It feels like I just finished filling out my Favorite Gear of 2023 list, blinked, and another year has passed.
Time flies when you’re having fun and/or getting older and I’m doing both. 2024 was a special year here at Twittering Machines for a number of important reasons, some private some less so. Our audience has continued to grow with October and November reaching new highs with more readers reading our writing than ever before. And I thank you and thank you again. There’s not a day goes by that my good fortune of being able to do this for a living doesn’t rise up and smack me in the face with a smile—I am eternally grateful.
“Favorites” is a favorite word for highlighting the gear I’ve enjoyed most this year as it puts this list in proper perspective. That said, if you value experience listening to gear in one’s home, or Barn, this list has experiential weight behind it and I believe that each piece of gear that follows offers that wonderful magic trick of turning recorded music into an all enveloping experience unlike any other.
I’m with Albert Ayler—Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe.
Twittering Machines Favorite Gear of the Year 2024
TM Favorite Digital of 2024
Grimm Audio MU2 Music Player (starts at $17,500) | Review
I bet you saw this one coming from a mile away. I’ve never seen a product rocket to the top of the digital conversation faster than the Grimm MU2. And for good reason—this Roon server, Roon endpoint, DAC, and Preamp all rolled into one nice package offers “the best digital music reproduction I’ve heard by an obvious and distinct margin.” Yes, the best I’ve heard.
Wattson Madison Streaming DAC ($3500) | Review
The Wattson Madison’s little brother, the Emerson ANALOG, made last year’s list and the Madison ups the performance ante in a bite-sized package that’s as simple to use—Ethernet in, analog out.
“Add in its nice chunky build quality, accommodating size, a transparent sounding volume control and headphone amp and it all adds up to one deeply satisfying streaming DAC. Bravo!”
HoloAudio Red DDC & Network Streamer ($798) | More Info (review forthcoming)
The small and very red HoloAudio Red streamer has been hard at work in Barn since October acting as Roon Endpoint—Ethernet in, digital audio out—and doing that job with little, if any, sound of its own. Which is exactly what you want from a streamer and I’ve yet to meet another as pure as the HoloAudio Red anywhere near its price. A genuine HiFi Bargain in the works.
TM Favorite Amplification of 2024
Vinnie Rossi BRAMA Integrated Amplifier ($47,995) | Review
Vinnie Rossi’s BRAMA Integrated continues to impress, most recently at CAF 2024 where two BRAMA equipped rooms made my Favorite Room list—the BRAMA Integrated drove a pair of YG Acoustics Hailey 3 Loudspeakers to smooth, delicate, and lovely heights while the BRAMA separates brought the best out of the Stenheim Alumine Five SE Speakers.
“Chief among the Brama’s strengths are its graceful way with any music you send its way coupled with just-right richness, full range reach, and a kind of effortless purity that invites the listener in, as deeply as one’s time and attention allows. And Vinnie Rossi wrapped all of that sonic goodness in one of the most attractive, thoughtfully designed packages I’ve had the pleasure to live with. All told, the Vinnie Rossi Brama Integrated Amplifier comes with my highest recommendation. Bravo!”
Viva Solista Integrated Amplifier ($29,500) | Review
CAF 2024 also reminded me just how much I enjoyed the vivacious Viva Solista Integrated as the Viva Solista Power Amplifier/Linea Pre Amplifier combo positively lit up the Stenheim Alumine Five SE Speakers, another room on my CAF 2024 Favorite list.
“The Viva Solista proved to be among a handful of integrated amplifiers that offered exceptional and true standout performance well above and beyond every other integrated amp I’ve had the pleasure of living with. The Solista’s particular strengths, in addition to superb control, drive, and resolution, is its ability to present recorded music in living breathing fully fleshed out form, making the experience feel more like a communion than passive listening. Bravo! indeed.”
Octave Audio V 70 Class A Integrated Amplifier ($12,000) | Review
If you’re looking for rich pure punchy power in a superbly built piece of kit, the Octave V 70 Class A Integrated checks all those boxes, hard.
“The Octave Audio V 70 Class A Integrated Amplifier has a lot of great things going for it. Important things like performance and price that may be unexpected once you spend time, real time, listening to it power speakers to play music. Unexpected things like real-world power, seamless performance with a range of speakers, big current kinda bass grip especially so with the optional Super Black Box, air, depth, and the kind of rich-just-right timbral complexity one comes to expect from an amplifier with vacuum tubes in the output stage. Add in superb build quality and ultra-quiet operation and it’s easy to understand why I’d say the Octave Audio V 70 Class A Integrated Amplifier has a lot of great things going for it.”
TM Favorite Speakers of 2024
Qln Reference 9 Loudspeakers (starts at $42,000/pair) | Review
Every pair of Qln speakers I’ve heard—whether in Barn or at shows—have acted like a big easy open door into the great big wide and wonderful world of music. From the QLN v7 Stand Mount Speakers I recently heard at CAF 2024, another on my Favorite Room list, to the Prestige Five Loudspeakers I reviewed back in 2022. The Reference 9 deliver even more.
“There is no doubt that the Qln Reference 9s are among the most musically moving and sonically engaging speakers I’ve had the great pleasure of spending time with in Barn. ”
Dynaudio Contour Legacy Limited Edition Loudspeakers ($14,000/pair) | Review
Just Yes. The only downside is these lovely beasts are limited to just 1000 pair worldwide.
“Dynaudio’s Heritage line is meant to honor history and legacy while embodying the best the 47-year-old company has to offer. I hope I’ve been able to convey in words and listening impressions that my heart, body, and mind believe they’ve achieved their goal with the endlessly engrossing Contour Legacy.”
Fyne Audio Vintage Classic XII Floorstanding Loudspeakers ($11,799/pair)
Can a pair of $11k+ speakers represent great value? If we’re talking about the Fyne Vintage Classic XII I say—Yes they can! If you go for their vintage classic looks coupled with “an out-of-speaker presentation that is shockingly tactile and wonderfully rich with bass response that’s uncanny in its ability to sound fully formed in space”, hear ye a pair of Fyne Vintage Classic XIIs.
“To say I was impressed by the Fyne Vintage Classic XII is a gross understatement. If we take everything into account—performance, build quality, price, and transformative experience maker—I recommend them without reserve.”
TM Favorite Analog of 2024
Aurorasound VIDA MK.II Phono Stage ($4990) | I bought one
I decided to take a break from reviewing analog gear this year so’s that I could just enjoy listening to records. Selfish, I know. And I chose to buy the Aurorasound VIDA MK.II Phono Stage because it has all of the options I need, I love the way it looks, and it makes records sound like heaven.
EMT HSD 006 MC Cartridge ($1795) | An Appreciation and I bought one
I chose to settle down with the EMT HSD 006 because it’s all the cartridge I need.
“What I can tell you is the EMT HSD 006 is made by a company with a rich, long, and storied hifi history, a company I am proud to own a small piece of in the form of the HSD 006 that is entirely capable of bringing music to life in all its powerful, fragile, beautiful wonder.”