For the fourth time, the FIDELITY team is presenting awards for the most exciting hi-fi products and technologies of recent years: enjoy the FIDELITY AWARDS 2024!
Looking back, we always get the feeling that the hi-fi industry is slumbering in a kind of hybernation: amplifiers are amplifying, streamers are streaming, speakers are rumbling and the vinyl train is rolling as if the conductor had broken off the brake lever. Since the emergence of web streaming, really new hits and innovations have been a long time coming.
But this impression is wrong in two respects. Firstly, the complexity of many components is exploding. Everything that deals with digital media is subject to permanent license changes and concept modifications. No wonder developers think twice before launching their new “box” on the market. This increases the intervals between innovations. On the other hand, we are dealing with a kind of market consolidation. Instead of fundamentally new concepts, development departments are struggling to increase the efficiency of existing technologies: How do you garnish a retro loudspeaker with new high-tech drivers without diluting the original concept? – to name just one example. Browsing through the AWARD pages, you will discover many examples of such “detailed optimizations with effect”. In keeping with the theme, our colleague Hans von Draminski has given some thought to the past, present and future of hi-fi and high-end. But now to the general conditions of the FIDELITY AWARDS 2024.
What is the FIDELITY AWARD?
The FIDELITY AWARD is not a winner’s podium. When selecting the test candidates, we focus on highlights that match the character of our exclusive magazine. With the AWARD, we recognize components within this exclusive selection that are among the best and most interesting in their category due to their musicality, sophistication or certain features and characteristics. You can find out more about the reasons for awarding a candidate on the following pages. Incidentally, after a lengthy discussion, we have decided to suspend the “HiFi Legend” category for 2024. As you remember, Linn’s LP12 won this category in 2022 – and set the bar pretty high. In the eyes of the editorial team, the term “legend” has too much significance for us to treat it lightly. Let’s see what 2026 has to offer in this respect …
The selection of the AWARDS offers us an opportunity to reflect on trends and tendencies. For the past few years, there are two clear winners: we are moving ever more conspicuously into the age of the active loudspeaker, be it analog, digital or hybrid. There were so many contenders in this category this time that we were only able to make a decision after heated discussions. Parallel to this – as we have already mentioned above – everything to do with vinyl records is in demand. Meanwhile, there are signs of relaxation in a completely different department: in recent years, hi-fi has become increasingly exclusive. This trend is continuing, but many manufacturers are making an effort to balance their expensive top models with affordable counterparts, including a darn lot of super-exciting devices. This time you will discover a good number of those in our AWARDS.
Who is eligible for a FIDELITY AWARD?
The prerequisites are very simple: all devices, accessories and technologies for which we can make an objective statement were eligible for the FIDELITY AWARD 2024. This applies to all products that we had in-house and includes a select group of components that we were allowed to test extensively during company visits. The second condition was that the candidates had to be ones whose tests had already been published or could be found in this issue (in the print magazine or online). The specified time frame includes FIDELITY issues no. 62 through no. 73 as well as online tests from the same production period, i.e. from March 2022 to March 2024. The third condition was that the nominated products had to be current: At the time of the AWARD presentation, all award winners were available in stores. It should be noted that the HIGH-END trade fair in May determines the product cycle of many manufacturers. There may therefore have been generational changes in the meantime, which we were unable to foresee at the time of the selection. Over the course of the following days, you will find a selection of the FIDELITY AWARDS 2024 winners on this website.
And with that, we hope you enjoy the FIDELITY AWARDS 2024.
