Hello and welcome to our new Secrets Recommended Gear section!

Here you will find an annually updated list of component recommendations brought to you by our staff, encompassing every product category that we cover.

Not simply just our Best of the Year Award choices, but long-term recommendations that will be chosen from products that we’ve actually reviewed and found compelling enough to place them on this list. Once a product is chosen it will remain on the Recommended Gear list until it is discontinued by the manufacturer. An archive of each year’s list will remain on the Secrets website for those shopping for used gear and wanting to research older choices.

All products chosen will fit into one of these 4 tiers:

Essential: These components provide excellent performance and represent a superb value with a focus on the entry-level. Anyone looking to set up a great affordable system can rely on these choices.

Superior: The upgrade choice. This gear exhibits superior design and performance in every detail. A significant step up over Essential class.

Reference: Reference Standard components. These choices provide “cream of the crop” performance with no compromises.

Elite: This is an elite category for price-no-object components. Dream gear for most of us. Ultimate works of art and craftsmanship.

The Secrets Recommended Gear list features outstanding examples of products in their respective categories and price levels. We believe that any of our Recommended choices will provide you with a superior experience for years to come. While we can’t review every single AV product out there, we hope that you will find the Secrets Recommended Gear list a useful resource when you are considering and researching a future purchase. As this is our inaugural list; we will be publishing one tier each week over the month of February. We hope you find it to be informative.

Enjoy!