The 2007 GoodSound! Product of
the Year and the Two Runners-Up
 Every year at this time, the
same thing happens here at GoodSound!: We look through all of our product reviews
and declare one item our Product of the Year. Usually, the selection is pretty
straightforward -- one product is clearly superior. For 2007, we had a problem -- three
products stood out from the crowd.
One was the Paradigm Atom Monitor v.5
speaker, which I reviewed in February. I love this little speaker for its appearance,
sound, and price. For a very reasonable $249 USD, you get a pair of well-built,
great-looking, high-performing speakers. The Atom Monitor v.5 is the perfect speaker for
someone on a budget, or for those looking to get started in the high end who just want to
get their feet wet. What’s more, Paradigm offers a matching center-channel,
surrounds, and subwoofer, for a full-fledged home-theater system based on the Atom. The
Atom Monitor v.5 could have been the big winner in 2007, and probably would have
been in any year when the competition wasn’t so tough.
 Then again, you could make the same
argument for the Oppo Digital
DV-980H CD/SACD/DVD-A/V player, which Marc Mickelson reviewed in December. Just $169
buys you a well-built digital front-end that will play all modern digital-music formats,
and even DVD-Vs -- not to mention upsampling standard-definition DVDs to 1080p for
high-definition video displays. Combine the DV-980H with Paradigm’s Atom Monitor v.5s
and put between them, say, an NAD
C325BEE integrated amplifier and some decent cables, and you’ll have a small but
very good two-channel system for about a grand. What’s more, because the DV-980H also
plays DVD-Vs, you can continue to use it even if you expand your stereo system into a full
home-theater array -- with something like the Paradigm center, surrounds, and sub. I love
the versatility consumers have these days, even with budget-priced products.
 However, when all was said and done and voted on, the big winner was the Usher Audio Technology X-718
loudspeaker, which Philip Beaudette reviewed in November. The choice might surprise
some people. Normally, GoodSound!’s Product of the Year is one of the least
expensive products we’ve reviewed -- and at $1300/pair, the X-718 was the most
expensive speaker we reviewed in 2007. But even though fairly expensive, the X-718
represents extremely good value. Its build quality is normally found only in speakers at
about twice the price, and, performance-wise, it bettered Philip’s current speaker
reference, the PSB Platinum M2, which retails for $700 more per pair. The PSB M2 itself is
considered to be a very-high-value speaker -- for Usher Audio Technology to have attained
such a level of performance in the X-718 that it not only compares with but betters
a speaker as good and as high in price as the M2 is shocking, and makes the X-718
something of a steal. No wonder Philip was so excited about it.
While picking a winner this year took more effort than
usual, we were all happy when the X-718 came out on top. Congratulations to Usher Audio
Technology -- the X-718 is GoodSound!’s 2007 Product of the Year.
Congratulations are also in order for Paradigm Loudspeakers and Oppo Digital. While their
products didn’t take this year’s top prize, they still get high praise from us
-- the Atom Monitor v.5 and DV-980H represent the best of the best in terms of
high-performing, low-priced products that any enthusiast can afford -- something this
industry needs more of.
Now, in 2008, it’s time for us to concentrate on
finding and reviewing new products that are just as exciting.
…Doug Schneider
E-mail comments to the editor@goodsound.com.
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