January 2009

The Future Is Now

  I'm pleased to report that our Web site, theabsolutesound.com, has been completely redesigned from the ground up and is now live. I recently took a preview tour of the new site and am thrilled by what our Web development team has created. The Absolute Sound's new site is not only much more visually appealing, it's vastly easier to find exactly what you're looking for on it. While we continue to add content daily, there are already more than 700 product reviews from the past ten years available free (with information on several thousand more), along with major features such as show reports, Editors' Choice, Golden Ear, and Product of the Year Awards. The site also includes content from our sister magazines, Playback and Hi-Fi+.

Many of you have accessed The Absolute Sound content through our parent Web site, AVguide.com. That broad-ranging consumer-electronics site (including home theater, mobile electronics, gadgets, and connected-home technology) has also been rebuilt, and will still get you to The Absolute Sound content. But now you can go directly to theabsolutesound.com for focused and expanded coverage of high-end audio and music.

The new theabsolutesound.com also includes regularly updated news on the high-end industry, product announcements, Buyer's Guides, "how-to's," and more. You'll find information on regional audio clubs along with contact information and notices about club meetings. Dealers will also be highlighting upcoming in-store events, where you just might meet some of the designers of the products that you have read about (or even those of us who review them).

We've also expanded our blogs significantly to include weekly content from Jonathan Valin, Neil Gader, and me. Each of us will be contributing previews of reviews we're working on, behind-the-scenes insights into the industry, tips on great-sounding CDs, LPs, and high-res music we've discovered, anecdotes involving industry personalities and designers, and other subjects. You can also comment on our blogs by posting your own observations, or ask us questions.

The Forum section, where you can interact with TAS editors and readers, is now better than ever, with simple tools for adding your own photos and a much better user interface. If you're registered now on the old Forum, you don't need to do anything; your registration and screen name have been transferred to the new site, along with the archive of previous posts. The Forum is a great place to get answers to your questions, express your opinions, and talk with the TAS editorial staff and other readers.

The new site capitalizes on the Internet's unique capabilities to deliver a rich and interactive experience beyond what you'll find in The Absolute Sound. I hope you'll visit theabsolutesound.com, and that you're as pleased by the new site as I am. As always, your suggestions and comments are welcome.