The Absolute Sound (DIGITAL)

Email the Editor: rharley@nextscreen.com or: TAS, 1801 Red Bud Lane, Suite B, P.O. Box 164, Round Rock, TX A Phono Cartridge Made of Tankwood? I was reading Andrew Quint's informative and well-written review of the Auer Acoustics Versura V2 loudspeakers [Issue 368]. His mention of Panzerholz [the enclosure material, also known as Tankwood] perked up my ears immediately. I have a terrific-sounding moving-coil phono cartridge made of the same stuff. It was from Steve Leung of VAS in New Jersey. Not only does it sound great, but it is very reasonably priced. Steve is well known in phono cartridge repair circles, but he makes some transducers of his own as well. He is also a retailer of Cayin electronics. His cartridge is well worth hearing. John J Pluta A Trip Down…

If It's Too Loud, You're Too Old As a teenager and young adult, that defiant expression of youthful folly, “If it's too loud, you're too old,” never made sense to me. Now that I'm officially old, my attitude toward the expression has changed from indifferent dismissal to outright hostility. My tolerance for excessively loud amplified music has reached the breaking point. Although many amplified concerts of past decades have been overly loud, they were the exception—think The Who in the 1970s. I've been to concerts in my youth that were too loud but nothing like the absurd sound-pressure levels one routinely encounters at virtually all amplified music performances today. There's an unmistakable trend for louder performances of all types of music and in all types of venues. I'm not talking…

Pretty much all of you have heard (or heard of) this justly celebrated Frank Sinatra album from 1955, though you may not have heard it in the superior, recently released Blue Note Tone Poet version I'm recommending here, produced by Joe Harley, mastered by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) from the original analog mastertapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Record Technology Inc. (RTI). Originally produced by Voyle Gilmore and engineered by John Palladino (who won special recognition from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences—this was before the Grammy Awards—for his work on In the Wee Small Hours) with famously memorable arrangements by Nelson Riddle, the album was recorded at KHJ (the call letters for RKO's Hollywood radio and TV studios) on five evenings in February and April ’55.…

What audio systems do our reviewers use to evaluate new products? What are their musical tastes? How do they approach reviewing? The answers to these questions can provide important context when reading reviews. Each reviewer's playback system and his opinions about products naturally reflect his musical tastes and sonic priorities. To give our readers insight into each reviewer's listening room and system, I asked them to describe their equipment, listening spaces, musical tastes, and sonic priorities. Here is Part One of this two-part feature. MATT CLOTT THE ANALOGY IS a bit crude, but inviting someone over to listen to your system is like standing naked in front of her or him. We have spent years, sometimes decades (sometimes a lifetime), building something intensely personal, supremely unique, and absolutely special to…

OF THE MANY articles and reviews that Harry Pearson wrote for The Absolute Sound, his annual Super LP List (aka SuperDisc List) may have been the most eagerly anticipated. The issue in which it was published was the one that everyone had to buy, borrow, or copy. Why? Because whether you were rich or poor, active in the high-end audio market or just kicking tires, it was the one issue of TAS you could make daily practical use of—it was your road map to the absolute sound. It is our aim here to preserve and expand upon what Harry created. While it may not ignite the frenzy that it once did, TAS's new Super LP List contains every LP that HP recommended when the list was last published by him.…

October of 2025 was a dual-event year for Japanese cartridge manufacturer Excel Sound and its Hana brand of cartridges. Early in the month, Excel held a Hana Umami Fest followed by the release of the ambitious new Hana Umami Black cartridge. The dual events proved to be an information-packed gathering and, later, a direct experience when I auditioned the Umami Black cartridge in my system. The Hana Umami Fest, also called the Hana G6 Summit due to the six nations in attendance (physically or virtually), was held in Sonoma Valley's beautiful Healdsburg, California. Those six nations included the United States (Musical Surroundings, hosting the event), the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, and Japan (Excel Sound Corporation and Hana, co-hosts). These six manufacturers and distributors gathered to discuss all things Hana-related.…