We’re excited to announce that the RG-1 Reference Groove record player has been awarded the prestigious Stereo Sound Grand Prix 2026.
The Stereo Sound Grand Prix is awarded annually by the Japanese quarterly magazine Stereo Sound, recognising outstanding audio components released during the year. There is no other award quite like it.
The Grand Prix is an open-category award. Each year, a limited number of products are selected from all audio equipment released that year. It is not categorised by genre or price.
The selection criteria are wide-ranging, including not only superior sound quality but also originality, innovation, maturity, design, finish, and reliability. The selection process follows the philosophy that has been upheld since the founding of Stereo Sound magazine: "Audio products must not merely sound good but be excellent in all aspects."
The RG-1 record player was released in Japan earlier this year following its success overseas.
In Japan, it is available as the RG-1 PKG, which is the configuration that won this award. It consists of the RG-1 deck with SG-II Pathfinder tonearm, a Ruby One cartridge, an Imperium motor drive and a Pulse-HB tonearm cable.
The RG-1 now joins the MG-1 and SG-1 record players, which previously won the Grand Prix award in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
We are incredibly grateful to Stereo Sound, and it is a great honour to receive such an award.
The full list of winners will be announced in the winter edition of Stereo Sound magazine, which will be released within the next month.