2024 Recommended Products Under $1,000
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2024
- Tom Martin reviews the last year's best hi-fi products under $1,000. Look for our upcoming videos exploring different price ranges.
*Correct price of DragonFly Cobalt $199.95
00:00-02:12 Introduction & Overview
02:12-02:47 Sony MDR 7506
02:47-3:29 ATH-M50X
3:29-4:16 Korf HS-A02
4:16-5:02 DragonFly Cobalt
5:02-5:41 Fluance RT 81
5:41-6:26 AQ PowerQuest 303
6:26-7:30 The Perfect Interface Carbon Mat
7:30-8:23 Focal Bathys Headphones
8:23-Magnepan LRS+
Tune in to learn more!
Sony MDR7506: • Sony MDR 7506 Headphon...
Audio Technica ATH-M50X: • The Audio-Technica ATH...
DragonFly Cobalt: • DragonFly DAC Cobalt R...
Fluance RT 81: • Review: Fluance RT 81 ...
AQ PowerQuest 303: • AudioQuest Power Quest...
Focal Bathys: • Focal's Bathys Hi-Fi B...
Magnepan LRS+: • Review: Magnepan LRS+ ...
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About Tom Martin:
Tom is a long-time audiophile. He began his reviewing career after acquiring the The Absolute Sound magazine in 1997 and then hi-fi+ magazine in 2002. He has worked closely with Harry Pearson and Robert Harley at TAS and with Roy Gregory and Alan Sircom at hi-fi+. Since Tom and his teams expanded the TAS and Plus platforms in the digital domain, he has served as Chief Content Officer.
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 expanded to include web, newsletter, digital magazine, social media, RUclips and Substack platforms. The Absolute Sound platforms have a global audience of over 500,000 audiophiles.
#hifi #audiophile #theabsolutesound 
Развлечения
Spot on Tom, the LRS+ supplemented with subs is extraordinary.
Great stuff! Nice length. Very interesting material. And being a Maggie lover, can't argue with getting the featured artist spot!
wonderful and so welcome to see absolute sound cover this moderate price range...very well done!
Love to see this coming from tas. Thanks for thinking about the frugal set. I have the RT-82 and love it……now I really need to get a pair of those Maggies.
I have the Rt81 connected to a marantz with Kef ls50 meta with a Rel subwoofer, and yes! That turntable is pretty amazing. Subscribed!
Thanks for the guide. Your intro brings up something I've always wondered about: If you define "the absolute sound" as being the most accurate reproduction of "music being performed in real spaces" (with acoustic instruments or electronically amplified ones?) then what if the music was never recorded in real spaces? What if the musicians ever actually congregated in a room and played their music together in a single space at a particular time? Today, with everything from studio baffles to multi-track recording technologies capable of isolating each sound from all others so that each note can be recorded in any number of environments at any number of times and mixed and modified (digitally or otherwise) without affecting any other elements in the recording, doesn't that pretty much make consideration of realistic "room sound" acoustics irrelevant? Today, fans of meticulously produced pop music can access sound coming directly from electronic instruments into the mixing console (conceivably without the use of microphones at all) and have it digitally recorded and injected into their ears through headphones or earbuds so the sounds never pass through open air (in the studio or in the listener's room) for more than a few millimeters! What is the "absolute sound" then? Just a philosophical question I've been pondering...
I have a video coming on this because you ask a key and non-obvious question. Basically, we take the view that the recording engineers working on studio recordings usually are trying for a virtual simulation of what a live performance might be like if really well-recorded. This is actually required for "live" recordings as well (e.g. a classical recording might have 30 mic feeds, none positioned where a listener would be). We will never know exactly what they aimed at, so we are looking more for a credible virtual reality presentation than something exact. Most systems are not highly credible in this regard. Now, reviewers have to listen to many, many tracks to get the sense of how well equipment lives up to this goal, because recordings vary in quality and intent, forcing reviewers to look for patterns and ignore certain recordings or elements of certain recordings. That said, recording engineers, especially the top ones, are quite good at doing their part of the virtual reality puzzle given the complexity of going from studio conditions to something that sounds live and real. The absolute sound, then, remains as stated: the sound of live music in a real space (acoustic instruments may have some advantages in forming this reference, but this is logically secondary at the level of exactness we need). Hope that helps or is at least food for thought.
I think a good example would be the use of real instruments like drums and pianos, instead of using drum machines and digital pianos, which are both very common. And even if the instruments are recorded in a purist 2 mic stereo recording or done as a multi track recording, an actual acoustic instrument is being recorded in real space. I think there may be come confusion regarding "real space". In either case, you are still recording a real instrument in real space using a microphone. Plugging a digital piano into a mixer, for example, would not be considered the absolute sound. It has to be a real recording.
A really nice list.
That Fluance RT81 is a great turntable
Love that BEAUTIFUL polished wood look, especially the walnut. It even comes with white gloves so you can keep fingerprints off it.
Tom, re LRS+ - please define what in your opinion is a small or a medium size room? Thanks.
Very well done and needed to continue to grow the audiophile hobby…. I have 1 future need to consider… I use a modified Oppo all in 1 Cd, streaming player.. reviewing these will provide a great starting point for many..
I wonder how much advertising revenue AudioQuest provides to The Absolute Sound.
8:20 I totally agree, people accept so many limitations on sound in the name of "convenience"! Remember when "they" gave people choices, not just what's popular and sales the most?😮
Spot-on about the Sony MDR-7506 and Audio-Technica ATH-M50X headphones - both staples in the broadcast/pro video and recording industries 👌 I wonder, though, why you wouldn't have mentioned something like the Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X (~$260), which is supposed to be even better sounding. And as long as you're mentioning Fluance turntables, why the RT81 over the top-of-the-line RT85, which doesn't have a built-in preamp (so less noise and you'd want to use a dedicated preamp anyway), has an acrylic platter, and an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge? At around $500, it's still way less than the $1000 max price you set for this list.
Nice presentation.
For USD$100, the HiFiMan HE400SE is unbeatable.
Thanks for the video and mentioning some products that us "mere mortals" can afford.
Seems ? Not sure ? Thanks for the tip.
AT headphones are even cheaper at their outlet store. I got my $150 headphones for $100 from their outlet. Sounds great!
I have both the Sony and AT headphones. I prefer the AT's but the lining of the headband deteriorated way too soon, falling off in chunks while the Sony's look as good today as they did day one.
Try the Beyerdynamic models, they have replaceable earpads and headpad. And the earpads are velour.
$1000 dollars worth of acoustic treatment probably enhances way beyond any of these products.
So, how many of your readers bought that $150,000 product mentioned? Or a turntable (sans arm) for the price of a the average car? I suppose those types of reviews are interesting to some people, myself included, but in moderation. When most reviews are of products costing more than most people's yearly income I just don't see the relevance to most readers.
I understand that you are making a statement, and we thank you for that. Taking you literally in case others are interested: 50% of our reviews are of products below $5k, and 70% are products under $10k. Another 25% are priced between $10k and $30k. 5% are above $35k. Median household income in the U.S. is $75k (2022). I actually think the >$10k products are somewhat under-represented when compared with the high-end audio market. Our goal is to do more reviews per year, allowing those higher price points to be beefed up without sacrificing the lower priced gear. Hope that helps.
@@thomasmartin2219 I was a proud owner of a PS Audio Elite Plus integrated amp back in the day and if you adjust for inflation that amp would be in the price range you spoke of above.
Where is this "street" ? Because - nothin shakin on shakedown street. Used to be the heart of town.
I am willing to poke around.
That's right, instead of the street, everything's on the Information Superhighway! (Bet you haven't heard that term in a while!)
Thumb down for recommending the dragonfly! Expensive and measures worse than the competition!
HiBy FC6 is on its way to me now. 😊
@@TheVeganVicar Tempotec Sonata BHD Pro -- $70 for clean measuring dac and plenty of power!
@@tanachip, I’ll check it out! 🤓
You've got to be kidding me with Stein Music. That is exactly the type of company that drives normal people from this pursuit in droves.
Sorry you didn’t like the Stein Music mat. We’re curious what it was about the sound you didn’t like? We can always learn from others.
No recommendable amps in this price bracket ?
It is more that we didn’t review amps in that price range recently. Perhaps we will in the future. Recommendations welcome.
@@thomasmartin2219 PSA Sprout100.
I hope you are at least getting paid for this blatant advert.
How is this a 10 minute video about products when there’s only 45 seconds of stock photos and uninformed show footage of products?
We’ll get to the list in this quarters’ issue, what was the point?
And why was the whole video just you talking at us, we don’t watch these to look at you? Do better TAS.