With the calendar telling us that it’s December, it is once again time to look back at the products that I thought stood out as my top products for 2024.
Before I get into those stand out 2024 products, I would like to point out that I try to choose from products that I have had some sort of interaction with. Those interactions could be a product review, as well as a booth visit at a trade show, or a dealer showroom visit.
My 2024 products list features a well-rounded selection of loudspeakers, amplifiers, smart home motorized shades, networking access points, headphones, state-of-the-art video, components, and power management devices.
Looking back on these products I would say it was a very good year for for the professional AV and smart home industries with new technologies. I know it is easy to become jaded and overlook market advancements if you have any amount of time working within the industry, but I would say 2024 was a good year as industry categories such as lighting, shades, video displays and immersive audio continue to advance, while becoming more user friendly.
The first thing I’ll note is the Phase Tech Premier Lux PL950 loudspeakers aren’t cheap, but at the same time they very affordable speakers for music and home theater lovers in the grand scheme of the home entertainment market. Through their performance and price point levels the speakers rank high on my imaginary pound-for-pound (P4P) list to perform on a level with speakers that are much more expensive. The Phase Technology PL950s are easy-to-drive, they are dynamic and the produce a nice image.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
I have a full review of the PL950s written from earlier this year, if you want to see me go more in depth into their performance.
The GoldenEar T66 loudspeakers are another product I had the privilege of reviewing earlier this year. Modernizing some design concepts that dates to the 1990s, GoldenEar’s T66 loudspeaker represents a state-of-the-art speaker solution that delivers fun for users that may not have the space for a full multichannel system.
The T66 blends a traditional speaker design, along with built-in powered subwoofers to produce well integrated lower frequencies, with highly detailed midrange and top-end frequencies that complement music and video content to create enveloping listening experiences from just a pair of speakers. These GoldenEar speakers represent what may be a symbolic home audio product for my 2024 products of the year.
The Wiim Amp for just a few hundred dollars delivers far more performance than anyone would ever think from a smart-home friendly, small-footprint amplifier. When I tried it out myself, I was impressed. Rated to produce 60 watts into 8 ohms, the Wiim amp is capable of powering expensive audiophile speakers, and it offers connection options such as HDMI, sub out, analog RCAs, and whole-house audio integration. I’ll also point out that Origin Acoustics represents the brand in the smart home industry, so support of the line should be excellent.
The Canadian manufacturer Simaudio makes some of the finest home audio components in the industry. The 791 and 761 are the latest examples of the company’s excellence. The Simaudio products exude luxury and refinement, and underneath their luxurious exteriors are an amplifier with more than enough muscle to drive just about any loudspeaker.
The preamplifier also offers more than just traditional audiophile features with modern smart home audio capabilities that meets the need of high-performance audio for anyone that wants uncompromising audio.
I don’t consider myself a headphone guy, but if I were to select any singular product as my most valuable 2024 products of the year nominee, it would be the Ace headphones. The Sonos Ace headphones are the perfect travel companion especially if you like to download streaming content from Netflix, Max, etc., providing immersive audio for mobile users. The headphones’ noise cancelling works well, and the Sonos Ace headphones provide just as much entertainment with music for reasonable money.
For years Bluesound has been positioned in the market as an upscale wireless audio solution for HiFi and whole-house audio. The NODE NANO shatters that perception. The reasonably priced streaming box provides all the performance and options other Bluesound products provide, but at a lower price point. The Bluesound NODE NANO is the perfect entry point into the world of streaming audiophile media.
For many people Sony is the go-to video brand of choice, and reaffirming its status, the BRAVIA 8 Projector ranks as one of my favorite 2024 products. It’s been a few years since the company has introduced a new generation of projectors, and the company with the release of its new projectors has hit a home run with the BRAVIA 8 Projector.
Through new lenses, processing and other features, I could not find reason not to upgrade to the higher end BRAVIA 9 model because of how well the BRAVIA 8 performs. If you own an older Sony projector, the BRAVIA 8 Projector provides the perfect reason to upgrade to the newest Sony model.
For several years I had heard the buzz surrounding Quantum Media Systems’ products. It wasn’t until this year at CEDIA Expo 2024 however, that I got to see the company’s products in person. Hopefully, there’s room on the company’s bandwagon for me because I came away impressed with Quantum Media Systems‘ commitment to quality; its commitment to dealers, and the flat-out performance of its product line, including the XDR Pro Cinema Video Wall.
I’ll often admit that I am an Apple fanboy, and I feel like I should also admit that I am also a Kaleidescape fanboy as well. The new Strato V Media System is a new, lower price point component that provides access into the industry’s highest performing digital AV source components. The Strato V supports immersive audio, HDR, including Dolby Vision, and it provides access to the company’s Kaleidescape Store to enable easy downloadable access to lossless 4K content.
Designed to integrate seamlessly into the company’s high-performance and flexible Crestron Home platform, this line of battery powered shades is the perfect complement to modern smart homes. Crestron’s new generation of shades installs easier than previous generations, and the shades operate quietly using Crestron touch panels or the Home iOS app.
At this point, the home network is an afterthought for most homeowners, but dealers understand how important a robust network is to reliable smart home performance. Leading up to CEDIA Expo 2024 the Snap One brand Access Networks announced the addition of the A770 Wi-Fi 7 access point, adding Wi-Fi 7 coverage to its product line. This access point represents the future of home networking and since this access point is supported by Access Networks, it’s more than worthy enough to be in my 2024 products of the year roundup.
Power management is a tricky category to navigate. There’s more marketing jargon BS floated in the power category than I care to sift through, but there are companies that are legitimate, and one of those companies is Torus Power. At the heart of the company’s designs are isolation transformers that are recognized as one of the few solutions to eliminate problems such as ground noise. The Torus Power AVR Elite Series provides cloud management options, and the product line can be connected to home networks, AV systems, control systems or anything that simply needs power protection and management.
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