Did The Absolute Sound use an AI chatbot to review the Soulution 717 monoblock amp?
Something isn't quite right about this review. Especially the 2nd half reads like it was written by a chatbot: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/soulution-717-monoblock-power-amplifier/
A few Reddit sleuths have gathered evidence, see https://www.reddit.com/r/Journalism/comments/1tzjn10/audio_reviewer_for_the_absolute_sound_appears_to/
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Thank you. 100 percent this. |
Hilarious: Sometime this week, TAS quietly pulled that review and substituted a proper one. We’re apparently not entitled to an acknowledgement or explanation. It was in 2010, 15 years ago, that I heard my first Soulution amplifier—the 710—and in many respects, it was a uniquely memorable experience. As I wrote back then, “I’ve listened to a lot of audio equipment over the years, but I can count on one hand (without using all my fingers) the number of times I’ve heard something that was fool-me realistic. The first time this happened—way back in the early 70s—was when I auditioned the Magneplanar I-U’s with Audio Research electronics and got tricked into thinking I was hearing the actual grand piano that was in the apartment being played behind the ‘decorative screens’ at the far end of the room. (The screens were the Maggies, of course, but back then I didn’t know they were loudspeakers.) The last time this happened to me was about a year ago when I listened to Steve Hoffman’s remastering of Joni Mitchell’s Blue [Warner] and heard the way her backup vocals had been potted into the mix with such clarity that I felt as if I were standing in the engineering booth alongside the recording engineer, listening to him mix the multi-track mastertape down to two-channel master. It wasn’t the same experience as the Maggie/ARC of years past. I wasn’t being fooled into thinking that an actual instrument was ‘there’ in the room with me; instead, I was being fooled into thinking that I was ‘there’ at the mastering sessions, listening to recorded instruments being played back and mixed from separate tracks. In neither case was I aware that I was listening to speakers and electronics. All sense of hi-fi simply vanished.” The Soulution 710 and Its Design PhilosophyThe amplifier that pulled this trick off was the aforementioned Soulution 710, the brainchild of Cyrill Hammer, the founder of the Swiss high-end audio firm Soulution, and the late Christoph Schürmann, formerly of the German company Audiolabor and at the time working for Cyrill. It took the pair better than half a decade to perfect their circuitry, but perfect it they did. The result was astounding. As I said at the time, “with a transparent-enough speaker and source, the Soulution 710 simply isn’t audible in most of the usual ways that solid-state or tube amps are audible. It isn’t dark, and it isn’t light; it isn’t warm, and it isn’t cool; it isn’t liquid, and it isn’t dry; it isn’t fat, and it isn’t lean; it isn’t sweet, and it isn’t sour; it isn’t great at the frequency extremes but less lifelike in the midband; it isn’t flat or airless, and it isn’t bloated or overly bloomy; it isn’t terrific on starting transients and AWOL on stopping ones; it isn’t too tightly focused, and it isn’t too loosely defocused; it just isn’t. And since it isn’t, speakers (at least those capable of high levels of transparency and neutrality) aren’t, either.” Ultra-High Bandwidth and the Science Behind the SoundHow Cyrill managed this disappearing act is a story I told in my first Soulution review and have re-told in subsequent ones. The secret was and is the use of ultra-high-bandwidth circuitry—in the case of the 710, a bandwidth of 2MHz. Why is such high bandwidth necessary? Cyrill explains that bandwidth ensures feedback loops operate without timing errors. With propagation delays reduced to nanoseconds, the Soulution amplifiers avoid distortion and maintain signal integrity. This allows unprecedented levels of negative feedback without sonic degradation, resulting in extraordinary clarity and realism. The Trade-Off: Extreme TransparencyNot every listener appreciated this level of transparency. The 710 revealed everything—recording artifacts, mechanical noises, and production flaws. While some found this thrilling, others considered it too revealing. The 710 had no inherent tonal character. Like glass, it reflected whatever passed through it. For some, it was the ultimate tool for fidelity; for others, it lacked warmth or musicality. Enter the Soulution 711Five years later came the Soulution 711. Externally identical, internally transformed. The major change was the switch from transformer-based power supplies to fully regulated switch-mode power supplies (SMPS). These brought multiple benefits:
Sonically, the 711 added warmth, richness, and dimensionality. It retained much of the 710’s detail but introduced greater musicality and body. It was darker in tonal balance, with exceptional bass and improved imaging. A Shift Toward Musical WholenessWhere the 710 emphasized detail, the 711 emphasized cohesion. It transformed Soulution’s flagship line into something broadly appealing—balancing accuracy, realism, and musical beauty. The Arrival of the Soulution 717A decade later, the 717 arrives—not as an iteration, but as a complete redesign. Nearly every component and circuit has been reimagined. Key advancements include:
The result is a technical tour de force with benchmark-level performance in noise, distortion, and phase accuracy. Functional and Design ChangesThe 717 also introduces usability improvements:
It runs significantly hotter due to heavy Class A biasing, a notable change from previous models. Listening Impressions: A New Level of RealismListening to the 717 revealed a profound shift. Music wasn’t just detailed—it was complete. Instruments had weight, dimensionality, and lifelike presence. On Dean Martin recordings, vocals and instruments gained richness and three-dimensionality. The presentation was more cohesive, with improved tonal density and spatial realism. The Importance of Durational CompletenessOne of the most striking qualities of the 717 is its handling of note duration. Bass notes, for example, are fully realized—from attack to decay—without truncation. This creates a more natural and complete sound, where instruments feel physically present and structurally intact. Detail Without DissectionUnlike many high-resolution amplifiers, the 717 doesn’t isolate detail. Instead, it integrates it into the whole. Subtle textures—like finger movements on strings—are audible but never exaggerated. This contributes to a more lifelike and immersive listening experience. Technical Precision Meets MusicalityThe 717’s improvements stem from:
These factors allow more detail to exist naturally within the music, rather than being artificially highlighted. Large-Scale Performance and SoundstageWith exceptional channel separation, power, and signal-to-noise ratio, the 717 excels with large ensembles. It produces expansive soundstages with remarkable depth, air, and realism—transporting the listener into the recording environment itself. Final Verdict: One of the Best EverThe Soulution 717 stands as the most lifelike solid-state amplifier I’ve heard. Its combination of:
places it among the finest amplifiers ever made. It is not just an evolution—it is a redefinition of what solid-state amplification can achieve. {the end} ___________________________________ |
You may recall a cartoon where the firing squad is in a circle, all aiming at the center where the prisoner is tied up. The title was usually something like {pick the country you want to insult} Firing Squad. |
Are we supposed to refrain from criticizing people just because they’re fellow audiophiles, or industry insiders, as Valin and Harley are? I support honest journalism, not the other kind. |
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