Top 10 Most Exciting Products We Tested in 2021

At year’s end, it’s sometimes fun to take a look back. The testing department at The Music Room gets to see some of the coolest HiFi gear in the world, and I’ve compiled a list of some of the most exciting products that came through in 2021.

To be inspired is to look at a Bugatti Chiron hypercar and gawk in awe… before getting back into your own truck or car. It’s not about what you can afford, but what gets your motor running, if you will.

Here’s my top 10 products tested by me and my coworkers in the last year… enjoy!

Halcro dm68 Mono Amplifier Pair

When Halcro produces an amplifier, the audio world listens. On the heels of the massive – and massively appreciated – model DM58, the Australian company one-upped itself with a pair of monoblocks that challenge the size of the word “bigness.”

So outrageous are the specs, the chassis and the internal layout of this pair of Mega-Fi amplifiers that in the years since the DM68 introduction very few other amplifiers produced in the category have gotten even close.

Zero global feedback, enough current ability to melt inadequate cables (a rumor, but not wholly unbelievable) and distortion figures a magnitude lower than anything else out there with zero global feedback – these are just a taste of the story. Halcro believes a true neutral amplifier is the only way to musical bliss, and the only pairing you want when exploring the world’s finest HiFi audio products.

MSRP: $37,990; Our CPO price: $14,763

View the current TMR listing

Read the EnjoyTheMusic review

Kii Three Powered Bookshelf Speakers

What is the “dream” when it comes to modern, state-of-the-art monitors? It has to be the paradigm of individually-driven drivers with no speaker cables, directly controlled by the world’s most advanced DSP. Digital, phase-correct crossovers touch on the past century’s struggles with the crossover influence, and computer-aided cabinet design making waves – literally – with their ability to image.

That’s the Kii Audio Three to a T. The pro audio world has produced a product that is so good, it’s got home audiophiles everywhere wagging their tongues. The groundbreaking ability for the speaker to sense the room’s problems and fix them automatically has recording and mastering engineers’ attention as they slave away in compromised audio environments. But to the audiophile, the whole package is said to deliver results anywhere – even in a well-treated room created with intent.

MSRP: $20,000+ with stands and controller

SOLD - View the expired TMR listing

Read the What HiFi? review

YG Acoustics Sonja 2.3 Floorstanding Speakers

Here in Colorado, our Ultra-Fi neighbors, Boulder Amplification and YG Acoustics, have been quite fun to get to know. We’ve learned a lot about precision engineering and state-of-the-art machine work, and at the same time we’ve enjoyed the opportunities to listen to their top-end designs in action.

The YG Sonja 2.3 is no exception. And in this case, the pair, or rather group of speakers in question captured our imaginations and passions easily. After the work was done to test these (which was no small feat, let me tell you), the sonic experiences still lived in our heads for quite some time.

This pair comes with many options for setup, allowing the subwoofers to be placed in the room like subwoofers should, while the towers stand alone. That’s a cool feature which hasn’t always been offered by YG, but makes sense for the future owner of these. A big system requires a big room, and this pair maximizes flexibility in that setting.

MSRP: $130,000+ after upgrades; Our CPO price: $64,999

View the current TMR listing

Read the Stereo Times review of the Sonja 2.2, minus the subwoofer upgrade to .3

Esoteric Grandioso M1 Mono Power Amplifier Pair

There’s a reason the world’s finest speakers are often paired with Esoteric Grandioso equipment at HiFi audio shows. The engineers at Esoteric, a luxury offshoot of the more widely known brand TEAC, have been touching the top of the art for many, many years. In that stratosphere, every brand’s products sound good, and the choice between these or the Halcro amps above, for example, become more of a taste and philosophy proposition.

It is also hard to argue with the form in this case mated to ultimate function. Beautiful from afar, the M1 amplifiers are even more beautiful up close. And the staggering amount of metal used in their construction gives a hint to the enormous dissipation capable from truly gorgeous monster amps like these.

MSRP: $44,000

SOLD - View the expired TMR listing

Read The Absolute Sound review

Martin Logan Neolith Electrostatic Floorstanding Speakers

Martin Logan once presented the physically-largest demonstration of technology ever to grace the halls of Rocky Mountain Audio Festival, when they moved five of these literal statues into place in the largest hall available to audio exhibitors and played back true 5-channel recordings for all to witness. Epic, realistic and almost transcendental was the sonic experience that defined the demo from the well-loved electrostatic speaker maker.

In 2021, as the TMR testing team stared in wonder at the sheer size of the shipping crates this pair arrived inside, the RMAF spectacle and the ostensibly epic undertaking of moving and unpacking the legendary speakers was realized, if only partly.

One of the great things about The Music Room headquarters is its ability to handle all products, no matter the size, thanks to the proliferation of young, strong backs and arms available to make quick work of a difficult job.

MSRP: $100,000; Our CPO price: $39,999

View the current TMR listing

Read the Tone Publications review

LampizatOr Pacific RP SE Tube DAC; Rollers Paradise; Single Ended; Roon ready

Polish manufacturer LampizatOr is no stranger to glitz and glamor, as the copper-clad Golden Gate DACs and this golden wonder showcase. Inside, point-to-point wiring, boutique parts throughout and the use of silver solder and silver wiring finish the story that top-notch tubes tell on top.

Often paired with KR Audio or rare Psvane tubes, the DACs can lend a sophistication to any system where they’re inserted. This one in particular stands out because it allows for more tube heater voltages, and thus more types of tubes to be “rolled”, allowing the sophistication to be fine-tuned completely.

That this DAC is also Roon Ready takes the cake and makes this a Top 10 list specimen, no question.

MSRP: $27,000; Our CPO price: $16,999

View the current TMR listing

Read the Hifi Knights review

Jadis JP200MC Mono Tube Preamplifier; w/ MM / MC Phono

This set of four shining Jadis boxes may have been 30 years old when it arrived at TMR but didn’t look a day older than one, really. With expert craftsmanship, point-to-point wiring and careful attention by the previous owner, it’s not surprising that the MC phono-capable edition of this iconic linestage stood the test of time and is poised to present expert preamplification for the next 30 years.

They say a phono preamplifier is a true test for any audio designer, let alone one with the ridiculous amounts of gain required for Moving Coil signals. The French manufacturer got it right then, and the JP200MC impresses even now, against a multitude of modern preamps.

MSRP: $29,745 (1992)

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Read the Positive-Feedback review

Sound Application Reference TT-7 AC Power Line Conditioner

Hushed words of exhortation seem to follow this product, lending its designer Jim Weil’s work in cleansing the incoming AC over the last three decades an almost mythical status to enlightened ears.

It’s not every day that TMR encounters a relatively small power line conditioner with a $20,000 price tag, but the speed at which this model sold from our used catalog truly caught our attention. Reviews, though few, are undoubted raves. Clearly Weil and his passion for solving the AC riddle have produced incredible results again and again, and the Reference TT-7 is a shining example.

What’s inside it? Hard to say unless you’re Jim Weil, but it must be the perfect recipe for low-impedance, super-quick power retrieval in a product category which by definition typically can’t boast the same. By nature, most power conditioners raise impedance to a degree, but to the lucky few who try this device, the story seems to be a very different one.

MSRP: $20,000

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Read the Audiophile Style review

KEF Blade Floorstanding Speakers

British HiFi legend KEF sunk millions of dollars, er- pounds, into development of every aspect of this, its finest creation. From the Blades’ iconic and computer-aided airfoil shape, to the groundbreaking “Uni-Q” concentric midrange and tweeter assembly greeting the eyes, to the earth-rending bass provided by its array of side-firing woofers, it’s a monument to the art of speaker design, full stop.

This pair and their Blade 2 younger brothers didn’t last long in The Music Room’s catalog, and you know the new owner of the smaller pair wished in some way that they’d jumped on the original Blades a mite sooner. In our humble opinion, the presentation from both speakers is the best definition of pinpoint imaging available to the audiophile.

MSRP: $31,999

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Read the Tone Publications review

TechDAS Air Force V Turntable; AF-1500 w/ PS-1500 Vacuum Supply

There’s just something about that chunky, high-tech Japanese aesthetic to TechDAS turntables that creates desire in an audiophile. If everyone could witness the whisper-quiet platter vacuum and the almost straight-from-nature appearance of the turntable’s proprietary platter mat in person, we’d have more analog audiophiles than digital, even today.

The refinement and sophistication of the Air Force V is something that must be witnessed to fully realize. After testing this gorgeous piece, our testers threw away their own turntables and gave up on the medium. It’s that impressive.

MSRP: $19,500

SOLD - View the expired TMR listing

Read the Stereophile review