Product of the Year Awards 2025
It is that time of year again when I reassess this year's HiFi based on my reviews and HiFi shows and award the most deserving with the Product of the Year Awards for 2025 from The Speaker Shack. This is the second year of awards, and it has undoubtedly been a good one. While not as busy as last year, what with the Munich show, the standard and level of equipment have been excellent.
The awards will be divided into several categories to represent the best of what The Speaker Shack has listened to and reviewed for 2025.
Those categories are as follows:
Best Speakers Stand Mount and Floor Stander Awards for 2025
Best Integrated Amplifier Award for 2025
Best CD Player Award for 2025
Best Turntable and Phonostage Award for 2025
Best Power Amplifier Award for 2025
Best Accessories and Cables Awards for 2025
Ultimate High-End Speaker Award for 2025
Two additional categories have been introduced this year:
Rising Star Award 2025
Best Album of 2025
Product of the Year Award for Best Floorstanding Speakers 2025
When it comes to floorstanding speakers, there is such a vast choice to pick from, and although I have listened to many, one speaker stands out this year: the stunning Perlisten Audio S5t. They picked up an Editor's Choice award back in March, and not only do they look gorgeous in the glossy Ebony finish, but they also sound incredible, where the science of acoustics and speaker technology meet high-end audio, which combine to create one of the best sonic experiences with the DPD array and Textreme woofers. They provide music with all the scale and power you would expect from a floorstanding speaker, but add to this the excellent imaging that the DPD array allows, which is among the best at any price. They are a worthy winner of the Floorstanding Speaker Product of the Year 2025 award from The Speaker Shack.
Perlisten Audio S5t Speakers Review
Perlisten Audio S5t Floorstanding speaker Product of the Year 2025 Winner.
Product of the Year Award for Best Stand Mount Speakers 2025
Having listened to quite a few stand mounts this year has been exceptional, and the choice, like the Floorstanders, is also vast, with so many great brands and speakers to choose from, but following on from my most recent review, I cannot think of a more worthy winner than the ATC SCM20ASL speakers. When I first heard them at the Bristol Hi-Fi show, I was impressed by the stunning sound they presented. Having a pair in for review only cemented my feelings towards this stunning standmount speaker. They performed flawlessly, with incredible resolution and clarity in the music, regardless of the piece being played. The built-in amplification enables these speakers to achieve impressive results, and with a well-matched sub, you get all the scale and impact from a relatively compact speaker system. In this day and age, where streaming is accessible via even smartphones, this speaker requires only a good DAC/Preamp to achieve incredible performance.
ATC SCM20ASL Standmount speaker Product of the Year 2025 Winner.
Product of the Year Award for Best Integrated Amplifier 2025
I have for a long time admired and respected Cyrus Audio as one of the few British HiFi companies that have consistently produced great HiFi products over the many years that I have been listening to them, having owned quite a few and still to this day use Cyrus Audio for my primary system here at The Speaker Shack. It was back in February when I first had the opportunity to listen to the new Cyrus Audio 40 series of products and came away very impressed with the sound from this system at the 2025 Bristol Hi-Fi Show. I managed to get the new Cyrus 40 Amp into The Speaker Shack for review, and it proved to be an excellent performer, earning an Outstanding award for the standalone unit. It also has the benefit of being upgradeable with the 40 PSU to further improve performance. It really is the Swiss Army knife of Integrated amplifiers as it does everything so well, whether that be from your favourite records and vinyl, to being able to stream music thanks to the high-performing DAC. The amplification and sound are simply sublime from the 40 Amp, and it is a very worthy winner for the Product of the Year 2025 award for Best Integrated Amplifier.
Cyrus Audio 40 Integrated Amplifier Product of the Year 2025 Winner.
Product of the Year Award for Best CD Player 2025
Red book CDs have always been one of my favourite formats, and Cyrus Audio have always played a massive part with their many CD players over the years. I have listened to many over the years, and just after reviewing the Cyrus 40 Amp, I reviewed the new 40 CD player, which is their finest player yet. The Cyrus 40 CD player manages to extract the pure essence of what makes music so good; rhythm, pace, and timing are all of the highest order, and for a player that costs under the £3000 price point, it hits far higher than its price tag suggests. The possibility of an upgrade, such as the 40 Amp with the 40 PSU, makes it even more desirable and another worthy winner for the Best CD Player Product of the Year Award 2025.
Cyrus Audio 40CD Player Product of the Year 2025 Winner.
Product of the Year Award for Best Turntable and Phonostage 2025
It was last year that I first managed to listen to the stunning MasterPhono and MasterDeck Turntables from MoFi, playing the brilliant Michael Jackson album "Off The Wall." It impressed me back then, but getting the whole system in for review and listening to what it could do for my vinyl collection was pure analogue magic. It picked up the Reference award from The Speaker Shack, as I was so impressed by the incredible performance, from the UltraGold cartridge to the beautiful carbon fibre tonearm on the MasterDeck turntable, one of the easiest high-end turntables I have had the pleasure of using and reviewing, paired with the MasterPhono proved to be a pure Reference experience and overall a worthy winner for Best Turntable and Phonostage 2025.
MoFi MasterDeck Turntable with UltraGold Cartridge and MasterPhono Product of the Year 2025 Winners.
Product of the Year Award for Best Power Amplifier 2025
Two years ago, I reviewed the Primare A35.2 power amplifier, which earned a Highly Recommended award from The Speaker Shack. This year, I had the opportunity to hear the A35.2 amplifier, used as monoblocks to power the mighty Perlisten Audio S5t speakers. With the simple flick of a switch, the Primare can be configured for mono use, allowing for a considerable amount of power, specifically 500 watts. Using them in this configuration blew me away with their performance, quite literally, as the Perlisten speakers loved the power from the A35.2 amplifiers. This Class D giant earns our Product of the Year Award for Best Power Amplifier 2025.
Primare A35.2 Power Amplifier Product of the Year 2025 Winner.
Product of the Year Award for Best Accessories and Cables Awards for 2025
Montaudio is a brand I was first introduced to through Symphony Distribution in the UK. Still, I first learned about the benefits of their incredible cables, racks, and accessories when I attended the Munich High End Show 2024 last year. Subsequently, I reviewed their beautiful Manuka rack and cables. This year, I also managed to obtain a set of Rangitoto R1 isolation feet. They helped eliminate harmful vibration from entering and damaging the integrity of my audio signal in my amplifiers, which I reviewed back in May and continue to use them on my Cyrus Audio amplifier. Symphony Distribution and Montaudio then sent me another set of the award-winning Rangitoto R1 isolation feet to use for isolating my speakers underneath the stand spikes. They have tightened up the bass response, allowing for greater clarity and resolution in my music, and imaging has also improved. I have been using their Chatham SH-1 speaker cables for most of this year, and they have, without a doubt, proven beneficial in terms of overall sound quality on the various systems I have reviewed this year. Each time they have rewarded me with such a beautiful sound, the mids, highs, and bass are all exceptional with the Chatham cables in place, which is why they have won the Product of the Year 2025 award in the cables category. The Montaudio Rangitoto R1 Isolation feet also won the Product of the Year 2025 award for best accessories for isolating equipment, and my speakers, and are most certainly an essential purchase and a worthy winner for Product of the Year 2025.
Montaudio Rangitoto R1 Isolation Feet Product of the Year 2025 Winner
Montaudio Chatham SH-1 Speaker Cables Product of the Year Winner.
Product of the Year Award for the Ultimate High-End Speaker Award for 2025
For the last two years, I have listened to the Siltech Symphony speakers at the UK Hi-Fi Live Show in Ascot, and both times they have impressed me with the sound and music they have been playing. The speakers are also visually impressive, thanks to the array of speakers in these open-baffle cabinets and the intimidating presence of the two 18" forward-facing drivers. However, hidden behind those are two additional 18" drivers, firing out from either side of the cabinets. They produce one of the most life-like experiences from an ultra-high-end speaker of this type, with stunning imaging where the instruments and music seem to surround you. They are truly beautiful-sounding speakers and a very worthy winner of this year's Product of the Year Awards 2025 for the Ultimate High-end Speaker from The Speaker Shack.
Rising Star Award 2025
I always enjoy hearing from new brands, especially in a market like speakers that is dominated by established companies. It's refreshing to learn about a company that is about to launch its latest speakers. This brand is D'Von Audio, located in the beautiful region of Devon, UK.
I was fortunate enough to receive a pair of their new Aurora speakers, which earned a Highly Recommended award. I've also had the privilege of seeing their other speakers in development. If they sound as good as, or even better than, the new Auroras, then this is an exciting time for potential customers of this emerging brand.
I also heard that D'Von Audio will be showcasing their products at the Bristol Hi-Fi Show in 2026.
The Speaker Shack awards D'Von Audio with a Rising Star Award for 2025.
Best Album of 2025
I listen to a wide range of albums from various genres of music, and this year I purchased a copy of Patricia Barber's Modern Cool DSD64 from Native DSD. This is a remastered version of her 1998 classic. If there is one album you need to buy this year, then this is it. Her music is so well-recorded. It sounds utterly superb through all the systems I have had here this year at The Speaker Shack. I keep coming back to it to listen, whether its casual listening or serious marathons of music this is one of those albums that lets you completely unwind and relax allowing you to enjoy the music, with her beautiful sumptuous vocals to the incredible Jazz band that accompanies her, I have featured this album in a few of my reviews this year and is most certainly a worthy winner for Album of the Year 2025 from The Speaker Shack.
I hope you have enjoyed this year's Product of the Year Awards for 2025, which feature some of the best HiFi from 2025 that The Speaker Shack has reviewed and listened to over the past year.
List of all the winners.
Perlisten Audio S5t Speakers
ATC SCM20ASL Speakers
Cyrus Audio 40 Integrated Amplifier
Cyrus Audio 40 CD Player
MoFi MasterDeck Turntable and MasterPhono with UltraGold Cartridge
Primare A35.2 Power Amplifier
Montaudio Chatham SH-1 Speaker Cables
Montaudio Rangitoto Isolation Feet
Siltech Symphony Speakers
Patricia Barber's Modern Cool Album
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