The following installments first appeared in HIFI AND MUSIC SOURCE, the publication for news, reviews and views, with whom PMA Magazine have a content sharing program.

_{All photos from HiFi And Music Source.}

REL 99 Classic Loudspeaker

Here we go, Awards Season, and the first Best of 2024 award is to the Best Loudspeaker of the Year. We’ve listened to many loudspeakers this year, notably the excellent AudioVector QR3 SEs, the Focal Aria Evo X No.2s, the Triangle Borea BR10s, and the very beautiful Sonus faber Sonetto III G2 floorstanders. These were all worthy loudspeakers, but we are awarding the Loudspeaker of the Year to the REL Classic 99. Yes, it is a subwoofer, but it is still a loudspeaker, and this product profoundly impressed this reviewer with its cinema- and audio-based performance. In the review, and in the context of spending money on all sorts of accessories and upgrades, we commented:

…a subwoofer can offer the best pound-for-pound upgrade you can make to a decent HiFi system.

We noted in pairing the Classic 99 with the Naim Audio New Classic NAP 250 power amplifier and Borea loudspeakers in a cinema arrangement that the:

…bass loading appears and feels bigger, faster, and deeper.

And we concluded:

This (the 99 Classic) is the single most musical REL out there.

WiiM AMP Streaming Integrated Amplifier

The second award of 2024 goes to the WiiM AMP, one of the best-value products of recent times. The WiiM AMP is a streaming-integrated amplifier that can be controlled via the company’s feature-laden WiiM Home app. The app supports many streaming services such as Spotify, iHeartRadio, Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz, Napster, Pandora, TuneIn, Deezer, and more. It has the additional flexibility of having Spotify and Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast, Bluetooth 5.1 (in and out), and Alexa/Siri/Google Assistant built-in. It is also Roon Ready.

We said of the WiiM AMP in the review that it has:

…a wholly effective and tantalizing soundstage.

Giving the AMP an Outstanding badge, we concluded:

This faultless unit offers excellent connectivity, response, and solid output at a price that is hard to argue against. Few competitors exist at this price level. As such, it is an outstanding piece of equipment at this price.

Node Audio Support System One (SS-1)

The third award of 2024 goes to the Node Audio Support System One. Designed to drain mechanical vibrations and focus stray magnetic fields, each SS-1 module can be fitted with a 3D-printed cable riser or carpet spikes.

Using the SS-1s underneath the Chord Hugo 2, we said:

…the presentation certainly offers a heightened experience to the listener.

After contemplating removing them from our reference preamplifier at HF&MS, we commented:

…I’ll be loathe to remove them at the end of this review.

We concluded:

These are for you if you demand the best and can afford it.

Auralic VEGA S1 Streaming DAC

The fourth award of 2024 goes to Auralic’s VEGA S1. The VEGA S1 is a streaming DAC with an optional external Purer-Power linear power supply. It retains all the important stuff from the Aries G2.2 flagship network streamer, such as the galvanic isolation that lies between the Tesla processing platform and its highly sensitive DAC circuitry, to deliver a high-quality wired streaming DAC platform at a highly competitive price. In our review, we said:

Sonically, this is magic… the VEGA S1 is effortless with the Angel 6 power amplifier.

And we commented:

The PSU addition is a step up… it is impressive, thoughtful, and very Auralic.

Of the ‘Outstanding’ VEGA S1, we concluded:

… it is the clean, crisp resolving sonic signature that sets this VEGA S1 apart at this price level.

ADOT Media Converter

The next Best of 2024 Award goes to the ADOT media converter. This ADOT device isolates your HiFi equipment from the noisy router using a fiber optic isolator between the router and the HiFi source, such as a streamer. The ADOT has now formed a platform upon which all of the HF&MS networked products (libraries, streamers, etc.) are isolated from the router using a Melco S100 data switch, which receives the optical data. In our review of the ADOT, we said it made our reference system sound:

Open, more transparent, just better!

And we concluded:

It offered a tangible gain in my system and it is one that I am reluctant to part with.

Coming soon, Part 2.

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