The Absolute Sound Podcast
The Absolute Sound is the world’s preeminent source of expert reviews, features, and commentary on high-performance audio and music. Since 1973, TAS has set the standard for quality audio and music journalism, helping to shape the industry and guiding audio enthusiasts and music lovers to components and recordings that faithfully reproduce the sounds one might hear in a good concert hall. The Absolute Sound is a monthly print and digital magazine, an online destination for those interested in better sound, and a community of audiophiles and music lovers. For a Brief History of The Absolute Sound: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/fifty-years-of-the-absolute-sound/ Sign up for our weekly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iPNIR2 Subscribe to our monthly magazine: https://theabsolutesound.secure.darwin.cx/J200BNRA
Episodes
Robert Taylor duel reviews the Accuphase C2900 preamplifier and the Accuphase A80 amplifier, noting their individual characteristics and their combined output. Tune in to hear Robert's thoughts...
01:04 Specs & Design
03:44 Preamp door controls
05:10 Associated Equipment
05:58 Sound Quality
08:08 Sound Quality Pt. 2
10:51 Conclusion
This video is sponsored by: https://shunyata.com/
We wanted to share with you some of the music we are using in the review process, with a focus on musically interesting work that is also enjoyably recorded. This isn’t necessarily new work or new recordings. With streaming making a test drive of these recommendations so easy, we simply wanted to give you some ideas.
This video is sponsored by: https://www.javahifi.com/home
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www...
Okay this one is obviously different. At 77” tall and weighing 235 lb, the Tekton Ulfberht is not your typical under $10,000 speaker. One look at the front panel, and you’ll know these aren’t your standard 3-way or 4-way towers on the technical front either. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at the ideas and the sound quality behind the Tekton Ulfberht.
This video is sponsored by: https://rediacoustics.com/
Okay, full disclosure, this video is not targeted at our average viewer. Rather, this is an attempt to open the door of hi-fi for those previously unfamiliar and at $350 US this delicate sounding desktop pair provides a worthwhile peek through that open door.
00:00 Onkyo GX-30ARC
00:56 Overview
03:50 How'd it sound?
07:11 Summary
This video is sponsored by: https://www.hifiman.com/products/detail/353
You could view the title of this video as audiophile "click bait"—and perhaps it is. In a more charitable frame of mind, however, you could view it as directing attention to a novel product that could prove to be highly significant and even a bit disruptive to the high-end audio marketplace. This is Andrew Quint, a Senior Writer for The Absolute Sound, and I'd like to tell you about new software coming very soon from Theoretica Ap...
When Hegel announces a new flagship DAC, the audio world tends to take notice. Hegel has recently released the true successor to their previously acclaimed HD30 DAC. This Hegel Reference Converter promises to elevate Hegel's reputation for pristine digital reproduction to new heights at $4,900. This is placed within the high end realm of HiFi, and is positioned for those looking for supreme accuracy, realism, as well as musicality....
I often rely on analogies to help develop my thoughts. This is a great way to take a known experience that I am relatively more familiar with to draw out the nuance of a less known experience – of course at some point all analogies fall apart and, therefore, they can only get us so far.
I bring this up because I admit, when it comes to audio equipment that I enjoy listening to, I have a pretty sound understanding of my aural pr...
The Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Edition may look almost identical to the contour 20, but looks can be deceiving. The Danish loudspeaker company, I think, has packed quite a few changes under the hood of this long popular stand mount speaker. Let's find out what!
00:00 Dynaudio Contour 20 Black Edition
02:29 Specs & Design
05:45 Sound Quality
18:45 Is this for you?
21:38 Summary
This video is sponsored by: https://www.ja...
In this briefing I cover the Via Blue Rocket cable lifter system. I’ve been using these for several months now and have found them quite useful and enjoyable. Let’s find out why.
This video is sponsored by: https://www.hegel.com/en/
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-absolute-sounds-review-methodology-first-principles/
Newsletter: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/newslett...
Following up from his Pass Labs factory tour, Adrian reviews the hefty, rich Pass Labs 260.8 Monoblock Amplifier.
This video's sponsored by: https://shunyata.com/product/gemini-model-8/
00:00 Pass Labs 260.8 Monoblock Amplifier
01:56 Specs & Design
03:32 Sound Quality
06:31 Customer Service
07:33 Summary
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-absolute-sounds-review-me...
A business strategy frequently employed by seasoned organizations when developing a new product is to design and produce what is known as a Minimum Viable Product. After hearing the Chesky Audio LC1s, it became abundantly clear Founder and CEO, Lucca Chesky, made the prudent decision to dispense with circumspect practices of seasoned organizations and forged a path solidly in the direction of viability, all while leaving minimum in...
A business strategy frequently employed by seasoned organizations when developing a new product is to design and produce what is known as a Minimum Viable Product. After hearing the Chesky Audio LC1s, it became abundantly clear Founder and CEO, Lucca Chesky, made the prudent decision to dispense with circumspect practices of seasoned organizations and forged a path solidly in the direction of viability, all while leaving minimum in...
We wanted to share with you some of the music we are using in the review process, with a focus on musically interesting work that is also enjoyably recorded. This isn’t necessarily new work or new recordings. With streaming making a test drive of these recommendations so easy, we simply wanted to give you some ideas.
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-absolute-sounds-review-met...
Some listeners feel that the most intimate experience you can have with recorded music is by using headphones. Not just because of the proximity to your ears, but it's the way they're voicing their aural personality gets right inside your head. An excellent example of that are the Meze Audio 105 AER Headphones...
00:00 Meze Audio 105 AER
01:32 Specs & Design
5:00 Sound Quality
10:34 Summary
Just north of Rome on the Italian coast is a high end amplifier manufacturer you've probably never heard of, but Audia Flight who've been making amps and preamps in-house since 1996, is a company that I think is past due for serious consideration from North American audiophiles. I spent this past winter with their FLS9 Modular Integrated Amplifier, and with this review I aim to tell you all about that.
We’ve just attended the 2025 AXPONA audio show in Chicago. We had a team of 5 on site: Adrian Alexander, Grover Neville, Jason Methfessel, Robert Taylor and Tom Martin doing video coverage. The magazine also had a group of reviewers covering the show and their summary will be published in an upcoming issue.
Errata:
DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Super 9: $9900/pr
Pass Labs new preamp is the XSPRE-2, not the XP-22.
Sponsored by: h...
Songer Audio is the kind of audio company that puts a smile on your face. Songer is a small company devoted to designing and hand-building unusual loudspeakers. The concepts used by designer Ken Songer in some ways harken back to the early days of audio in the ‘30s and ‘50s. But these ideas are off the beaten path for modern designs. And a seven-year-old company making its own main drivers is also not the norm. The aesthetic used b...
Regular viewers (thank you!) will know that we have defined six major issues for audio believability. These are systemic technical issues that have proven hard to address, one of these being ‘the problem of a-musical digital distortion’. We have been reviewing D/A converters in the hope of finding some that deal with the issue effectively. Is the Tidal Camira LC a DAC that breaks through this barrier? Let’s take a look.
Newcomer Matt Coykendall reviews the Bang & Olufsen H100 headphones with their versatile but surprisingly high-fidelity sound. How do these stand up in the marketplace of hi-fi headphones? Listen in to find out...
The video is sponsored by: https://chordelectronics.co.uk/mojo-2
Matt's channel: https://www.youtube.com/@UC145VfPR89fEeiwjvQvThaA
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/art...
I tend to approach amplifier reviews with some trepidation, because I’m afraid the differences between them will be minute. This is almost never the case in reality. With the Block Class A monoblocks, the sound quality was not only easily discerned, it was what I think many audiophiles would want, if cost were no object.
https://www.theabsolutesound.com/newsletter
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www.theabsolu...
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