Stereophile may be, as the editor of a European hi-fi magazine—an EISA member—announced to the audience at a recent event, “the most important hi-fi magazine in the world,” but we’re one magazine among many. EISA—the Expert Imaging and Sound Association—brings together the best of them all—the best hi-fi, home theater, car audio, and photography publications—some 60 in all, from Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia. Every year, the editors of those publications gather in subject-specific expert panels to consider and judge some of the most innovative new products in each product category. This is the 40th year that EISA has done this work, our ruby anniversary.
In the now-distant, pre-COVID past, EISA members gathered in person, experienced presentations by participating companies, drank beer, and met to discuss the merits of each competing product. During the COVID era, including this year, we’ve instead met remotely, via Zoom. It’s not as much fun as meeting in person (or so I hear; as a fairly new editor, I’ve never been to an in-person EISA meeting), but the result is much the same: a roster of commendable (and affordable) products awarded this sought-after prize in an ever-changing list of categories, as determined by the world’s foremost writer-experts.
In some ways, the COVID years have been good for hi-fi. Many manufacturers have thrived as people diverted resources from services and consumables—travel, dinners out—to durable goods like hi-fi equipment that can provide entertainment at home. Yet, the industry’s challenges have been real and daunting: shortages, supply-chain and freight problems, inflation, even labor shortages. As one manufacturer put it recently in an email, manufacturing used to be hard—now it’s impossible.
Still, this year, all the competitors showed again that they could still get it done, despite such difficulties, producing innovative products that are fun to use and listen to.
