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
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...
Adrian Alexander stopped by Auburn California to take a peak at what Pass Labs has been up to...
Newsletter: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/newsletter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theabsolutesound
Substack: https://www.theabsolutesound.substack.com
What Is The Absolute Sound?
The Absolute Sound magazine has been a leading publication in high-end audio since 1972. Since the early 2000s, The Absolute Sound has expa...
Thomas gives his impressions of his first experience with two different dipole bass systems, provided by VPE Electrodynamics, one for use with smaller Magnepan speakers like the LRS+. and one for use with open-baffle dynamic speakers. Listen in to hear his thoughts.
This video is sponsored by: https://www.advanceparis.com/
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-absolute-sounds-...
ERRATA: Popori Hypersail does NOT include subs. Demo had REL subs in place. Apologies for the mistake.
MBL 101 X-Treme price is $433k/pr (4 pcs)
Tom Martin and Jason Methfessel return from this years Southwest Audio Fest with a list of some of the most compelling products and rooms they experienced at the show. Listen in to see what's new!
theabsolutesound.com/newsletter
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https:...
Does high-performance audio necessarily mean high-fidelity audio? In my default reactionary state, I might pointedly blurt out, “Of course it does!” I might even go so far as to say, “How could one even ask such a question?” That was, until I heard the KEF Q7 Meta.
theabsolutesound.com/newsletter
00:00 KEF Q7 Meta
01:17 Specs & Design
03:12 Sound Quality
8:33 Summary
The Absolute Sound’s Review Methodology: https:/...
"I started making this video a few months ago, but didn't feel ready to post it and set it aside. As it turns out, I'm glad that I did, because about two weeks ago, my colleague Jason Methfessel put up a video on this very subject about his initial and unenthusiastic experience with Atmos. Very different from my own over the past year or so.
Things are happening in the Atmos music sphere at an ever accelerating pace, and the de...
"I started making this video a few months ago, but didn't feel ready to post it and set it aside. As it turns out, I'm glad that I did, because about two weeks ago, my colleague Jason Methfessel put up a video on this very subject about his initial and unenthusiastic experience with Atmos. Very different from my own over the past year or so.
Things are happening in the Atmos music sphere at an ever accelerating pace, and the de...
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