Absolare Hybrid Stereo Power Amplifier: Signature Edition $52,000 Review
February 7, 2022 § Leave a comment
The Absolare Hybrid Stereo amplifier successfully achieves its design goal of bringing the many virtues of single-ended triode amplification to a product that can easily drive a wide variety of loudspeakers. Indeed, it drove the demanding Wilson Chronosonic XVX with aplomb. Amazingly, there was no hint of transistors in the Hybrid’s sound; it has astonishing liquidity of timbre, is utterly grain-free, and projects a sense of presence that sounds very much like the best SET amplifiers. The Hybrid creates a directness of musical expression—of hearing nothing between you and the music—that is unique among solid-state amps, in my experience. That directness of expression fosters an intimacy with the music and performers that is seductive. The Hybrid goes beyond “hi-fi” to mediate a deep connection with musical meaning in a way that defies sonic analysis. Can you buy a more “resolving” amplifier for the money? Or one with deeper bass extension and “slam.” Yes, but no other amplifier short of an SET delivers the emotion of music like the Absolare Hybrid Stereo.

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