Determining the best home music systems is by no means and easy task. But each year, the judging committee and Electronic House magazine selects from numerous submissions entered by many manufacturers the top products and systems for your home. The judges consider innovation, uniqueness, and practical benefits to end users when choosing the winners of categories including audio, video, home control and automation, home theater, smart lighting, and home security. In this, our first announcement of our 2017 Products of the Year (view the 2016 winners), we present the best home music systems of 2017. We will reveal the winners of the remaining categories in the weeks ahead, so be sure to visit electronichouse.com often.
Audio Components, Amplifiers, Receivers, Tuners, Processors, Audio Streaming Devices
WINNER: Meridian 258 Amplifier
The Meridian 258 is a dedicated rack-mount eight-channel power amplifier designed to replicate and complement the performance of Meridian’s speakers and electronics. Highly versatile, the new Meridian 258 Amplifier is compatible with any audio system and can provide a Hi-Res audio experience for multiroom audio systems.
For this product Meridian has adopted an advanced linear power supply that provides superior isolation from the AC supply. A short signal path within the 258 ensures complete signal purity and separation between channels, and the multi-layer circuit boards provide the very best electromagnetic performance.
Housed in a compact chassis, this small but powerful amplifier takes up minimal space in an equipment rack. Built-in Class D amplifiers are highly efficient, with a low operating temperature that does not require an internal fan or any external cooling, thus negating the need for additional rack space and cooling mechanisms, while also eliminating associated labor costs. Aluminum construction combined with audiophile-grade components improves the lifetime and reliability of the product, making the 258 a genuinely “fit and forget” solution.
Price: $2,000
Loudspeakers and Soundbars
WINNER: Polk Audio MagniFi Mini Soundbar
The Polk Audio MagniFi Mini is the company’s first ultra-compact home theater soundbar. The miniature soundbar and included slim wireless subwoofer are ideal for placement anywhere in the home, delivering fully immersive home theater surround sound via 5.1 Dolby Digital and an array of technologies, including Polk’s patented Voice Adjust technology, which improves vocal clarity for crystal clear dialogue.
The soundbar also features Night mode, dropping the low frequency response of the soundbar and sub’s driver array, reducing the amount of sound that carries, so sleeping roommates or family members are less likely to be disturbed.
The MagniFi Mini offers several one-button preset EQ settings, including Movies, Music and Sports, optimizing the soundbar and subwoofer to provide the clearest dialogue, surround sound and bass for the best audio experience.
It is also capable of wireless music streaming directly from a smartphone, tablet, or other compatible device to leverage Google Cast or Bluetooth.
Despite its small stature, measuring 13.4 inches long and 3.1 inches tall, the MagniFi Mini packs four 2.25-inch drivers and two 12mm tweeters. The included wireless subwoofer unloads deep bass, perfectly complementing the sonic spectrum and providing the impact needed to deliver a truly immersive listening experience. It comes with both an HDMI and optical cable for easy connection to TVs.
Price: $299.95
Multiroom Audio Systems
WINNER: Bluesound Gen 2 Multiroom Audio System
Bluesound is the first wireless, digital multi-room music system to fully support high-resolution audio. Its new Gen 2 platform represents a reinvention of virtually every aspect of the product’s design and performance. The new line-up of multiroom wireless, streaming digital music players, along with two entirely new models, features a fresh, compact industrial design, enhanced features, and reengineered performance.
The Bluesound Gen 2 system features BluOS, a proprietary purpose-built operating system that connects, organizes, and controls all the ways to enjoy music, whether it is streamed from the cloud, stored on a smart device or computer, or stored on CDs. Bluesound integrates all these sources into a single music stream, and delivers studio-quality music to every room in the home.
Bluesound was also the first technology to partner with MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) to offer studio-quality sound exactly as the artist intended. MQA is a revolutionary end-to-end technology that captures and delivers master quality audio in a file that’s small enough to stream or download. Bluesound worked closely with MQA to implement technology inside every Bluesound Player to ensure the listener will hear MQA encoded music and streams exactly like the source.
The ability to stream music and sound directly from your handheld smart device either via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi is another great new enhancement.
Every room has a different acoustic requirement and Bluesound has a player to fit every situation, from night table alarm to party room disco. Of the latest models, four connect with any new or existing audio system and three are complete plug-and-play music systems.
The models that make up the Bluesound ecosystem are:
NODE 2 Wireless Streaming Music Player, $499
POWERNODE 2 Amplified Wireless Streaming Music Player, $799
VAULT 2 Streaming Music Player, 2TB Storage and CD Ripper, $1199
PULSE 2 Full Size All-In-One Wireless Streaming Music Player, $699
PULSE MINI All-In-One Wireless Streaming Music Player, $499
PULSE FLEX All-In-One Wireless Portable Streaming Music Player, $299
PULSE Soundbar high performance that can serve as core of a streaming multi-room system, $999
PULSE Sub Wireless Subwoofer with flexible mounting options, $599
Subwoofers
WINNER: GoldenEar SuperSub X Subwoofer
The GoldenEar SuperSub X is an ultra-high-performance super-compact subwoofer that incorporates many recently developed technologies and components. The goal of GoldenEar was to create a beautifully styled, finely finished, extremely small subwoofer that could generate very low-frequency pressure waves of extremely high amplitude, while delivering accurate and precise low-frequency performance that is both highly impactful and extremely musical. In order to achieve this, the SuperSub X incorporates a newly patented, 360-degree, dual-plane inertially-balanced driver and sub-bass radiator topology, combined with a very advanced electronics package.
The attractive enclosure of the SuperSub X is intricately and effectively braced in order to eliminate the possibility of resonances or the flexing of cabinet panels due to the tremendous internal pressure. There is a unique (patent pending) combination of two fully inertially-balanced 8-inch long-throw active drivers in the horizontal plane and two fully inertially-balanced 10½-inch x 9½-inch planar infrasonic radiators in the vertical plane. This force-cancelling inertial balancing preserves and focuses all the energy produced by the transducers in order to effectively move the air in the room, as well as enabling full recovery of the finest details, rather than allowing loss and blurring due to wasted box movement.
Price: $1,249
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