In this article we give you a fifth update on the status of the 2023 Reader voted best gear polls.
Almost 8 months have passed since we launched the 2023 Reader Voted Best Gear polls. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, check out the page below where we announce and explain the Reader Awards. Anyway, it’s time for another update. Let’s find out what you so far in 2023 find to be the Best / Your favourite Gear on the market!
The categories this year are the same as last year and they are the following:
- Headphones – Link: Headphones
- Universal IEMs -Link: Universal IEMs
- Custom IEMs – Link: Custom IEMs
- TWS IEM – Link: TWS IEM
- Portable Players/DAPs – Link: DAPs/Port. Source
- DAC/AMP Combo – Link: DAC/AMP
The Status on August 6 is the following:
Headphones
- Focal Utopia – 10,04%
- Hifiman Susvara – 6,84%
- Meze Audio ELITE – 6,55%
Almost no changes here and the Top 3 has only lightly changed. The number 1 still is the Focal Utopia but now with 10,04%. Coming from 9,82% it is increasing its lead. The second and third spot switched places and the Susvara now is second with 6,84% of the votes. Before it had 6,32%. The Meze Audio ELITE is now third with 6,55% of the votes, where it had 6,997% before. The Sennheiser HD800 is no longer in the top 3 but it’s in spot for with 4,95%. It will be hard for any any headphone to catch up to the top 3.
Universal IEMs
- Sennheiser IE900 – 9,71%
- FiiO FD3 – 7,99%
- ThieAudio Monarch MKii – 4,42%
No change in the UIEM category this time. The top position still is for the Sennheiser IE 900, it now has 9,71%% of the votes where it last time had 10,11%. Its lead slightly decreased. Second spot is for the FiiO FD3. It has 7,99% of the votes, so it lost a bit as it had 8,97% last time round. The 3rd place is for the ThieAudio Monarch MKii with 4,42% of the count, coming down from 4,84%. The Sennheiser IE 600 still is in 4th position, closely followed by the Empire Ears Odin.
Custom IEMs
- 64 Audio A12T – 17,58%
- 64 Audio A18T – 12,09%
- JH Audio Sharona – 12,0%8
There are no changes here in the top 3 and 64Audio is killing it. The number one, still is the 64 Audio A12t with 17,58%, a very small decrease from the previous 17,86%. Second spot is for the the 64 Audio A18t with 12,09%, coming from 13,11%, so quite a drop there. The third place still is for the JH Audio Sharona with 12,08% of the votes. Like the A18T, it lost a good one % compared to the last time. The Vision Ears Elysium only has 7,69% of the votes, so it will be difficult to change the top 3.
TWS IEM
- Apple Airpods Pro 2 – 24,74%
- Sony WF-1000XM4 – 14,74%
- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 – 7,89%
We still have the Apple Airpods Pro 2 in first position. With 24,74% of the votes, it did lose over 2% compared to last time but they’re still comfortably in the lead. The Sony WF-1000XM4 is still in the second spot and its vote count has increased from 14,37% to 14,74%. The 3rd position is for the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3, with 7,89% (coming from 8,38%). Last year the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro won this category but it’s nowhere to be seen now.
Portable Players/DAPs
- Cayin Audio N8ii – 11,92%
- AK SP3000 – 11,26%
- Fiio M17 – 9,27%
Last year we had the Fiio M17 winning this category, with the SP2000T and the SP2000 in second and third place. In this update, the Cayin N8ii still is first with 11,29% of the votes (12,86% before). The AK SP3000 is second with 11,26%, and it almost lost a full percent compared to the previous update. The 3rd place is for the Fiio M17 with 9,27%, coming from 9,47%, so almost no change there. The iBasso DX320 is in 4th place with only 5,30% of the votes.
DAC/AMP Combo
- Chord Electronics Mojo 2 – 13,61%
- Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 – 9,16%
- RME ADI-2 DAC FS – 6,54%
No changes here. The Chord Electronics Mojo 2 has increased its lead and it now has 14,02% of the vote count, before it was at 13,61%). The Hugo TT2 is in second place with 9,58%, increasing its lead from 9,16%. Chord Electronics is still doing very well here with the top 2 positions. The third position also still is for the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. It has 6,31% of the votes (before at 6,54%, so it lost a tiny bit). The Fiio K9 Pro is making its way up fast in the ranks now, and it’s already at 6,07%, taking the fourth spot.
Don’t forget that you can still vote and participate in all of these polls. If you don’t agree with the intermediate results or you want to see your favourite piece of gear in the results, you know what to do…
Check out Page 2 and following and get voting!
Full links:
Headphones: https://www.headfonia.com/2023-reader-voted-best-gear-polls-update-5/2
Universal IEMs: https://www.headfonia.com/2023-reader-voted-best-gear-polls-update-5/3
Custom IEMS: https://www.headfonia.com/2023-reader-voted-best-gear-polls-update-5/4
TWS IEMs: https://www.headfonia.com/2023-reader-voted-best-gear-polls-update-5/5
DAP: https://www.headfonia.com/2023-reader-voted-best-gear-polls-update-5/6
DAC/AMP: https://www.headfonia.com/2023-reader-voted-best-gear-polls-update-5/7
