A laboratory x‐ray absorption spectrometer is described which consists of a Johansson‐cut bent crystal, a rotating anode x‐ray generator, and a fast SSD (solid‐state detector). Because the SSD can completely discriminate the undesired reflections, contamination of the harmonics is avoided while maintaining a high‐source voltage necessary for strong x‐ray flux. Fast electronics equipment is employed to keep up with high‐x‐ray intensity. It is also possible to utilize higher‐order reflections for high resolving power. The data of quality comparable to those obtained at synchrotron radiation facilities can be obtained in a comparable period of time. In addition, the determination of the absolute absorbance as defined is possible, which makes the problem of the background subtraction in EXAFS analysis easy.