As you know, I like a short list.
My thinking goes the longer the list the less useful it is. Besides, Twittering Machines is just me so I don’t have to tally votes and scores to pick winners—I just pick.
Here’s the gear that tickled my fancy mostest this year with a few becoming permanent Barn residents. If I’m doing my job of communicating my preferences in reviews (and lists), you may have seen these coming.
TM Product of the Year 2026
Imersiv D-1 DAC ($12,000) | Review (March 2026)
My taste in digital gear has evolved over the decades and what I want most from a digital source is clarity and color. While there was a time when I enjoyed a DAC that added its flavor to the system mix, the Imersiv D-1 re-calibrated the matter with its lovely matter-of-factness that brings out more of the music than just about any other DAC I’ve reviewed which is why I bought it and why it is my Product of the Year for 2026.
TM Favorite Digital of 2026
AudioQuest DragonFly Copper USB DAC ($250) | Review (October 2026)
The AudioQuest DragonFly Copper is a Favorite, a genuine HiFi Bargain, and Gear of the Year winner because it lit up my desktop rig to new heights with the 3 s’s—small, simple, and superb. Copper is mine—I bought the review sample.
Wattson Madison Streaming DAC ($5500) + Madison Power S ($2750) | Review (August 2026)
To my mind, the digital gear from Switzerland’s Wattson Audio is 100% recommendable. Great sounding smallish chunks of aluminum with serious engineering chops lend the Madison Streaming DAC its highly refined and rich performance. You can spend a lot more and get a lot less. The Madison Power S ups the ante with an even greater level of refinement.
TM Favorite Amplification of 2026
Aurorasound HFSA-02 Integrated Tube Amplifier (starts at $9990) | Review (July 2026)
I knew the Aurorasound HFSA-02 would not leave the Barn soon after it arrived. Like every other piece of Aurorasound gear I’ve reviewed and/or bought, the HFSA-02 integrated offers a wonderfully right-sounding mix of clarity and richness that makes music come alive with stunning immediacy. This delicate balance is not a given in my experience but the Aurorasound nails it.
Gryphon Diablo 333 Integrated Amplifier (starts at $27,800) | Review (January 2026)
Is there such a thing as the perfect integrated amp? I tend to shy away from absolutes in hifi and in life but the Gryphon Diablo 333 comes about as close as any integrated amplifier I’ve had the great pleasure of living with. With enough power and finesse to drive any speaker to dizzying heights, the Diablo is a devilishly seductive beast.
Accuphase C-2300 Preamplifier ($14,975) & A-300 Mono Amplifiers ($24,975/ea.) | Review (October 2026)
Even though my time with the Accuphase stack was short, my love for them remains long. The Class A (up to 125W into 8 Ohms) A-300 mono amps can pump out 1,000 Watts into a 1 Ohm load and they are sweet, rich, and lovely Watts at that. On an even more personal note, the Accuphase gear’s looks, fit ‘n finish ring my bell with their old school champagne-colored charms.
TM Favorite Speakers of 2026
Fyne Audio F502S Loudspeakers ($3499/pair) | Review (April 2026)
“To get right down to it, the Fyne F502S sound like more than $3499/pair. Shockingly so.” What’s more, or less, you can drive their 8 Ohm nominal impedance and 91dB sensitivity load with about 30 Watts on up. Good looks, amp-friendly great performance, and a friendly price tag. What’s not to like.
Gauder Akustik Elargo 200 Loudspeakers ($49,975/pair) | Review (February 2026)
The Gauder Akustik Elargo 200’s little brothers the Capello 100 were on last year’s list so you may have seen this one coming from a year away.
“A key quality of the Gauder Akustik Elargo 200 is their ability to energize me. Not the air, not space although they do that too, but me. Music through the Elargo 200 excites for musical reasons. For the wonderful presence of sounds in space, for the textures and colors it reproduces with fluid ease, and perhaps most of all for their physicality that combines startling jump and exceptional impact from tippy top to bottom, from macro to micro with seamless life-like energy. If you want music that feels live all around you to the degree it gets inside and comes back out again in a smile or shimmy or a shout, the Elargo 200 delivered all those things every time I paid attention to them during their 2 month Barn stay.”