What does it mean to be Stereophile’s Product of the Year? It’s an honor, certainly, and probably helps the winner sell more products, but is there anything more we can say about it?
The PotY competition is the culmination of a whole year of the magazine’s work, starting with the choice of products to review. Only products we review or consider carefully in a column qualify for the competition, and every product we review is eligible for the competition: We only review products we think will have a decent shot at being among the best.
Every product is subjected by the reviewer to a thorough evaluation over a period of weeks or months—plus, for regular reviews (not columns), a session in John Atkinson’s measurement
