Welcome to The Abso!ute Sound online! We explore music and the reproduction of music in the home. We believe that the sound of music, unamplified, occurring in a real space is a philosophic absolute against which we may judge the performance of devices designed to reproduce music. Our goal is to provide the resources consumers need to judge how a component's sound either honors or departs from the music's truth, and to make sound purchasing decisions that maximize their experience of reproduced sound. Below is our Issue 237, November 2013 table of contents and editorial.

 

Articles & Reviews In This Issue
8 From The Editor: Best of the Best
Editorial By Robert Harley

10 Coming Soon From The Absolute Sound
The Absolute Sound's Illustrated History of High-End Audio, Volume One: Loudspeakers nears completion!

12 Turning A Mac Into A Music Server
Steven Stone takes you step-by-step through configuring a Mac as an audiophile-quality music server. 

20 High-Performance Computer Audio
John Quick of dCS offers tips for optimizing your Mac's sound quality.

24 System Set-Up Secrets
Learn insider tips and tricks for optimizing your system's sound — without spending a dime. Robert Harley shows you how in this excerpt from The Complete Guide to High-End Audio (fourth edition).

34 Music feature: Hidden Treasures
Our writers pick ten little-known but great-sounding recordings.

214 Headphone Buyer's Guide
We select 28 of the world's best earphones, custom-fit in-ear monitors, and headphones, priced from $79 to $5500

232 The 35 Greatest Bargains In High-End Audio
(And where to find them in this issue)
We pick the most spectacular values in high-end audio today.

 

350+ Reviews of The Best
68 ESKTOP LOUDSPEAKERS
70 STAND-MOUNTED LOUDSPEAKERS
78 FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS
104 SUBWOOFERS
110 POWER AMPLIFIERS
120 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIERS
129 ALL-IN-ONE SYSTEMS
130 PREAMPLIFIERS
144 PHONOSTAGES
150 CD AND SACD PLAYERS
152 DACS
158 MUSIC SERVERS AND PERIPHERALS
160 DSP LOUDSPEAKER AND ROOM CORRECTION
164 TURNTABLES AND RECORD PLAYERS
174 TONEARMS
178 PHONO CARTRIDGES
188 TUNERS
188 TAPE DECKS
190 RECORD-CLEANING MACHINES
192 EQUIPMENT RACKS
194 POWER CONDITIONERS
194 INTERCONNECTS AND  LOUDSPEAKER CABLES
208 POWER CORDS
210 USB CABLES
214 EARPHONES
218 HEADPHONES
222 ACCESSORIES

 

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