I recently recieved an offer in the mail for a year of The Absolute Sound for $14.95. I've never had a subscription to an audiophile type magazine and am wondering if it's worth getting for this, or any, price.
The music recommendations are worth looking at. I usually force myself to read one article. The ads always make me wonder how any of these companies stay in business and the models are definitely B list.
Hey, I've got $1, and I've been thinking about buying something on the McDonald's Value Meal menu. Should I spend my dollar at McDonald's tomorrow? Will it be tasty? Will it satisfy my appetite? Will it be nourishing?
Tvad, as you are looking for recommendations, spend a little more and go for the Mac Snack Wrap. Yum Yum. As for TAS, total crap IMO.
IF YOU DREAM OF- 1. driving a porsche, buy a car magazine. 2. taking pictures with a leica, buy a photography magazine. 3. fiddling around with big chunks of audio components, buy an audio magazine. NOTICE i did not mention anything about music appreciation which is a function of your education on the subject and your exposure to one or many forms of music. still further is the separate dream of fusing what you perceive good sound is with what you believe is possible in electronically reproducing it. so reading the magazine might push your buttons or repel you, or both at the same time (my experience). in the end i like to get stereophile and the absolute sound, look at the pictures, and read one or two of the articles. sometimes this serves as a launch pad for further research. BUT IN ADDITION I can also HIGHLY recommend the audio show reviews that audiogon and other on-line web sites are offering. better yet try to attend one of the shows in person.
I subscribe to both and find myself enjoying Absolute Sound a bit more. Their articles are more accessible and readable without being "dumbed down" like an A/V monthly publication I won't mention. Stereophile reads a little too serious for even a serious audiophile like myself. I subscribe to Stereophile because they keep offering me some rediculously cheap subscription rate which works out to be a cup of coffe for each issue so it's a no brainer. I reread the Absolute Sound while Stereophile gets a single look through and gets passed onto my friends. Go the library and compare and ask: "Which one do I find more readable?"
I think if you are interested in what it does provide; samplings of upcoming products, short, non-technical to a certain extent, and nice glossy pictures, of current products, then you will like it. I like it for its differing perspective compared to the mainstream, what many on forums often complain about. I like to have different opinions, as there is often times no 100% absolute in some things, you must simply try it out for yourself.
For the price, it is useless to debate the merits of the worth of TAS. I like it for what it is as well as Stereophile. I also like Car and Driver, Car Craft, Automobile, Vette Magazine, Corvettes Quarterly, GM High Tech Performance, and Federal Times, but that is me.
I just signed up for another 3 years for 39 dollars, 38 issues. I figure if I am going to be a hobbiest, I might as well get some hobby magazines. Ther are a couple of online webzines that I have bookmarked as well.
I got that offer too and I am going to re-up, also got an offer for Stereophile for $7 and it comes with a IPOD USB car adaptor it............not bad for a year of reading.
Tvad - Thanks for the good wishes. Obviously, the cost isn't an issue, but there' no point in having another useless thing show up in the mailbox once a month.
I was interested to know if it was a respected magazine overall.
$14.95 would get me another CD so is it worth more than getting one, or more, new CDs?
I have no respect for the Absolute Sound ("TAS"). Anthony Cordesman's reviews are serious, but the other reviewers tend to write exceedingly positive reviews - a typical review basically reprints the ad copy produced by the manufacturer and concludes with a statement to the effect that the component under review is the best that the reviewer has ever heard (the best, that is, until a competing component is reviewed in the next issue, which then is labeled "the very best"). TAS does not perform any laboratory analysis of reviewed components like Stereophile does. Finally, TAS's editor, Harry Pearson, is an intolerable windbag.
The original TAS of 25 years ago was a serious magazine - the current iteration is a shill for the industry, in my opinion.
Come on Tvad give Mceljo a break. The Absolute Sound....... I mean if the reviewers were to accidentally see this thread they would?
1. Break down in tears? 2. Write for a different magazine? 3. OD on Lady GaGa turned up loud? 4. Divorce their wives? Ops! Already divorced... 5. All of the above?
Not to mention the advertisers. They would?
1. Place more ads? 2. Go to full color on the back page? 3. Bribe the reviewers? 4. Bribe the owners? 6. None of the above. 7. You choose your own answer.
I haven't subscribed to any audio magazine for years. I can pretty much get everything I need from the web. The only one I still read is Tone Audio because it is free and I found that it is no more or less useful than any others.
14.95 a year isn't a lot of money. It is worth subscribing if you like to read paper magazine, just don't believe everything it says.
Tvad - Before the mailing arrived I'd never heard of The Absolute Sound. I'm just interested to know if it's a decent magazine or if I'd be better off choosing another one or staying where I'm at with zero subscriptions. It's not expensive, but still a waste if I won't end up reading it.
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