Top Picks

Speakers

GoldenEar Technology Triton Reference Loudspeakers
(June) GoldenEar scored last year with the biggest and best Triton of all, the Reference—which, despite its considerable price, successfully defended itself against uber-expensive high-end towers going for nearly ten times its cost. $8,498/pr, goldenear.com

Paradigm Persona 3F Speaker System
(September) The gorgeously styled and exotically engineered Persona series represents a high point in Paradigm’s history. We tested a 5.1 system based on the 3F tower. $31,000, paradigm.com

MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL X Speaker System
(May) ML added a step-up electrostatic tower and a new hybrid electrostatic-planar center to its entry-level ElectroMotion series. The 5.1 system we reviewed, with towers in the four corners, was sublime. $11,395, martinlogan.com

Aperion Audio Verus II Grand Speaker System
(April) Reviewer Tom Norton noted that Aperion’s updated flagship speaker line, with its tight, detailed bass, excellent tonal balance, and spacious imaging “offers the sort of value that’s rare in today’s increasingly pricey audio marketplace.” Pricing is for a 5.1 system. $5,005, aperionaudio.com

Revel Concerta2 F36/M16 Speaker Systems
(September, soundandvision.com /November) Revel, Harman’s expensive high-end speaker brand, updated its affordable Concerta series with a line that, as usual, places tonal accuracy and superior imaging at the top of its attributes. We reviewed the F36 tower ($2,000/pr) for soundandvision.com and a 5.1 system based on the M16 bookshelf ($4,050) for our November issue. revelspeakers.com

Definitive Technology Demand Series D11 Speaker System
(February/March 2018) Definitive Tech- nology kept the hallmark top-mounted bass radiators in this revision of the Studio- Monitor bookshelf series while upgrading sonics across the board. We tested a 5.1 system featuring the D11 and D7 models. $3,196, definitivetechnology.com

Focal Sib Evo Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 Speaker System (See "Value")

RSL CG3 5.1 Speaker System (See "Value")

Q Acoustics 3000 5.1 Speaker System (See "Value")