Displaying items by tag: headphone - StereoLife Magazine

Mission, B&W, KEF, Castle, Celestion, Rogers, NAD, Acoustic Energy, Naim, Spendor, Harbeth or ProAc are only a few companies whose names all audiophiles should associate with what might be called the British school of sound. Absolutely, this does not mean that the products of all these brands sound the same. You can distinguish here, at least, a couple of trends, but there is no denying that in this part of the world a lot of audiophile legends were created. Recently, another British company reminded us about itself. So far Chord Electronics were mainly engaged in hi-end gear for home use, but thanks to a small, functional headphone DAC everyone heard about it. This DAC was of course the Hugo. Hugo TT is its bigger brother - a typical desktop model, with an expanded functionality. Since we didn't have a chance to review any of them, we took both and decided to compare them.

The mere mention of the Sonus Faber's name immediately attracts attention, and not without reason. This is one of the most recognized manufacturers of high-end speakers and - at the same time - one of the first major companies that have decided to go beyond the audio market and turn tu artists, architects, even people from the fashion world. Surely it would not be so successful if the Italian speakers were just ordinary, angular boxes with drivers. For many years, Sonus Faber has been setting standards and creating fashion copied by others. Sleek lines described by the designers as the 'shape of the lute' inspired many other designers, but the performance was difficult to forge. Italians remain faithful to natural materials and rely on everything that is beautiful, exclusive and - what can I say - expensive. In addition, they show photographs illustrating different stages of production, from covering the leather, polishing wooden boards to grinding metal decorative elements. They do not launch new models during the exhibitions, but rather in amphitheaters. Their speakers can be found not only in music lovers' homes but also in museums and art galleries, as well as in exclusive cars like Pagani Huayra.

Audio Video Show in Warsaw is the second biggest hi-fi show in Europe, and this year it just got bigger. Some say it's not much smaller than High End in Munich now and we are not surprised. The event was able to grow so much thanks to the new venue. In recent years the show was held in three hotels in Warsaw, but even four or five hotels wouldn't provide the necessary room for 135 exhibitors and more than 10,000 visitors we had this year, so the organizer of the show replaced one of the hotels with... The Polish National Stadium. Not the football pitch of course, but rather 60 VIP rooms and many, many stands located on the corridors. For the first time in history, the Audio Video Show included a special headphone zone with more than 50 brands showing their products and allowing visitors to listen to every one of them, much like the CanJam, but to us - even more interesting.

Sennheiser's world of headphones is actually 70 years of chasing the white rabbit. The story of headsets bearing this logo - the name of the brand's founder - started for good in 1968, when the world's first open-back headphones, HD 414, revolutionized the market. By the end of 1969, over a hundred thousand pairs of them were sold, and more than ten million unto this day. The introduction of unipolar electrostatic headphones in 1977 was the next milestone for the German engineers. I am speaking about the 2000 model, which in some ways was the ancestor of one of the best headsets in the world - the Orpheus HE 90/HEV 90 electrostatic headphones, presented in 1991. As regards the equipment for home and personal use, the company has focused on designer Momentum series and lifestyle Urbanite headphones, introducing new wireless and in-ear products from time to time.

OPPO's equipment is very interesting although the brand has a relatively brief history. The company hasn't started neither from headphones nor from audio devices. Instead it's an example of a modern company with a purely technological profile, focused on consumer electronics. Its headquarters is located in Mountain View, California, so practically in the heart of Silicon Valley. This is shown not only by its products, but also by the entire background, organized in a flawless manner, typical for really large, wealthy corporations. If you take a moment to look through the company's website, its Facebook page or Instagram profile, you will immediately understand that this is definitely not another garage manufacture, which was more successful than anyone could have imagined. Here, it seems that everything has been well planned and calculated.

I wonder how long the hunger for headphones will last? Looking at the rapid development of this segment of the audio market from a consumer's perspective we can only enjoy it. Competition is increasing and manufacturers have to to really try if they want to get the attention of a potential customer. We must admit that headphones are a convenient solution for people who want to enjoy music at the highest level, but don't have the conditions for a classic home set. Or they demand mobility, which is very likely due to the parallel development of portable DAP players. Price is yet another factor. Headphones and dedicated amplifier costs a few thousand euros, but it can give better sound performance than a set of speakers and classic amplifier at the same price.

PS Audio is an American company, specialising mainly in the production of the high-end power components and accessories. Especially its regenerating power stations enjoy good reputation. They convert energy from the wall socket to the DC, and then rebuild it as an ideal sine wave, thus creating a perfect electricity to supply the best audio devices, which are extremely sensitive to power quality, such as analogue and digital sources or preamplifiers. A few years ago a completely new series of components appeared in the catalogue - things like digital-to-analog converters and phono preamplifiers. Here the Americans focused on modern functionality and sound quality, so that this line has grown to five devices and two extra boards. Some time ago we saw an information about the planned launch of an integrated amplifier equipped with a full DAC, phono stage for MM cartridges, headphoneoutput and Bluetooth connectivity - all in an elegant, modern box and at an extremely attractive price.

Until recently Denon's catalog centered on devices almost exclusively dedicated to usage in stereo and home cinema systems - amplifiers, players, streamers and micro-systems. The offering was supplemented with accessories and a wide range of headphones, very interesting headphones, we have to say. However the increasing trend pushing many sectors towards mobile devices caused also a change in the catalogue of this Japanese company, causing an avalanche of propositions with different purpose. So last year we saw a few novelties, like the CEOL series of systems, the Envaya speaker looking like a lady's purse, the elegantly sleek soundbar DHT-T110 or the HEOS wireless speakers. But Denon seems not to be stopping there, as they recently presented their first DAC/headphone amplifier. This device is not only small, but also looks splendidly placed on a desktop.

Marantz is a company which managed to successfully penetrate the area of home cinema, receivers and modern streamers while preserving audiophile roots and an aura of exclusivity at the same time. It seems that they've found a recipe how to balance between the world of modern technologies and this what is proved, classic and desired by the lovers of high-quality sound. If you are interested in the gear from previous ages, and if you like internet profiles with vintage audio, you have surely seen loads of Marantz's equipment there - beautiful amplifiers, tuners with backlit scales and oscilloscopes, CD players with massive trays and advanced optics, all in metal, wood and glass. No wonder that in times of omnipresent plastic a retro fashion came back, bringing stereo equipment to where it should be.

In our reviews we often describe the latest products of well-known brands, and so they are eye-catching devices, regardless of their functionality and price range. This time we decided to test something very rare - a tube headphone amplifier made in Greece. Although Lab12 is quite successful and presents its products at international exhibitions, the company is pretty much unknown in the audiophile world. On the web there were just a few coverages, and one review written by Matej Isak from the Mono and Stereo magazine with whom we collaborate. The company is situated in Athens, and beyond the home market its products are distributed in four European countries. They are Hungary, Norway, Switzerland and Poland. In the catalogue we find a power cord and five boxes for different uses - preamplifier, DAC, power amplifier, headphone amplifier and a passive preamp with source selector. All combine classic design and valves - even the DAC output stage is built around the tubes.