2021 TAS Product of the Year Award for forte f3 Powerchord


“Sheer excellence in the entry level power-cord bracket, the Audience forte f3 is a definitive winner. It will lift the performance of any system, as it lowers the noise floor, improves transient attacks, and permits a wider expression of dynamic range and low-level detail.”
Neil Gader –  Issue 314, Jan ’22


 

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for Au24 SX powerChord


Audience Au24 SX powerChord
$5060/6′ (4600/6′ Neutrik)
Au24 SX represents Audience’s latest wire geometry. Compared with its forerunner SE, SX presents and even lower noise floor- a virtual black palette of calm. The upshot is a soundstage of rock-solid stability and continuity, with more fully realized dimensionality and depth. A state-of-the-art cord. NG, 291
Neil Gader – Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for powerChord SE-i


Audience powerChord SE-i
$930/6′
The Audience powerChords offer bass clarity, weight, and pitch resolution that place them at or near the top of the affordable-power-cord pack. Except for a slight treble congestion and somewhat laid-back overall presentation, there is little deviation from tonal neutrality. NG, 208
Neil Gader – Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for Au24SE+ USB Cables


Audience Au24SE+ USB
$895/1m

This USB cable is simply sensational in every way. The Au24SE+ USB’s clarity, dimensionality, and gorgeous timbre put it in a class by itself. It seems to have no signature of its own, but rather more transparently conveys what’s coming from your computer. The dual-cable design separates the signal-carrying and power-carrying conductors. RH, 254
Robert Harley – Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for Au24 SX Cables


Audience Au24 SX
$1999/1m pr. RCA interconnect; $2460/1m pr. balanced; $3616/2.5m speaker

Audience’s latest flagship wire offers midrange weight and sweetness, vivid dynamic contrasts, excellent transient speed, sensitivity to delicate volume gradations, and a brilliance that cast light into the deepest corners of the soundstage, restoring air and lift to harmonics. A particular strength for all Audience cables is an often hard-to-achieve blend of tactile presence and back-of-the-hall reverberation. The Au24 SX strikes a fluid and natural balance of ease, articulation, and immersiveness. Flexible and easy to handle, too. NG, 269
Neil Gader – Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for OHNO Speaker Cables


Audience OHNO
$220/1m (+$68/m) interconnect; $395/1m (+$152/m) OHNO III Speaker

Audience’s value line of OHNO cables runs counter to the idea that great wire always requires heavy jacketing and complex conductor geometries. Sonically these featherweights were quick and extended with well-focused imaging and dimensionality. Most significantly they were not additive, nor did they crimp dynamics. They were also easy to position for desktop use, offering an unerring sense of musicality without busting the budget. NG, 264
Neil Gader – Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for AdeptResponse aR12-T4 Conditioners


Audience AdeptResponse aR12-T4
$11,400 (Au24 SE-i powerChord upgrade, $1735; Au24 SX powerChord upgrade, $4200; frontRow powerChord upgrade $6300)

To Greg Weaver’s ear, Audience’s aR12-T4 power conditioner represents a substantial improvement over its predecessors, so much so that it would be fair to say that it borders on an order of magnitude advance. This is a world-class device, deserving your full attention. Give one a listen- perhaps the 6- or 2-socket variety- but be prepared to buy it. If you are anything like GW, there is no chance it will come out of your system once it is in place! GW, 268
Greg Weaver – Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for aR2p/aR12/aR12-T3/aR6-T4 Conditioners

Audience aR2p/aR12/aR12-T3/aR6-T4
$695/$4995/$9100/$6600
Used with a CD player, the aR2p- Audience’s compact, dual-outlet power conditioner and isolation device- enhanced sound staging, dimensionality, and depth. The 12-outlet aR12p as also found to be extremely effective, capable of delivering significant improvements in bass definition and depth, overall resolution, and soundstage depth. 162, 179, 186, 235
Mar ’21

2021 TAS Editors’ Choice Award for forte V8 Power


Audience forte V8
$899 (includes forte f3 powerChord)
The Audience forte V8 power strip gets right down to business with eight hospital-grade AC outlets, each wired separately with high-purity, 14AWG copper. Plus the entire electric circuit has been treated cryogenically. The V8 performed impeccably, with no discernible losses, changes, or degradations versus wall outlets. If anything, backgrounds seemed quieter and low-level transparency more fully resolved. Bass response also firmed up and conveyed greater control. Soundstage dimensionality and ambience retrieval were enhanced, to boot. Impeccable in construction quality, virtually unbreakable, and not liable to break the bank, the V8 ships with the exceptional forte f3 powerChord. All in all, al no-brainer. NG, 311
Neil Gader – Mar ’21