DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96 ($12,000/pair; reviewed by Art Dudley & Jim Austin, December 2012, January 2013, September 2017, Vol.35 No.12, Vol.36 No.1, Vol.40 No.9 review)

Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx ($109,000/pair; reviewed by Michael Fremer, May 2017, Vol.40 No.5 review)

Looking for evidence of diversity of opinion among Stereophile's editors? I think you've found it: This year's Loudspeaker of the Year award is shared by an easy-to-drive, two-way stand-mounter and a four-way floorstander that, as JA observed in his measurements, "will stress amplifiers."

The former is the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/96, which combines a silk-dome tweeter and a large (10") paper-cone woofer in a reflex-loaded enclosure made of three different types of wood and endowed with a distinctly wide baffle. Since its introduction in early 2012, the high-sensitivity, high-impedance O/96 has found its way into many vintage-vibe systems featuring low-power tube amplifiers, and has gone on to become DeVore's most popular model.

The latter, which sells for nine times the price of the O/96, is the Wilson Audio Specialties Alexx, whose tweeter and two differently sized midrange drivers are mounted in individually adjustable subenclosures, and its 10.5" and 12.5" woofers in a reflex-loaded main enclosure. All cabinetry is made of Wilson's proprietary phenolic-composite X-Material, and the whole kit and caboodle stands just over five-feet-two (and, as the song says, Oh, what those five feet can do!).

Notes on the Vote: John DeVore will be horrified to see me say this, but with this win, the O/96which I first reviewed in the December 2012 Stereophilegets our Ronald Reagan award for having been on the ballot the greatest number of times before taking the top prize. (I proudly admit that I voted for the O/96 every time such a thing was possible.) By now, enough Stereophile staffers have heard the O/96es at shows and dealer events that it was able to earn four second-place votes alongside two first-place votes; the Wilson Alexx, which has also made a name for itself on the strength of numerous public demsnot all by Wilson themselvesearned the same total number of votes with a different point spread, including one more first-place win than the DeVore. Neither of the closest runners-upthe Kii Audio Three or the Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90came close to earning as many votes as the two winners.

Finalists (in alphabetical order)

Auditorium 23 Hommage Cinema ($49,995/pair, plus $5495 for field-coil power supply; reviewed by Art Dudley & John Atkinson, November 2016 & January 2017, Vol.39 No.11 & Vol.40 No.1 review and measurements)

Bang & Olufsen BeoLab 90 ($84,990/pair; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, January 2017, Vol.40 No.1 review)

Focal Sopra No.3 ($19,999/pair; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, April 2017, Vol.40 No.4 review)

KEF Reference 5 ($19,000/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, October 2017, Vol.40 No.10 review)

Kii Audio Three ($13,255/pair including Kii Control unit; reviewed by Kalman Rubinson, September 2017, Vol.40 No.9 review)

Magico S5 Mk.II ($38,000$42,750/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, February 2017, Vol.40 No.2 review)

MartinLogan Masterpiece Renaissance ESL 15A ($24,995/pair; reviewed by Jon Iverson, January 2017, Vol.40 No.1 review)

Monitor Audio Platinum PL300 Series II ($14,495/pair; reviewed by Robert Deutsch, November 2016, Vol.39 No.11 review)

Rockport Technologies Avior II ($38,500/pair; reviewed by John Atkinson, August 2017, Vol.40 No.8 review)

Volti Audio Rival ($7900/pair; reviewed by Ken Micallef, June 2017, Vol.40 No.6 review)

Wharfedale Diamond 225 ($449/pair; reviewed by Herb Reichert, Ken Micallef, Art Dudley, March, June, October 2017, Vol.40 Nos. 3, 6, 10 review)