The Absolute Sound

The Absolute Sound is the world’s preeminent source of expert reviews, features, and commentary on high-performance audio and music.

The Absolute Sound

Letters

Intergrity in Reviewing

FUTURE TAS

The Absolute Sounds 2025 Product of the Year Awards • Welcome to The Absolute Sound‘s 2025 Product of the Year Awards, the most exclusive and prestigious of our honors. Here we celebrate the very best components we've heard in the previous year. In many categories we've chosen two winners: one that represents the greatest value for the dollar and another that represents the best we've reviewed re- gardless of price. We've also selected a Budget Component of the Year to recognize the one product we believe offers the biggest bang for the buck. The Special Merit category celebrates a component that is exceptional even within this esteemed group of products. Finally, our Overall Product of the Year honors the two components that stand above all the others as the most impressive achievements of the past 12 months.

DS Audio Grand Master Extreme Optical Phono Cartridge • A Musical Tour de Force

Specs & Pricing

Yukiseimitsu Audio AP-01 Analog Record Player • Rules Are For Fules!

Specs & Pricing

United Home Audio Ultima Apollo Tape Deck • More Than A Refresh

Specs & Pricing

Audiovector QR 3 SE Loudspeaker • Simply Irresistible

Specs & Pricing

Hegel Music Systems P30A Preamplifier and H30A Power Amplifier • Reference Quality for Less

Specs & Pricing

SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Loudspeaker • Buy One, Get One Free

Specs & Pricing

Soulution 3 Series Electronics: 350 Phonostage, 326 Preamplifier, and 312 Stereo Amplifier • The More “Affordable” Soulutions

Specs & Pricing

Coastal Source Razor RZ310 Outdoor Loudspeaker • High-End Audio Goes Alfresco

Specs & Pricing

Shunyata Research Theta Cables • Category Busting

Specs & Pricing

Nordost QBase Reference AC Distribution Unit • The Hippocratic Oath

Specs & Pricing

CRYSTAL CLEAR • Aesthetix Pallene Hybrid Preamplifier and Dione Hybrid Power Amplifier

Specs & Pricing

Manufacturer Comments

2024 Top Ten Lists

TOP TEN

By the Numbers • Classic-Rock Box Sets, (Really) Big & (Sort of) Small

When the Dead Came Alive • Concert Recording Captures the Band in Fine Form

ROCK ETC

JAZZ

CLASSICAL

Q&A • Antonio Meze Meze Audio