100 Most Important Audio Components

AudioGenics

KLH table radio is / was a great sounding piece.

concealer404

That's a pretty amusing bump.

I've only had one thing on that list at first glance. It didn't stick around long.

Polkie2009

OMG! That chimp is cracking me up. Speaking of turntables, anyone old enough to remember the old B&O Beogram 4000 units from the 70's?

AudioGenics

Polkie2009 wrote: »

... B&O Beogram 4000 units from the 70's?

Absolutely
tangential tonearm
displayed at Museum of Modern Art NYC

hearingimpared

Polkie2009 wrote: »

OMG! That chimp is cracking me up. Speaking of turntables, anyone old enough to remember the old B&O Beogram 4000 units from the 70's?

AudioGenics wrote: »

Absolutely
tangential tonearm
displayed at Museum of Modern Art NYC

Thanks you guys for firing off a memory cell.

marly421

With music and top 100 items listed here: I think the Sony Walkman made the biggest impact in my life.

Bigger, smaller, faster, whatever: but moving the sound out of the house or car and moving it to be a personal item, to carry with you, opened up whole new markets.

jcandy

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

I wonder if monster wire would still be at 20 if asked in 2010? Corporate Politics aside Lee did try to set some sort of baseline.

Of course I am not very objective but I would say the Polk Monitor 10/7 should be there, even the RTA line, look at how many speakers today employ it, Polk was ahead of its time.

I agree completely about the Monitor 10. A top-100 without that is not really credible.

Tour2ma

Mon 7 for sure... 10 not so much.

Looks like I own 13 plus some some cousins...

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

99). Advent 201 cassette deck
97). AR 3A speakers
96). Crown DC300A power amp
92). Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers
90). The Advent Speaker
84). Audio Alchemy Digital Transmission Interface
79). Thorens TD124
76). Hafler DH-200
70). Sennheiser HD-414
58). Audio Alchemy Digital Decoding Engine
43). SME 3009
15). Dynaco ST70
5). AR XA turntable

Close but no cigar list:
100). Polk Cobra Cable (original naked Polks)
91). Yamaha NS1000 speakers (690?s here)
69). Shure V-15 (Type III, IV, V)

Namikis

Agree on the Advent speakers being on this list - impressive stuff for its time and even today. Listening to Miles Davis on a pair right now.

N

Kenneth Swauger wrote: »

Hello,
Since the last couple of audio related lists seemed to generate some interesting comments and opinions from quite a few members, I thought I would bring up another. This was a listing done by Stereophile in November of 2002, they asked the reviewing staff to list the 100 audio components that they felt were most significant, in their opinion.
Here goes in descending order:
100). Polk Cobra Cable
99). Advent 201 cassette deck
98). Nakamichi Dragon
97). AR 3A speakers
96). Crown DC300A power amp
95). Magnum Dynalab FT-101A tuner
94). Nagra IV-S open reel deck
93). ReVox A77
92). Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers
91). Yamaha NS1000 speakers
90). The Advent Speaker
89). Supex SD900 MC phono cartridge
88). Acoustic Energy AE1 speakers
87). Acoustat 2+2 speakers
86). Rowland Concentra Integrated Amp
85). Vendetta Research SCP-2 pre-preamp
84). Audio Alchemy Digital Transmission Interface
83). Janis W-1 sub
82). MBL 101d speakers
81). PSB Alpha
80). Digital Audio Labs Card Deluxe
79). Thorens TD124
78). Quick Silver MX-190 amp
77). Dynavector Karat DV-17D MC cartridge
76). Hafler DH-200
75). Spica TC50 speakers
74). Advent 300 receiver
73). Sony CDP-101
72). Philips CD-100
71). Shahinian Obelisk
70). Sennheiser HD-414
69). Shure V-15
68). Grado Original
67). McIntosh MR78 tuner
66). Sequerra Model 1
65). Avant Garde Uno
64). Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage
63). Pas Labs Aleph amp
62). DNM Solid Core speaker wire
61). Musical Fidelity Digilog
60). Arcam Delta
59). PS Audio Link D/A
58). Audio Alchemy Digital Decoding Engine
57). Oracle Delphi turntable
56). SOTA Star Sapphire turntable
55). VPI HW-19 turntable
54). Well Tempered turntable
53). Roksan Xerxes turntable
52). Audio Power Industries Power Wedge 1
51). PS Audio P300 Power Plant
50). KEF Reference 107
49). Apogee Scintilla speakers
48). KLH 9 speakers
47). CAT SL-1 preamp
46). Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista CD player
45). Nagra D
44). Graham Tonearm
43). SME 3009
42). Meridian D600
41). Celestion SL-600
40). Cello Palette EQ
39). TacT R2.0 digital EQ
38). Cary CAD805
37). Halcro dm58 amp
36). Meridian MCD
35). Sony SCD-1 SACD player
34). Levinson No.30 D/A
33). GAS Ampzilla
32). Niam NAP250
31). Audible Illusions Modulus preamp
30). Rega Planar 3 turntable
29). Adcom GFA-555 amp
28). Mod Squad Tip Toes
27). Spendor BC-1 speakers
26). Thiel CS3.6 speakers
25). BBC LS3/5a speakers
24). Wilson WATT
23). Martin Logan CLS
22). ARC D-150 amp
21). Levinson LNP-2 preamp
20). Monster Original speaker wire
19). NAD 3020
18). ARC SP10 preamp
17). Krell KSA-100
16). Levinson ML-2
15). Dynaco ST70
14). Boulder 2008
13). Conrad Johnson ART preamp
12). Levinson No. 33
11). Rockport System III turntable
10). B&W Nautilus
9). Infinity IRS
8). Wilson WAMM
7). B&W 801
6). Magnapan Timpani
5). AR XA turntable
4). Koetsu Rosewood
3). Vandersteen 2 speakers
2). Quad ESL-63 speakers
1). Linn LP12 turntable

I hope this is helpful when looking for classic gear; as I go upstairs and listen to my #93 playing through #83 and #23, maybe the #69 will show up so I can put it on #5. Hopefully!
Enjoy, Ken

xsmi

I agree with the list except I really think the Theta Pro Basic series of DAC's should be on it.