeners know, lies somewhere in between", sure haha

Well -- it's not a perfect sphere.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Well -- it's not a perfect sphere.

Would you say the way in which it is not a sphere it tends towards flatness?

 

[mhardy6647]

Would you say the way in which it is not a sphere it tends towards flatness?

That would be my understanding, yes. A flattish sphere.
A little bulgy at the equator... but then again, I could say the same of my own morphology.