Here are my picks for the best-sounding audio products of 2009, in no particular order.
Pioneer VSX-1019AH Receiver
The VSX-1019AH has just about every gotta-have feature and its stellar performance makes it the go-to choice for sound-quality-conscious midprice receiver buyers.
Onkyo HT-RC180 Receiver
Sure, the HT-RC180 goes for around double the Pioneer's price, but its power and dynamic slam put it over the top.
Onkyo HT-S9100THX Home Theater in a Box
The HT-S9100THX is not only the best sounding HTIB on the planet, you can easily upgrade its performance by adding better speakers or subwoofer. Few HTIBs offer owners that capability.
Onkyo's HT-RC180, our favorite receiver of the year.
(Credit: Onkyo)Monster Turbine Pro (Gold) in-ear headphones
I'm a big fan of the original and still-available Monster Turbine in-ear headphones, but now that I've gotten to spend time with the Pro I can tell you this: it's simply the best $300 in-ear I've heard.
Anthony Gallo Acoustics Reference Strada Speaker
The double-balled Reference Strada ($995 each) measures a lifestyle-friendly 6.5 inches tall by 12.5 inches wide by 5.5 inches long, but the compact speaker makes a huge, room-filling sound. The Strada is jam-packed with unique technology.
Tom and Rafe review what they feel were the biggest and best tech products and advancements of the decade.
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Not every noteworthy product was made by Apple in 2009.
We've been doing a lot of end-of-the year lists here at CNET as our editors round up the most popular and best products in their categories. That's all great, but then someone said, "Hey, why don't we do a list that's a best-of-the-best list of all the lists combined?"
Well, that's what I was tasked with, but instead of calling it the "Best products of 2009" or the "Most popular products of 2009," I've come up with "The most notable products of 2009," which I like to think of as a kind of a hybrid between popular, best, and most hyped.
Once again, I've enlisted the help of my fellow editors, so while my name may appear at the top of this list, it's really a collective effort. That said, you can blame me if you don't like the picks (a few may surprise you).
As always, feel free to suggest your own picks. If you ... Read more
The year is all but over. All over but the counting. Actually, we got the counting done early, so it's truly just over. We finished the year early! Yay!
And as a reward you'll be getting a bunch of Top 5s all at once. Starting with this one, the best products of 2009. The ranking is based on the editors' rating our CNET reviewers gave the products with editors' choice awards, and your user ratings are used as tie-breakers.
So watch the video, then head back to this post and answer the trivia question in the comments below.
(Credit:
Apple)
Recently, with the help of some of the editors here at CNET, I put together list of the biggest tech flops of the decade. Since I'm not a negative guy at heart, it was only a matter of time before I came up with a more positive spin on the whole tech-products-of-the-decade concept that's all the rage as we approach the end of '09.
Once again, I've enlisted the help of my fellow editors, so while my name may appear at the top of this list, it's really a collective effort. That said, you can blame me if you don't like the picks.
As always, feel free to suggest your own picks. If you make a good case, we'll update the list and make some changes. Also, let us know what your top five picks are in order of innovation and influence.
Click on any image to start the slideshow and see the picks (they are listed in alphabetical order).
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And, of course, there is a lame prize as usual. So watch the show, then come back here and post your trivia question answer below. We'll choose one of the the first 10 correct posters to win the Star Wars Episode 1 Electronic CommTech Reader.
The answer to the lame prize question from last week's tech turkeys countdown was: Meet Me Tour.
It's Thanksgiving time in the U.S., which means we all sit down to a meal of turkey and a bunch of fattening side dishes and then pretend to watch football while we nap. At least that's the stereotype. However much truth it holds doesn't concern me, however. All I care about is that I have an excuse to play on the word turkey and do a top 5 about some of the worst tech of the year.
So watch the show, bask in the turkeyness of some of this year's tech, then come back here and enter a comment either complaining how I bashed your favorite product, or answering the lame prize question.
Answer to last week's question: Beyerdynamic DT 48
Tom and Brian name the tech they think was a turkey in 2009 and get a few turkeys from listners of the show as well.
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No, no, no. This isn't some Dan Brown-inspired homage to products attributed to Lucifer or some such crazy thing. We mean autumn. You know, when the leaves change. We went through all the reviews we did over the past three months and ordered them by rating. So these are the best products we've reviewed so far this fall.
And as usual there's a prize. A lame prize. And you can win it by watching the video, then coming back to this blog post and answering the question in the comments below. Be one of the first 10 to answer correctly, and you could be randomly chosen to win.
Last week's answer: HTC Dream T-Mobile G1
