The 10 Most Beautiful Headphones Ever Made

The astir important aspects of headphones are things similar comfort, dependable quality, and features. However, they're besides thing we deterioration connected our bodies, oregon permission retired successful the unfastened erstwhile not utilizing them, truthful what a brace of cans look similar is besides beauteous precocious up connected the list.

While astir radical person tiny wireless buds shoved successful their ears these days, I inactive similar to admit (and use) afloat over-ear headphones and truly emotion an charismatic pair. So I thought: "What are the prettiest headphones ever made?" and aft trawling the web for a fewer hours, it seems that these are the astir apt candidates.

10 Sennheiser Orpheus HE 1 (2022)

It feels weird to deliberation of the Orpheus HE 1 arsenic conscionable a brace of headphones, due to the fact that this setup is really an electrostatic headphone paired with a bespoke valve (tube) amplifier built into a Carrara marble chassis.

There are 8 tubes encased successful the quarts rising up from the base, truthful there's a batch of pomp and condition erstwhile you beryllium down to perceive utilizing these phones. From a dependable engineering perspective, these headphones are beauteous overmuch the pinnacle. There are implicit 6000 components, and materials see platinum, gold, ceramic, and stone. It's the ulta-thin diaphrams that are plated with platinum, by the way.

This is, of course, an open-back circumaural acceptable of headphones, and to my oculus it manages to look arsenic costly arsenic it is, without being gaudy. If you're rolling astir successful a limo snacking connected Grey Poupon, these mightiness beryllium up your alley. I'll conscionable beryllium blessed to look astatine pictures, due to the fact that astatine a whopping $60,000 these are improbable to ever grace my ears.

9 Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95

This is B&O's flagship noise-canceling acceptable of cans, and astatine "only" $999 you tin bargain 60 of these for the terms of the HE1, and inactive person immoderate wealth near implicit for CDs. Personally, I deliberation they look nicer than the HE 1 too, astatine slightest the headphone spot does. There's nary marble artifact attached to these which is astir apt wherefore the terms is much reasonable.

These were released successful solemnisation of the brand's 95th anniversary, and I adore the classy styling they've travel up with. These headphones negociate to look modern and classical astatine the aforesaid time, which is rather a feat. It's the opposition betwixt the brushed metallic cups and the pads that bash it, and, of course, the existent signifier of the cups is precise pleasing to my eyes personally.

While, astatine this price, you're not getting platinum successful your headphone speakers, the drivers are made of titanium, and that's bully capable for me.

8 Focal Utopia (2022 Refresh)

Of course, the astir creator headphone plan connected this database had to beryllium from the French. I tin surely spot see Louis XVI losing his caput implicit these gorgeous cans. It's similar idiosyncratic broke down a cathedral and utilized the bits to manner headphones.

These are notation headphones with an unfastened back, which means that if you privation to perceive uncolored dependable the aforesaid mode the technologist who mastered your euphony did, past this is perchance the audio utopia you're looking for. My ain idiosyncratic dreams of utopia were shattered by the $5,000 terms tag, but hey to someone, somewhere, that's entry-level.

7 Grado Heritage Series GH4

This is simply a constricted variation acceptable that's not for merchantability anymore, but it's portion of Grado's contented of making headphones retired of uncommon supplies of wood. I'm a sucker for gadgets that see wood, and the GH4 has this weirdly-rugged aesthetic I find appealing. Incidentally, these usage Norwegian Pine, and by each accounts they dependable beauteous bully too.

6 Sony MDR-R10 (1989)

Sony thinks the MDR-R10 is peculiar due to the fact that it was "the archetypal successful the satellite to follow a bio-cellulose diaphragm with rigidity comparable to that of aluminum." I deliberation it's peculiar due to the fact that conscionable look astatine it. This is arguably the archetypal ever ultra-premium acceptable of headphones, and it's lone close that Sony should beryllium the 1 down it. It mightiness beryllium hard for immoderate younger readers to imagine, but they were erstwhile the past connection successful AV gear, and, honestly, they inactive marque astonishing headphones, but the MDR-R10 is surely a precocious point.

Made utilizing 200 year-old Japanese elm, with a lambskin leather headband, these are high-end from extremity to end, and, contempt being a closed backmost plan it provides a precise speaker-like presentation. At least, that's what I've read. Since lone astir 2,000 units were ever made, I'll astir surely ne'er get a accidental to perceive them for myself.

When they archetypal launched, they were $2,500 a pair, which made them the astir costly headphones successful the world. Today, they tin fetch astir $6,000 which is really beauteous just considering inflation.

5 Master & Dynamic MW65

Based successful New York, Master & Dynamic seemingly has a plan ethos of “modern yet timeless, utilizing lone the finest materials”. I deliberation they've surely nailed the archetypal portion with the MW65, due to the fact that that's truly what I was reasoning erstwhile I saw these headphones. They look similar they'd acceptable into conscionable astir immoderate nonrecreational workplace during the 20th century, yet they are undeniably a merchandise of modern precision engineering. Lots of precision metallic machining, leather, stainless-steel hinges, and looks you tin chopped diamonds on.

This is the company's lightest over-ear exemplary arsenic acold arsenic I tin tell, and this was achieved utilizing materials similar aluminum to support things beardown yet light. The drivers are made from Beryllium, which is simply a uncommon prime for wireless headphones, but it does payment them successful passive wired mode.

The price, if you tin find 1 successful stock, is besides downright reasonable, since I've seen them spell for astir $250. I support expecting to spot Trent Reznor deterioration a brace of these.

4 Audeze LCD-4

The LCD-4's by Audeze looks similar it wouldn't beryllium retired of spot successful a 1950s vigor studio, oregon the survey of a mustachioed antheral named "Nigel" who explores jungle ruins successful his escaped time. It's been replaced by the LCD-4z and LCD-5, but they're a small much tame connected the plan front, adjacent if they are a method improvement.

Apparently, the ebony wood rings instrumentality 4 weeks to finish, and each idiosyncratic brace is unsocial successful appearance.It's a hefty set, but you person the prime of a leather oregon c fibre strap to dispersed the weight, which is simply a acquisition I privation Apple had taken to bosom with the AirPods Max, which thin to permission a bully dent successful the apical of my head.

3 Meze Audio Empyrean II

With a sanction that sounds similar it's consecutive from Warhammer 40K the Empyrean II features CNC-milled aluminum earcups adorned with an intricate creation deco-inspired grille. At astir $3,000 I'd expect thing less, but the much I look astatine those earcups, the much details I see.

These headphones were reviewed truly good by the audiophile press, and the asking terms isn't that precocious successful that context, but I besides admit the teardrop signifier of the cups, the absorbing space of the hinges, adjacent the seemingly lazy fold of the headband.

2 AKG K1000

The 1989 AKG K1000s are the astir cyberpunk-looking headphones connected this list. Its plan is radically antithetic from accepted headphones: the K1000 has 2 large, rectangular operator panels that beryllium a fewer centimeters distant from the ears, suspended connected adjustable metallic forks.

This was an aboriginal effort astatine getting headphones that sounded similar speakers to the listener, and AKG was beauteous literal astir it. There are nary earcups, arsenic such. Just 2 immense operator cabs strapped to your head. You tin space the drivers to set the soundstage, which is beauteous neat, and the brainsick happening is that it succeeds astatine what it sets retired to do. However, the K1000 is notoriously power-hungry. Rated astatine 120 Ω impedance with lone 74 dB SPL/mW sensitivity, it requires a talker amplifier’s output (or precise beefy headphone amp) via its 4-pin XLR connector and cablegram to scope due listening volumes.

I deliberation these headphones are beauteous due to the fact that of that astir concern design. It's retro-futuristic. It's Robocop and Mad Max astatine the aforesaid time, and I emotion it. Sadly, a mint brace of these spell for astir $1,500!

1 Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature

To circular disconnected this database I was tempted to sneak successful my ain AirPods Max regular operator headphones, but let's beryllium honest, it's obscurity adjacent immoderate of these headsets successful the looks section and the P9 Signature deserves to beryllium present overmuch more.

The earcups are clad successful high-quality leather, and I americium personally and possibly embarrassingly a large instrumentality of leather arsenic a material. These are undoubtedly the slightest adventurous brace here, but the ones I'd beryllium astir apt to deterioration successful public, if lone my telephone inactive had a headphone jack.