[Review] What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision Award Winners 2007

[BlueMax]

What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision Award Winners 2007

This forum has some experienced and knowledgeable posters who don't need hi-fi mag review and awards, but the list below might still be useful to compare notes. Others might find it useful when making a short-list from the huge number of equipment in the market place.

Anyhooooo.... What do you all think? How do they compare with your own views, listening tests and experiences?

CD PLAYERS
BEST CD PLAYER under £300 : Marantz CD6002
BEST CD PLAYER £300 - £750 : Rega Apollo
BEST CD PLAYER £750 - £1500 : Cyrus CD8X
BEST CD PLAYER +£1500 : Leema Antila
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Rega Apollo

TURNTABLES
BEST TURNTABLE under £200 : Pro-Ject Genie £124.99
BEST TURNTABLE £200 - £750 : Rega P3-24
BEST TURNTABLE £750 - £1500 : Roksan Radius 5
BEST TURNTABLE +£1500 : ClearAudio Performance
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Rega P3-24

STEREO AMPS
BEST STEREO AMP under £300 : Rotel RA04
BEST STEREO AMP £300 - £750 : Roksan Kandy L.III £649.99
BEST STEREO AMP £750 - £1500 : Cyrus 8VS2
BEST STEREO AMP +£1500 : Cyrus Pre VS2/8 power/PSXR
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Roksan Kandy L.III £649.99

STEREO SPEAKERS
BEST STEREO SPEAKERS under £150 : Tannoy Mercury F1 from £89.99
BEST STEREO SPEAKERS £150 - £250 : Monitor Audio Bronze BR2 from £179.99
BEST STEREO SPEAKERS £250 - £500 : B&W 685
BEST STEREO SPEAKERS £500 - £1000 : ATC SCM11
BEST STEREO SPEAKERS £1000 - £2000 : Proac Studio 140
BEST STEREO SPEAKERS +£2000 : Wilson Benesch Square 2
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - B&W 685

CABLES
BEST MAINS CABLE Clearer Audio Copper Line
BEST VIDEO CABLE Chord HDMI Silver Plus 1
BEST SPEAKER CABLE QED Silver Anniversary XT from £5.35
BEST STEREO INTERCONNECT Atlas Equator
BEST DIGITAL AUDIO CABLE QED Performance Digital Audio
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - QED Silver Anniversary XT from £5.35

ACCESSORIES
BEST EQUIPMENT RACK Atacama Equinox Range from £64.99
BEST PHONO STAGE Camebridge Audio Azur 64DP
BEST UNIVERSAL REMOTE Logitech Harmony 555 £85.99
BEST SPEAKER STANDS under £100 : Soundstyle Z2
BEST SPEAKER STANDS +£100 : Partington Super Dreadnoughts £159.99
BEST HI-FI HEADPHONES Grado SR60 £79.99
BEST VALUE UPGRADE Brightstar Isonodes
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Atacama Equinox Range from £64.99

ALL-IN-ONE SYSTEMS
BEST HI-FI SYSTEM under £500 : Onkyo CS-515DAB £230.00
BEST HI-FI SYSTEM +£500 : Meridian F80
BEST HOME CINEMA SYSTEM under £750 : Sony DAV IS10 £569.99
BEST HOME CINEMA SYSTEM £750 - £1500 : Samsung HttXQ120
BEST HOME CINEMA SYSTEM +£3000 : Arcam Solo Movie 5.1
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Sony DAV IS10 £569.99

DVD & HD PLAYERS
BEST DVD under £100 : Samsung DVD HD870
BEST DVD £100 - £300 : Denon DVD-1940 £249.99
BEST DVD & HD PLAYER £300 - £500 : Sony PS3
BEST DVD £500 - £1000 : Marantz DV7001
BEST DVD & HD PLAYER +£1000 : Pioneer BDP-701XA
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Marantz DV7001

DVD RECORDERS & PVRS
BEST DVD RECORDER under £250 : Samsung DVD HD870
BEST DVD RECERDER +£250 : Sony RDR-HXD970 £255.99
BEST HD PVR SKY HD
BEST FREEVIEW PVR Sagem DVR64250T
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Sony RDR-HXD970 £255.99

MULTI-CHANNEL RECEIVERS
BEST RECEIVER under £300 : Onkyo TX-SR505 £249.99
BEST RECEIVER £300 - £750 : Onkyo TX-SR605 £399.99
BEST RECEIVER +£750 : Onkyo TX-SR875 £999.99
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Onkyo TX-SR605 £399.99

SPEAKER PACKS
BEST SPEAKER PACK under £750 : Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1
BEST SPEAKER PACK £750 - £1500 : Tannoy Mercury F1 Custom
BEST SPEAKER PACK £1500 - £3000 : Dali Ikon 6 5.1 £2,238.00
BEST SPEAKER PACK +£3000 : Jamo c809 hcs3/c80sub
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Dali Ikon 6 5.1 £2,238.00

STYLE SPEAKER PACKS
BEST STYLE SPEAKER PACK under £500 : Jamo A102 HCS5 £225.99
BEST STYLE SPEAKER PACK £500 - £1000 : Kef KHT3005SE
BEST STYLE SPEAKER PACK £1000 - £2000 : B&W MT30
BEST STYLE SPEAKER PACK £2000 : Tannoy Arena Highline
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Kef KHT3005SE

SUBWOOFERS
BEST SUBWOOFER under £300 : Wharfedale Diamond SW150 £239.95
BEST SUBWOOFER £300 - £750 : Monitor Audio RS W12
BEST SUBWOOFER +£750 : B&W PV1
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - B&W PV1

TVS
BEST 26" TV : Panasonic TX-26LXD70
BEST BUDGET 32" TV : Samsung LE32R87BD
BEST PREMIUM 32" TV : Panasonic TX-32LXD700
BEST 37" TV : Panasonic TH-37PX70
BEST BUDGET 40 - 42" TV : Panasonic TH-42PX70 £784.99
BEST PREMIUM 40 - 42" TV : Pioneer PDP-428XD £1,549.99
BEST +46" TV : Pioneer PDP-LX508D
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Pioneer PDP-428XD £1,549.99

PROJECTORS
BEST PROJECTOR under £1000 Infocus IN76 £999.00
BEST PROJECTOR £1000 - £2000 : Themescene HD80
BEST PROJECTOR £2000 - £4000 : Infocus IN82 £2,999.99
BEST PROJECTOR +£4000 : Sim2 HT380
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Infocus IN82 £2,999.99

RADIOS
BEST PORTABLE DAB : Pure Digital Evoke-1S £89.99
BEST TABLETOP DAB : Vita Audio R2 £219.98
BEST INTERENT RADIO : Tangent Quattro £179.954
BEST HI-FI TUNER : Denon TU-1800DAB £199.99
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Vita Audio R2 £219.98

MP3 & MP4 PLAYERS
BEST MP3 PLAYER under £50 : Apple iPod Shuffle
BEST MP3 PLAYER £50 - £150 : Apple iPod Nano
BEST MP3 PLAYER +£150 : Apple iPod Classic
BEST MULIMEDIA PORTABLE : Sony PSP Slim & Lite
BEST MULTIMEDIA PHONE : Nokia N95
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Apple iPod Classic

PC & MP3 ACCESSORIES
BEST DESKTOP SPEAKERS : Lars & Ivan BK21
BEST ACTIVE SPEAKERS : Audioengine A5
BEST PORTABLE SPEAKER SYSTEM : Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere
BEST iPOD AUDIO SYSTEM : Fatman iTube Valve-Dock £279.99
BEST PORTABLE HEADPHONES : Grado iGrado £39.95
BEST IN-EAR HEADPHONES : Shure SE110
BEST NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONE : Sennheiser PXC450 £269.99
BEST MUSIC SERVER : Sonos Digital Music System £949.00
*PRODUCT OF THE YEAR* - Fatman iTube Valve-Dock £279.99

 

[andyoz]

Meridian F80

Meridian F80 gets best all-in-one >£500.

I still haven't heard one.

 

[han25]

Hi Guys,

Do any one know the sound quality of Jamo C809 and how much just for the a pair of front speakers ?

Regards

Han

 

[sq225917]

Well that's another advertisers sponsored shit fest

 

[YNMOAN]

As above.

Mind you, the 'What Hi-Fi Awards' have never really had anything to do with reality - why should this year be any different.

 

[dudywoxer]

Well that's another advertisers sponsored shit fest

Strange comment, Rega won two product of the year awards. Care to point me at a Rega advert
________
Vaporizer Review

 

[Robbo]

Don't think I have listened to (or seen in the case of the screens) one item on the list above!

Something tells me that I am not missing anything either.

 

[D Louth 77]

All the usuall Suspects . How boring and predictable . Not saying some of the above are not quite good but ,there is better and more interesting kit about .

Any way about what i would have expected from WHAT NO HI-fi,
OOPS keyboard errorrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

D Louth

 

[bottleneck]

so the very best hifi mankind has to offer the universe is Cyrus pre/power and Wilson Benesch floorstanding 2 ways with a 7" bass cone?

 

[Corruption]

There are so many caveats here that they might as well not bother.

How many products do they test in a year?
How many manufacturers do they receive test products from?
Why is this year's model always an improvement over the same one from last year?

 

[mr cat]

oh noi - I was tempted by the rega apollo too...probably won't bother now...

 

[andyoz]

so the very best hifi mankind has to offer the universe is Cyrus pre/power and Wilson Benesch floorstanding 2 ways with a 7" bass cone?

They could have at least picked something with two 7" bass drivers.

I'm glad I got off the hifi treadmill years ago FFS

 

[D Louth 77]

Hi Guys

With this bit of info you will be able to predict how products reviewed at What (NO) Hi-Fi will fare(HI_FI ONLY). They had a sound room built for them . Rather than use an accoustic engineer or other expert . They built it themselves . What they built is so dead the only thing deader is an anacoic chamber .

The reason now that bright and thin and toppy audio does well is because anything more neutral or warm sounds wrong in this room . Now i will say that some kit that isn't bright etc does well from time to time but this is IMHO a miracle or accident rather than by design. I have this info from several sources. It explains a lot ,i think.

Regards D louth.

 

[chirs1211]

Re; Cd players, Cyrus and Marantz again this year didnt check any further.

 

[amazingtrade]

So you are lot saying those old classic Marantz CD players were not worthy of their reputation because they had good What HIFI reviews?

 

[mr cat]

So you are lot saying those old classic Marantz CD players were not worthy of their reputation because they had good What HIFI reviews?

no, they're basically saying that Marantz have a big advertising budget...

 

[amazingtrade]

no, they're basically saying that Marantz have a big advertising budget...

But surely they would not get away with such things? I remember What Hifi in the early 00's didn't like Kenwood or Pioneer stuff much, both of them advertised in their magazines despite the magazine giving low ratings.

However I do see that a product may be awarded 5 stars instead of 4 if they spend a lot of money advertising with the magazine as they would not want to upset them.

I think it is a balancing act.

I think the most disapointing thing I have bought under What HIFI influence is the PM4000 in 2000. My parents use it now, the mid range sounds fine lovely and smooth but the rest just sounds flat.

My Cambridge Azure A640 sounds much better.

 

[Smiffy]

I gave up reading hifi mags two years ago, I dont know if I am missing much and dont worry about it.

I do think I was steered wrong and taken by rave reveiws and have now learnt my lesson,which is use a good good dealer, listen to as much gear as you can and then try it at home in you're own system for as long as you can get away with,then let you're ears/brain choose.:boogie: