Recommended Components Fall 2024 Edition
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable. Occasionally we get letters of complaint from manufacturers who object to being included in, say, Class Bbut inclusion in Class B is a thing to be proud of.
www.stereophile.com
One of the highlights is seeing the Storm Audio ISP Evo getting A+ for digital processors not just for theater use.
For amps, AHB2 and Schiit Tyr in A class.
I think the speaker list is interesting in showing how preferences can deviate. B&W for example has the ability to make neutral speakers but chooses not to and in the rooms that the listeners are choosing they do seem to like it.
Importantly, many of the reviewers probably have lost their high frequency hearing so the uptilt may not be as noxious in blind testing as compared to the measurements might predict. The strengths of the rest may translate into a good experience.
The one missing part of audio science is *how* stereo imaging masks frequency response irregularities. We know that mono listening helps distinguish speakers and what is preferred in mono is also preferred in stereo, but I would imagine that there may be ways to enhance the masking effect of stereo and one analysis of the B&W treble involves how much HF gets thrown backward.