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On this page, I highlight some of the best headphones available in 2014. They are not ranked in ascending or descending order, as people will have different tastes and demands. If you are considering spending £1,000 or more on headphones, these are the ones that should be making your shortlist. I have spent considerable time with all the headphones on this page (at least a year for each headphone), and have no bias for any company – KitGuru doesn't work directly with any of the companies listed on this page.
The Audeze LCD3 are the folllow up to the highly successful £1,000 LCD2 headphones that took the audio world by storm when they were released. The LCD3 are significantly more expensive, available by import from www.decentaudio.co.uk for £1,700. Audeze sell a small range of headphones, which you can see here.
The LCD3 incorporate a planar magnetic driver which uses a thin film ‘Lotus' diaphragm. Audeze say that this is made of a special alloy for greater control and lower distortion. The diaphragm is held between neodymium magnets in push pull. Audeze test these before shipping, and the customer is given a frequency plot for their own headphones in the box.
I have owned several LCD2 and LCD3 headphones over the years, and found their quality control in the early days was a little lacking. The first pair of LCD3 headphones I owned were plagued with problems, but after the replacement all the issues evaporated.
The LCD3 headphones are a open back circumaural design. The earpads are lambskin leather, and ‘meat free' options are available if requested. The earcup housings are made from zebrano wood, which has a distinct appearance.
In the box, you get two pairs of cables – one with a standard single ended connector, and the other with a XLR 4 pin balanced connector. These can be connected to the chrome header on each driver. Several companies sell cables for these headphones at various prices – some of which can improve transparency and bass response.
Audeze include wood treatment fluid and a cleaning cloth in the box, which is a nice touch.
The LCD3 will not suit everyone. They are quite a heavy headphone and your ears will get warm over a few hours. This is partly due to high clamping pressure, although they can be ‘tweaked' to reduce this pressure if you spend some time with the headband.
The LCD3 headphones deliver great bass extension, improved over their predecessors. They are a fairly neutral, flat sounding headphone and are ideal to use for long periods of time, especially if you are prone to ear fatigue.
Their mid range response is sublime, especially when dealing with vocals and acoustic music. Female vocals can be incredibly realistic and acoustic instruments are rendered with a lot of detail, yet no harshness. They are also a great headphone for rock music. Amplification is important to get the most from these headphones and we had great experience with the Trilogy 933 and Woo Audio WA22.
The Sennheiser HD800 are an incredible headphone and one that I use almost daily. While not in the same league as their HE90 flagship from yesteryear the HD800 are able to cope with a wide range of music from the most complex orchestral pieces to classic rock from the 70's.
The Sennheiser HD800 headphones cost £1000 and are worth every penny. Unfortunately the cable Sennheiser supply in the box is shockingly bad, so you will either need to spend £330 on a Cardas cable upgrade, or £250 on the new DH800 S balanced upgrade cable. This takes the cost of the headphone to £1,300 and while many will argue that it ‘unnecessary' – if ever a headphone needed an ‘out of the box' cable upgrade, it is the HD800. Bass response with either of the upgrade cables linked will be enhanced, tightened and more importantly they both eliminate a slight treble harshness.
Sennheiser have released a series of ground breaking headphone designs over the years, the HD600 and HD650 are extremely good value for money – but the HD800 is without question their current flagship product.
The Sennheiser HD800 may be one of the best headphones on the market, but they are surprisingly difficult to power correctly. The impedance of 300 ohms can prove tricky for the built in amplifiers on many portable players, so if you are traveling with these headphones then we recommend you invest in a portable amplifier along the lines of the £560 CEntrance Hifi-M8 LC.
We had great success with the Trilogy 933 headphone amplifier, however the recently released Sennheiser HDVD-800 amplifier is a great partner. Sadly both of these amplifiers are more expensive than the headphones, and take the total cost of ownership to around £3,000.
The Sennheiser HD800 is a striking, futuristic design built to the highest engineering standards. The HD800 earpieces are created from a combination of absorbing composites and metal accents. They are massive, having to house 56mm ring-radiator transducers. They are mounted in a position to fire ‘back' to your ears, from the front.
The HD800 is sporting a stainless steel mesh – called Leona – this is a rigid plastic which is used to dampen the steel. The earpad cushions are inspired by the luxury auto industry. Even the headband which is used to connect the earpieces is laminated from plastic and steel, and then covered in micro fibre. The appearance may split opinion, but there is no doubt that the construction is as advanced as it will get in 2014.
Large drivers, such as the 56mm transducer in the HD800 require a lot of control. Sennheiser say their ring radiator solves the problems with a conventional shape and produces a ‘very coherent platform'. The placement of the drivers is also key to the sound characteristic of the headphone – with the drivers firing back at your ears from an angle they get to mimic a real world environment – as if you were at a concert with loudspeakers firing at your ears. The HD800 drivers are set quite some distance away from your ears, so the soundstage is rather large – very like the now extinct Sony R10. You don't sit in the front row of a concert with these headphones on – you are at the back of the hall, in the middle.
These are the most comfortable headphones to wear – bar none. They are large enough to house even the biggest earlobes and Sennheiser have spent a lot of time in getting the balance on the top of the head as close to perfect as possible. Long term listening in a pleasure and after a few minutes you will forget they are on your head at all.
In regards to an audio signature, the HD800 are extremely detailed. Some people have classed them as slightly fatiguing, however with the cable upgrade, good source material and a high grade amplifier they hit a spot close to ‘perfect' for me. Well recorded vocals, acoustic tracks, and complex orchestral music sound divine via the HD800's although they are extremely critical of poor recordings. Compressed MP3 tracks will sound terrible, and poorly recorded music will render in a lifeless, flat manner. The HD800 will expose warts, flaws and dynamic problems with any track which is probably why many sound engineers use them in the studio.
Bass response with a cable upgrade is excellent, although they are not a bass heavy headphone. If you primarily listen to rock or dance music and want thumping driving bass, then there are better alternatives.
The Grado PS1000 headphones have split opinion among the enthusiast audience now for many years. When Joseph Grado handed over the company to his nephew John Grado, many of the diehard followers felt that the sound signature changed … for the worse. While I agree that the Grado PS1 headphone was probably their best headphone ever, I do enjoy many of their current headphones.
The Grado PS1000 is the companies current flagship headphone and is one of the most expensive you can buy today – At £2,000. The Grado PS1000 are created by a small, family run company in New York – they are shipped in a cheap looking white pizza box, with a cable extension, and a 3.5mm adapter. If you want top grade ‘Apple style presentation', then look elsewhere. I have reviewed these headphones before and used them in several of our tech reviews over the last 36 months. Out of the box, the PS1000 can sound a little harsh and they do need some bedding in time – around 50 hours before the drivers settle.
For rock music lovers, these are the best headphones that you could ever spend £2,000 on. They have incredible bass power and you will give up on increasing volume control, long before these drivers will. Listening to Mike Oldfield's SACD version of Tubular Bells or Ommadawn on the Ps1000's is a religious experience. They are equally impressive with Blues and Rock tracks from the likes of Joe Bonamassa or Black Sabbath. These are the headphones that will get the foot tapping, under the desk.
They are very heavy headphones and have a tendency to slip easily from your head, especially if you move around a lot when listening to music. Unlike the HD800, you are unfortunately always aware you are wearing them.
They will not resolve the same level of detail as the Sennheiser HD800 – which is not necessarily meant as an insult. The PS1000 are undoubtedly a slightly ‘warm' sounding headphone. Sometimes the Sennheiser HD800 can be fatiguing when the Grado PS1000 will just envelope you with the music in a more pleasant and engaging manner. The PS1000 wouldn't be my first choice for classical music however, I would pick up the HD800 or 009 for that. If you are a rock fan and listen to a wide range of popular music, the Ps1000 are difficult to beat.
Fostex may not be that well known in the mainstream circles, but they have created headphones for some of the leading companies, such as Denon. The Fostex TH900 have taken the audiophile sector by storm since they were released a short while ago. The price of these headphones fluctuates a lot, but they are available from Amazon in the UK today for £1,279.00.
The Fostex TH900 are a very impressive pair of headphones which are relatively easy to drive, although the better the partnering equipment the better they sound. The TH900 feature a rather complex, newly designed driver unit with a 1.5 tesla (15,000 gauss) magnetic circuit and bio-dynamic 50mm Biodyna diaphragm. The housings are made of Japanese Cherry Birch (Betula Grossa), the Japanese specialty with rigid and dense texture for maximum acoustic performance.
The TH900 at times sound surprisingly like the Sony R10, with a more powerful bass frequency response and slightly more suppressed mid's. They aren't quite as beautiful sounding as the iconic R10 for classical or acoustic music/female vocals, but have enough character to make their own mark.
The build quality of the headphones is exceptional. The company use Japanese lacquered URUSHI finished housing and a quality 7N OFC cable, which is a pleasant surprise. More importantly, the cable is able to let the drivers truly sing, depending on the partnering equipment.
These are a very capable headphone and while they don't handle specific music genres as beautifully as the Sony R10, I believe them to be more versatile. No matter what music you listen to, these headphones can handle it. The sound signature is on the slightly warm side of neutral and the soundstaging is excellent. They don't deliver quite as much bass as the Grado PS1000 and the soundstaging isn't quite as enveloping as the Sennheiser HD800, but as an overall design they are tough to beat.
The TH900 excel with a wide variety of music, from complex orchestral passages to simple acoustic guitar and vocals. They are a great partner with the Trilogy 933 amplifier and the Woo Audio WA22 amplifier. We also found the synergy with the Sennheiser HDVD-800 amplifier to be excellent.
