Best Products of 2018 Awards
Written By Terry Ellis December 2018
For the Best Products of 2018 Video click HERE
For the Best Products of 2018 Video click HERE
2018 was a very interesting year for me personally but also for Pursuit Perfect System as our overall following grew both here and on You Tube. I worked as hard as I could to not only bring you as much content as I could, but to also improve the quality of the content. I invested a lot of money in better equipment, new cameras, new lens, new software, loads and loads and even more memory and I am very proud of the improvements I have made to the quality of the content and the results are speaking for themselves - nearly 8k subscribers and over 2.3million video views.
I want to reassure you I am showing no signs of slowing down, if anything I am looking to speed up and want to ask for your support by either the sharing of the word about Pursuit Perfect System and or by donating a regular tiny amount of money via Patreon. This support is not only appreciated it will help me make things much better for you.
Before you jump into our 2018 award winners I want to confirm that every product chosen for an award has either been fully reviewed or I have spent serious time with it. A 10 minute listen at a show or similar does not count, I had to spend some serious time with a product for it to be contended for an award.
I want to reassure you I am showing no signs of slowing down, if anything I am looking to speed up and want to ask for your support by either the sharing of the word about Pursuit Perfect System and or by donating a regular tiny amount of money via Patreon. This support is not only appreciated it will help me make things much better for you.
Before you jump into our 2018 award winners I want to confirm that every product chosen for an award has either been fully reviewed or I have spent serious time with it. A 10 minute listen at a show or similar does not count, I had to spend some serious time with a product for it to be contended for an award.
I started our Awards with the Best Bluetooth Product and this category covers Bluetooth speakers, dongles or any product where the primary function is audio via a Bluetooth connection.
There were three main contenders in this category the KEF Muo, the BenQ Trevolo 2 and the Audiolab M-DAC nano, all superb in their own rights. I loved the KEF when I reviewed them, so much so I bought the review samples, both of them. I love how much fun they are and how they really kick out such an impressive SPL and bass from such a small unit.
Comparing to the BenQ Trevolo 2, at its higher price point it has more unique technologies and features with a nicer fit and finish. It also has a more refined sonic presentation at the sacrifice of some SPL output and maybe just a little of the fun of the Muo. Both are great and worthy of your hard earned money.
I have been using and enjoying the Audiolab M-DAC nano pretty much every day since I started the review for it, it made a big impression on me really quickly. It improved the sound from my Samsung S9+ smartphone dramatically and removed the tether between me and the phone which is great for me and how I use my phone as a media source. There is no going back to be tethered, ever.
For the RRP of £149 it offers a huge amount of everything you could want in such a product and I happily award it our Best Bluetooth Product of 2018
I didnt get to review a huge variety of headphones in 2018 but I did get to spend some time with some very good ones such as the Focal Elear and Utopia, the KEF Space One and M500 and most recently the outstanding Sonoma M1 headphone system
Behind the scenes I have been using the iFi Audio Micro iDSD Black Label as a headphone amplifier and DAC to monitor and master about 90% of the videos that have been created for the You Tube channel. Its been a real work horse of a product that I liked so much I bought it following the review.
The product however that I have used even more in that time and is the deserved winner of this award is the Audioquest NightOwl Carbon headphones
The Audioquest NightOwl Carbons are not perfect and they are not suited to every use, however they are a very balanced and easy going listen allowing you to enjoy using them for many hours at a time without any loistening fatigue. They are immensely comfortable and light despite how big they are and they get enough right for me to be very happy to award them the Best Headphones product of 2018
Recently announced they are stopping production of headphones ans reduced the price of the NightOwl Carbons from over £650 down to £349 - get them before they are all gone
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The category HiFi Necessity is a semi play on words replacing HiFi Accessory, I firmly believe certain accessories are necessities for great audio and titled the award as such.
There was a lot of candidates for this award because I have and do use lots of great products in my reference review system, especially if they relate to isolation, isolation is a powerful thing
Plinth Designs Cera-Disc range are my go to Isolation products for under and on top of components, these are designed to drain and to reduce any vibration moving into components. For the money these are great products that can really make a big impact on the sound of a hifi system.
Another great product range that took me by surprise this year was Furutech and their NCF products, especially the NCF Booster products. I was not expecting them to make such a big difference and I would not be without them now, they form a staple part of my reference review system.
There was one "accessory" product that I experienced transform a hifi systems performance in different rooms, on different systems including my own. The impact the IsoAcoustics GAIA II had on my KEF Reference Speakers was profound, so much so even the recorded A/B demonstrations video I created as part of the review were very powerful in demonstrating the improvement the GAIA made. They are an absolute "no-brainer" product and I am very happy to award them Best HiFi Necessity Product 2018.
You can buy the IsoAcoustics GAIA HERE
I spent a lot of time in 2018 using various cables from Tellurium Q, a brand I was very familiar with but had never spent any real time with any of their cables. Listening to different cables across their range they are all excellent and fulfil a purpose. The company has a matrix of cable performance with 3 families of sound Blue, Black and Silver. Every cable within a family will sound the way it is described. but as you move up the range you will get more of it.
The Black Diamond and Silver Diamond cables are at the top of their respective families and both are exceptional, with my preference leaning towards the Silver Diamond. Both are extremely highly regarded and I wholeheartedly recommend them.
Tellurium Q MD Geoff Merrigan actually visited me this year to demonstrate the companies new flagship product the Statements Cables. It was an experience I will not forget for a long time, wow what a product range. These are the best cables I have ever experienced by some considerable margin and I hope to get a chance to spend more time with them in the future. I didn't have enough time with them for them to be considered for an award, maybe in 2019 we will see.
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The Tellurium Q Black II speaker cables are the companies entry level speaker cable from the Black Family. At £54 a meter they are not what some might call entry level priced, but they are also not what anyone would call entry level performance.
I was quite stunned by just how good they are and did a very interesting comparison between the original Black I and Black II and was very impressed by the improved sound quality from what is visually the same product.
The Black II speaker cables are flexible, discrete, could easily fit under carpets or rugs and as such would be very easy to live with in nearly all domestic situations. They are a very light speaker cable and are therefore very well suited to use with book shelf speakers sitting on top of stands. All these often forgotten factors coupled with the overall sound quality at their price point are the reason I can happily award them Best Analogue Cable of 2018. They are a great introduction to what Tellurium Q are all about and if you like what these do, you will love what the other cables do higher up in the range.
I used many different digital cables in 2018 from great companies like Audioquest, Nordost, Tellurium Q and XLO but it was a new company to me who's product really impressed me the most. Wave High Fidelity are a Leicester, UK based company that created a BNC based SPDIF cable designed to be used as a pair to link between a Chord Electronics DAVE DAC and a Chord BLU MKII Scaler. The cables are designed to tackle the issue of RF noise that is fundamentally passing between both products and being picked up by the cables through the air
The Wave High Fidelity Storm Reference is the companies flagship SPDIF digital cable that employs the use of many ferrites along its length and some very high quality parts to create the best digital cable I have used thus far. That is why I have awarded it the Best Digital Cable of 2018.
I am currently using and reviewing Wave High Fidelity new and more affordable cables the Stream Cables, these share a lot of the same design principles as the Storm Reference, maybe 85% of the performance for 60% of the cost, those are good numbers for audiophiles to pay attention to.
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I haven't officially reviewed many power products in 2018, there are lots planned for 2019, however I have been using many power products throughout the year so have spent serious time with lots of really good ones.
For all of the song demonstration videos we make as part of our product reviews you will have seen in our You Tube channel the system was wired up using XLO power cables. I have been using the Signature 3 predominantly and want to mention these as being great power cables, some of the best I have experienced to date.
Isotek mains conditioning products have also been used in nearly every song demonstration video, these have formed a key part of my reference review system for some time and are very worthy of recommendation because they are excellent.
I was fortunate enough to review an Audioquest Niagara 7000 Power conditioner in 2018 and have it in my review system for a good number of weeks and I thought it was fantastic. Its a big unit, heavier than a lot of amplifiers and its styling is a little unique but I think its a great product and I am very happy to award it Best Power Product of 2018.
2018 seems to be the year the Chord Electronics Qutest DAC has won many awards across the Industries press, I was one of the first press to review it and to this day I am extremely impressed by it. One of the first products I reviewed the PS Audio Directstream DAC. This was a hugely impressive DAC and set a high expectation bar for all others following that.
I reviewed nearly every Chord Electronics DAC in 2018, only the Mojo and Hugo TT2 didn't get full reviews. It was the Chord DAVE however that eventually blew me away with just how good it is a HiFi component. The resolution, the clarity, the bass power and bass control are something very special. I ended 2018 really wanting one for my reference review system for a good number of reasons and its these reasons I am awarding the Chord DAVE Best DAC of 2018
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Different audio software form just as large part of my reference review system as the different hardware which should come as no surprise in a world of computers in many varieties being a digital source for a music system. I awarded two software's Best Audio Software because both are essential to me and absolutely marvellous.
Different audio software form just as large part of my reference review system as the different hardware which should come as no surprise in a world of computers in many varieties being a digital source for a music system. I awarded two software's Best Audio Software because both are essential to me and absolutely marvellous.
I started using Dirac Live about 18 months ago and straight away I could see and hear the improvement and benefits it could bring to any and all audio systems both 2 channel and multi channel. I use it purely as a software solution that runs on my dedicated custom built audio pc, digital music transport. For under £400 Dirac Live does more to improve the sound of my audio system than many thousands of pounds of spent elsewhere because it helps to remove the a lot of the wrongs of my listening room and more. For me it is an essential, I wouldn't listen without it and for my review system it helps to keep things even and fair.
I cant praise Dirac Live highly enough and happily award it Best Audio Software 2018 and if you are interested in buying Dirac Live click here
JPLAY has been at the heart and soul of my Audio PC digital music transport since the day I built my first one some years ago, in fact it was the effects of JPLAY that made me even consider using a computer as a high end music source. Since then there has been several new JPLAY releases and each time I have been amazed at how much sonic improvement what essentially seems a very simple software can make, it reality is far from simple and is the product of a serious audiophiles pursuit of perfection in computer audio.
A couple of months ago after a very long wait JPLAY did it again with the release of JPLAY Femto and as the video I created for this at the time correctly stated, computer audio will never be the same again. JPLAY Femto is a now a full digital music source and library manager and streamer software and one that sounds amazing for the incredible low cost of under £135. Better yet there is a 21 day free trial to get used to the software before purchasing and the JPLAY forum is a wonderful resource for advice and tips on how to build the very best computer music server.
If you are using a windows based computer in any fashion, laptop, pc etc JPLAY FEMTO will be the best £135 you will ever spend and that is why it wins the Best Audio Software Award 2018
I couldn't make an end of year awards and leave this game changing product out, it made far too big an impression on me for that. The Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler was released later part of 2018 and I met with Rob Watts its designer on several occasions this year and heard him talk about the technology behind it and the reasons for its existence.
The magical "1 million taps" might not have much significance as a phrase until you spend some time with Chord's M Scaler technology. This technology has been around for a few years in the form of the BLU MKII scaler but with an RRP of around £8500 its been out of reach for a lot of audiophiles. The Hugo M Scaler brings that exact same technology to Audiophiles for under half that cost £3700 which is just wonderful.
I heard the Hugo M Scaler play in several systems but there is nothing like having something in your own system to properly assess how good it might just be. After a long wait I got my hands on one as part of the review for several exciting products the KEF R7 Speakers, the McIntosh MC275 and the Chord Hugo TT 2. All I will say is wow, I was blown away by what the Hugo M Scaler was doing in my system and after a week of listening to one there was no way I could go back to listening without one, I had to buy one. A Hugo M Scaler is now an integral part of my reference review system. There are not many products that have had such an instant impact on me and I had to award the Chord Electronics Hugo M Scaler Best Digital Hardware of 2018. More on this amazing digital product coming soon
I reviewed a lot of amplifier in 2018, let me rephrase that a lot of great amplifiers in 2018. Choosing the best ones was not an easy task when your selecting from brands like Mark Levinson, Leema Acoustics, Luxman, YBA, Unison Research, McIntosh and others.
I reviewed several Luxman Amplifiers in 2018 and I really enjoyed spending time with them all but it was the L-509X that made the biggest impressions on me, it really is something quite special. It sounds fantastic which it at its near £9000 asking price it more than needs to. On top of that is an absolute work of art, visually its absolutely stunning, the VU meters are awesome, the colour of it, the quality of every button and switch oozes class and there is a level of attention to detail that is inspiring. I happily award the Best Integrated Amplifier 2018 to the Luxman L-509X
I reviewed some stunning Power Amplifiers in 2018 such as the incredible Luxman M-700U and the YBA Passion Power 650. It was actually a near 60 year old design that really got my interest
The legendary and very iconic McIntosh MC275 was my first valve amplifier experience in my own reference review system, it didnt take long for me to realise what all the fuss is about and why this amplifier has been in production since the 1960's. Its simply a great sounding amplifier, extremely musical and sweet sounding and a joy to listen to. Modern twists to a classic look has me won over in the styling department too. Great amplifier and I am happy to award it the Best Power Amplifier of 2018.
I didn't review many different Home Cinema products in 2018 but I did spend a lot of time with one product in particular, both in my own review system and out a customers homes. The Arcam AVR 850 has been out for a while now but still represents about the best home cinema AV receiver you can buy for outright audio performance. Arcam's desision to include Dirac Live room correction has got to be its best home cinema product decision in decades and it brought this otherwise prohibitively expensive solution to audiophiles at more reasonable prices.
More impressive has been Arcam's continued support and free updates to their AV Receivers such as Dolby Vision, Imax Enhanced, improved bass management and most recently Dirac Live 2.0 which is the latest and most improved version.
I have been out to many customers to setup their Arcam AVR 850 Dirac Live and I have been hugely impressed and just how capable it is from room to room and system to system. I happily award the Arcam AVR 850 Best Home Cinema Product of 2018.
If you interested in having your Arcam or Dirac Live setup by someone who really knows what he is doing in terms of using it to get the most performance from your system get in touch with me.
This leads us on to our last category and for some this could be the most important one of them all
I got to review some very interesting speakers in 2018, some very good speaker from Bowers and Wilkins in the 603 and the 705 S2. The Continuum drivers in both of those speakers were fantastic and really impressed me with how clean and clear the midrange was, especially the 603 at £1200 they are really great value for money.
I reviewed the Monitor Audio PL100 MKII which blew me away with their bass output, how they achieve such a big and powerful bass from an average size book shelf speaker is quite something.
I spent a lot of time with the KEF Reference 3 speakers which are quite remarkable both in appearance and sonically but as these are my own personal speakers I discounted them for any awards
Right at the end of 2018 I started the review for some very interesting speakers the Eclispe TD510Z Mk2 and the incredible German Physiks Unlimited II. As there was no video or website content created at all for these speakers I didn't think it was correct to include them in the 2018 awards. The German Physiks Unlimited II are in a lot of ways the best sounding speakers I have had in my listening room to date, they are incredible.
It was speakers from KEF that really impressed me with just how good a speaker can be at a moderate investment price point. The R7 very similar in size and form factor to my own KEF Reference 3 took me on a journey and kept delivering more and more sonic goodness as I improved the system around them. The end result was nothing short of fantastic and I was absolutely blown away with the quality of sound the R7 were capable of and I can see them making many, many audiophiles happy all over the world for many years to come and as such happily awarded them Best Speakers of 2018