OTHER TECH

The best TV ever? There have been rumblings ever since Pioneer's 50-inch Elite Kuro plasma set first came out that it might deserve that honor. And there was little to dissuade S&V's Rob Sabin, Al Griffin, and Michael Trei of that notion when they checked it out in a head-to-head comparison with Samsung's LED-backlit 52-inch LCD TV (which also won an Editors' Choice Award). The Pioneer's performance was so spectacular that it's been named both the Video Product of the Year and the Product of the Year. (Click here for a blow-by-blow description of that plasma/LCD face-off.)

As you'll see when you look through the winners on the pages that follow, 2007 was more about subtle refinement than radical innovation, with the most impressive efforts coming in meat-and-potatoes categories like HDTVs, receivers, and speaker systems. But most of us would probably settle for a little less innovation if it meant we could assemble an unparalleled set of core components.

And getting the best doesn't have to mean breaking the bank. For every pricey flagship product like KEF's $20,000-a-pair Reference 207/2 speakers there's an affordable overachiever like Axiom's $3,332 Epic 80/500 surround sound system. For every technology statement like Meridian's $8,495 combo receiver/DVD player there's a budget Swiss-Army-knife wonder like Yamaha's $1,300 RX-V1800 A/V receiver.

Here are the 21 best products (and one man) of the year, all gathered in one place. This is what being an audio/videophile is all about.

Click here for a gallery of the products. Click here to see our 2007 Editors' Choice event.