Recalling the glory days of The Absolute Sound magazine 

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I shot this in 1080 but the camera I used is better in outdoor light...if I do another video I'll hope for a warm outdoor day! And the diffusion effect is not unflattering and I can't complain about that. :-) Those days certainly were interesting times, not just for me but for everyone involved. I consider myself lucky to have been a small part of it. For me, the real props go to the designers and creators of all the fantastic gear.

I was working in an audio shop when TAS was first released. We all waited, not very patiently, for each issue to show. It was so cool to see items in the shop being reviewed. TAS played a large part in my stereo and musical growth. A framed copy of issue #1 is on the wall of my listening room. Thanks for the interview.

Thanks, Steve. He is a natural story teller. I look forward to his next visit.

I owe it all to HP (until I quit). But he gave me my start, taught me how to write a review (red penciled my first for months) and also taught me how not to treat people and how not to run a business! BUT he was as charming as Frank says, when he wanted to be charming. And he could abuse people too! What a character! When that magazine arrived friends knew to not bother me for a day or two.And when I was finished reading the issue I was sad that it was "over" until the next issue! It was a glimpse of an almost mythical place and people....

So compelling. Frank, thank you so much for being so open and sharing those experiences. I hope this was only the beginning with more to follow.

I like these interviews and videos that are a little longer . Good job Steve .

Thanks for sharing that with us Frank, great story for those of us that were TAS readers and fans of HP.

Amazing stuff. I could listen to this all day.

What a great story teller! Awesome watch

That's some excellent, important, historical content, you are creating there, Steve. Mr. Doris' reminiscences about the scene are utterly fascinating.

Simply amazing...Frank Doris brought me right into HP's listening room the first time he was awestruck by the mighty Infinity. Thanks Steve...this was fantastic!

Fantastic story telling Frank! You brought back so many memories. I tried to get Harry to do a series of videos near the end and he kept stalling and not returning calls (typical Harry). Your memories are the closest to actually being with Harry, thank you my friend.

Great job Steve! Harry put me on the map in his very special way. I absolutely loved Harry, he was good to me as well as a wonderful teacher FOR me. His writing was just spectacular, always keeping me wondering what would be next. Love him, can't say enough about Harry.

I was a reader of TAS i n the early days, before the internet, even before CDs. It was a window into the world of high end audio.I would spend hours pouring over each new issue. I learned much about audio and more importantly, about recorded music. Thank you HP and Frank and everyone who worked at TAS back then. You have enriched my life immeasurably.

I remember back in the early 90's getting a free copy of this mag because I was watching MTV and they were showing how to clean up your sound by cleaning up your cabling and offering complimentary copies.

Wow, I believe it was FD’s take on the Spica TC-50 that led to my purchase! Nice to meet him here. I loved my Spicas and, as an advertising copywriter, loved reading the consistently fine writing in TAS.

Frank, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful coverage of your life @ TAS & w/ hp. It would be great if someone published a book on all of this. Some of the tales of behind-the-scenes craziness. I read the pages of TAS every issue for years and dreamed BIG, as I suspect many, many did also. Thanks for all you did in the glory years !

Fantastic interview mate. I cant describe how I loved to read TAS. Still got 20 odd 80's edtions of TAS. Best publication I have read.

Good stuff! Nice listen on the way into work this morning. Thanks!

Wow grest to hear the stories. Thanks for sharing!

HP also championed unmitigated bargains like the Double Advent system in the early seventies, and the imminently affordable but short lived Sound Dynamics 300ti in late eighties or early nineties. He could look past the inevitable flaws and recognize the golden value some inexpensive products offered. The Double Advent was composed of two pairs of the Original Advent Loudspeaker, the so-called Large Advent from 1969. They were stacked with tweeters in closest proximity. The 300ti was a bookshelf 3-way with an 8" woofer, 4.5" mid, and .75" titanium dome. Even on such humble products, he might lavish detailed exposition that revealed his musical values.

Very nice to hear the stories!

Great video Frank!! And you were a true friend....you could have told some of the crazier stories!

Lovedloved every second. More please.

i worked for a man like Harry for 24 years, he was brilliant, mercurial, and sometimes insufferable.. His knowledge was encyclopedic and he had an infallable memory. At meetings we would sometimes be nose to nose hurling invective's at each other and a couple of hours later we'd get into a discussion about history that would go on for hours. We understood each other and we both knew the other had the best interests of the company in mind even though our thoughts were diametrically opposed at times. We kept in touch by phone for twenty years after that company succumbed to Chinese competition. God recalled him a couple of years ago and I still occasionally think I should call Mel about this.

That brings back memories of those days when I read TAS cover to cover. I only had a very modest system (AR table, Spica TC 50, Superphon Revelation basic, Adcom 555) but I felt like I belonged LOL. Thanks for the vid.

thanx for your vids. you have a way of presenting the audiophile world in a real and grounded way. i'm very new, but i find your channel very informative and guiding folks like me towards quality of sound thru experience vs equipment...which i find valuable, so thanx!

Loved it!

A great story, and a great story teller.

Great stuff. Thank you

thank you Steve and Frank. i started reading at issue #2 and of course got them all, some of which were lost 25 years ago. what grabbed me was what i heard from the same components they reviewed (that i got to hear in person or actually bought) sounded EXACTLY as reported, in particular the ADC XLM! and yes, i spent many a day/week/month waiting for the next issue. the editor's choice was always an addiction and included "must hear" components every time. fortunately, i live in an area that allowed me that privilege, SoCal. i could go hear Infinity Servos any time i liked, including at the very first dealer to feature them-Woodland Stereo where Walt Lewsadder ran the show along with his sons, Bruce and Big Jim. twice, my letters to the editor were published and i got one personally answered note from hp. i only got close to him once much later in his life at THE Show Newport when he was the ribbon cutter to open the show. he was criticized for being on a high horse but most of the damn time, he was right in what seemed like pontifications. Frank, i would think that you could write a book about this subject and i for one would be interested in reading it. maybe a collaboration with some of the other original and subsequent staff members. that Art Dudley is gone may be just as well as i suspect they weren't bet buds. i can imagine that a strong personality such as hp's could invoke equally strong loyalty or animosity. such is life. ...hifitommy

Excellent storytelling. My personal introduction to HiFi publications was with Stereophile magazine. Sam Tellig and “Lars” was always a favorite along with Corey Greenberg and naturally later, the redoubtable Steve Guttenberg. Good stuff.

At 16:55 "Zoid", came from "Frankenziod" which came from Franken Dorris, which came from Frank Dorris/Frankenstein.

Wow! Amazing.

What I remember most about the 1970s mags were the covers - artistically weird and indelibly etched in my memory. Anyone recall who designed them?

More, more, more, Mr. D.!

Thanks to Harry Pearson when I sold my audio system 20 years ago people would call and ask if I would sell the Dahlquist DQ-LP1 electronic/passive crossover separately. His reviews were like gold in the audio field.

Great interview. 'HP' must have been quite a character ... or shall we say, "a real piece of work " !

I went through my magazine box that was in my storage building and read a few of the TAS and the Sensible Sound.

Hey Steve I need a little help with picking a phono stage, I’m stuck between the schiit audio mani or the Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2. Or just get both and put a passive switch between them??

I really enjoyed those little TAS books.

Thank you Dr. Doris (or is it Dr. Zoid?) for the great storytelling. Hope to see more of you here.

I'm happy he is remembered fondly by some but I am not one of them.

What I recall, (like other audio magazines) that the hi-fi media became simply an ego-stroke for deep-pocketed insufferable snobs and had an extremely sniffy air about it starting in the 90's-when Frank left. Before then? It read like an entertaining and fun celebration of a SUBJECTIVE hobby. It's become a thinly disguised catalog (shill) for corporate sponsors. I got burned out on the snob thing in the 2000's.

Frank, that story was beautifully expressed. You should truly write a book about Harry and your experiences with him. Just based on that 20 minute compressed version, I’m sure the whole story would be an amazingly good read. Thank you for sharing those stories and giving true insight into the world of HP and your dealings with him. That was wonderful to listen to.

I used to eagerly await the TAS and Stereophile mags. Both had a pretty sketchy schedule in the early days, but were worth the wait for sure.

I can honestly say I have never heard an audiophile component that sounded as good as it did in HP's review! 🙃

Wow. You need to invite this guy back again.

Terrific recounting of what must have been a unique place to work. Some years ago, dissatisfied with the present TAS, I wrote this letter to the editor. I actually did receive a reply from Harry Pearson but I don’t have that to post. Here’s my letter: LIGHT MY FIRE, PLEASE! Editor: Fifteen years after the CD revolutionized the audioworld, I rediscovered vinyl.After years of obsessive CD collecting and weekly peregrinations to Tower records, I grew weary of the medium and struck out on a new path. As an iconoclast, I was always out of sync with the prevailing winds, so this was no surprise. After acquiring a good turntable, tube amps and pramps, I was ready to wend my way through the world of vinyl. Searching old audio magazines for vinyl reviews was a start and when I had the chance to buy the entire set of TAS from the first issue for $250, I jumped at it. Reading these old issues provided endless hours of enjoyment, but not in the way that I had envisioned. Sure, the record and equipment reviews were helpful and informative. But none of this captured my attention, wakened my senses, like the letters to the editor. Now here was real theatre. Light sparring, good-natured kidding, stinging invectives, incisive recriminations, unadulterated sarcasm- it was all here and wildly entertaining at that. Manufacturers pelted reviewers for an unfavorable rating, reviewers lashed back in kind. Readers insulted other readers for their dearth of audio knowledge; readers sparred with reviewers. Even reviewers lashed out at one another on occasion. I remember Harry Pearson once explaining Sid Marks’ lack of enthusiasm for reissues by seemingly implying that he and his friends had a stake in the originals. Marks was livid and replied with a few zingers of his own. And when Classic Records began reissuing the Living Stereo series and some reviewers felt that the reissues didn’t sound like the original lps, Hobson wrote an extended diatribe defending his use of solid state mastering equipment, saying he was not trying to mimic the originals but to get as close to the master tapes as possible. That jousting between Jonathan Valin and Hobson really stirred the blood. I could well imagine readers waiting anxiously for the next issue of TAS just to see who would get the best of whom. Lest one think that this was just a forum for lashing out, an arena of wild insults, let me correct that notion. These were, by in large, literate, cogent, well-thought-out missives. The fact that they happened to be, at times, angry and caustic, just heightened the drama and enlivened the debate. Alas, things have changed at TAS. . For the most part, I now find the letters to the editor section an eviscerated version of its past self, bleached out and desiccated, lacking drama, lacking humor, in short- DULL! Where is the old vitality, the verve, the conflict, the angst? This is the kind of reading material one might peruse at a lady’s tea party. The reasons for this I leave to you. I only know that TAS has lost its way; the pilot light has burnt out leaving only the faint sound of hissing gas. PLEASE, before we all fall asleep, let’s revisit the old ways, let’s hurl a few insults, toss a few invectives, indulge in occasional sarcasm. At least, then, we’ll know we’re alive. Eric

I have a bunch of these in the garage!

So emotional! Thank you Zoid for sharing this crazy story. I discovered TAS in the Atlanta Public Library in 1990. First I read all the back issues and would have crawled through fire if necessary to read the new ones when they came out. Eventually I became a subscriber to both the past and modern incarnations to the magazine. Listener and Fi were my favorite two hifi mags but TAS was there before them.

Superb..

loved the covers by Robbi, never met Harry Pearson but had some great chats with Leonard. Harry would pontificate from the mythical Sea Cliff.

Love this. I wasn't a big fan of AS, too high end. But I really liked Listener. Could you interview Art Dudley about his time as publisher?

It seems HP could be a character of a Hollywood films like 'The aviator' Howard Hughes. This movie could draw a lot of audiophiles to the movies, sadly we are a very small amount of population and shrinking. This guy speaks like God, a god, I mean.

Absolutely love these stories!

He should make an audiobook.... or audio/video memoire.

My favorite line from TAS, don't remember which one but it was early. When discussing a turntable, the reviewer-not Harry- said; "All I can say good about it is that it turns". You didn't get that anywhere else.

I hope he was a big tipper.😎

Would listening to the same hi-end system without such a glorious introduction yield the same opinion?

I used to be in the audio business and heard the IRS's twice. Once with Conrad Johnson equipment and once with Mark Levinson equipment. The sound was great except for one thing which would keep me from owning them. The image tended to crawl up and down the drivers. For me the image has to be solid which is why I prefer my electrostatic speakers. I had a friend who I worked with at the store Audio Gallery who came from TAS and he gave me issue one.

i had a subscription circa 79 to 80 or so ... teen audio geek

OK Zoid. That was fun. But you didn't tell us about your hifi system. We know you have one, we can see all your records so spill. Classic or modern? Valves or solid state? Panels or boxes? I really think you owe us, another video man.

That was great fun. Those were the days.

What became of Harry's stereo, after his passing? Are there any photos or videos of his system? Excellent story, by the way. Great insight into the man.

Steve I have been following you for a long time now. Never got a chance to talk to you however I value your opinion a lot just like other people here. As you always talk highly about zu audio and also KEF LS50s. Now that zu audio Dirty weekend mark ii and KEF LS50 are in the same price range, I am confused on which way to take. Zu is starting a sale next week. Please suggest me or you can simply make a video. I think it is worth it and many people would appreciate. Thanks.

I have Issue one of The Absolute Sound. I stopped buying them when they changed the format. I once pissed off Harry with an email but I didn't expect him to read it. I forget what I said but I tried to apologize.

The voice of God, has anyone heard it ?

It might have been better if Frank had been led into Pearson's listening room blindfolded and listened before seeing the fancy setup.

Why has't Frank Doris study for a degree in music technology

The glory days of high end audio. Took them selves way to seriously.

Made two purchases based on The Absolute Sound magazine reviews and was disappointing with both.

How to Elocute a position (electronics, politics, etc.) Is something the next generation is not adequate at. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We are doomed.

"...a fine publication" Not exactly a ringing endorsement. It's kind of like, "...well, she has a nice personality". ;-) But in all seriousness, it's interesting to see these episodes with individuals who were "actually there" back in the early days of hifi. I bet Frank is a blast to hang out with. Hearing all those stories about "back in the day" would be a killer. Cheers!

Who gives a flying...

TAS did more harm than good. Pearson was rude, arrogant and abusive. He abused his power. His followers lacked basic knowledge of audio engineering and the limits of natural law. Just my opinion.

Awful picture quality on this Steve, and 360p !! I expect a lot of your audience cares about image quality as well as sound.

That's some excellent, important, historical content, you are creating there, Steve. Mr. Doris' reminiscences about the scene are utterly fascinating.