Special PREVIEW
The Absolute Sound’s Illustrated History of High-End Audio A Landmark Project Robert Harley
I
’m thrilled to finally be able to share with you the details of the most ambitious and exciting project The Absolute Sound has ever embarked upon: A three-volume series of lavishly produced, graphically rich, full-color coffee-table-sized books documenting the history of high-end audio. The first of the three volumes, The Absolute Sound’s Illustrated History of Loudspeakers, will include never-before-published interviews with the founding fathers of the high-end loudspeaker industry, informative profiles of each of their companies, timelines detailing the most significant advancements in each company’s history, classic and contemporary TAS commentary on the company’s landmark products, and an overall assessment of each company’s contributions to the high end.
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In addition to the in-depth profiles of 26 of the high-end’s most important loudspeaker manufacturers, we’re including historical overviews of five decades of loudspeaker design. This “big picture” perspective will include a survey of all the other important designers and companies not individually profiled, along with a section we call “Oddities” in which we bring you a fun and fascinating look at designs and products that never quite succeeded in the market. To make The Absolute Sound’s Illustrated History of Loudspeakers the definitive work on the subject, we include a complete illustrated timeline of the loudspeaker’s development from its beginnings in 1874! Because loudspeaker advancement continues to this day, we also profile the most innovative contemporary loudspeaker companies now rethinking
SPECIAL PREVIEW
Each profile will be profusely illustrated with never-beforeseen photographs of the company's early days and products, behind-the-scenes shots of its founders in their first workplaces.
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the art and science of loudspeaker design. In addition we will include an illustrated list of the most significant products and technologies from each decade, accompanied by insightful commentary from The Absolute Sound’s writers. Each interview and profile will be profusely illustrated with never-before-seen archival photographs of the company’s early days and products, behind-the-scenes shots of its founders in their first workspaces or at trade shows launching what would become iconic products, and classic advertisements and marketing materials. We’ll also include excerpts from TAS reviews of landmark products from the period, brought up to date with fresh commentary by TAS editors and writers. To add to the book’s visual appeal, we’re including lavish full-page photography of the high-end’s most beautiful contemporary loudspeakers. The approximately 12" x 12" deluxe clothbound book will be printed on premium paper. The Absolute Sound’s Illustrated History of High-End Audio is a celebration of the individuals who, often armed with nothing more than a brilliant idea and a dream, created an entire industry that brought so much joy to so many music lovers. The interviews are the definitive and fascinating personal stories of each of these company founder’s aspirations, challenges, and triumphs. I invite you to enjoy a special preview of The Absolute Sound’s Illustrated History of Loudspeakers at www.tasbook.com. There you’ll find a table of contents listing all the companies profiled and designers interviewed, sample pages of the layout, selected excerpts from the book, and details about the publication. I encourage you to sign up for exciting e-mail updates that will give you exclusive information along with special previews of the book’s content.