Headonism in Aylesbury

18. October 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

The good people at Deco Audio, the Aylesbury based hi-fi outlet will be holding their “Headonism” 2012 event on Saturday 27th October between 10:30 and 17:30.

They will have a wide range of headphones and headphone amplifiers for you to try out from the more affordable end of the scale to the much more high-end.

Headphones on the day will be from:

Sennheiser, ( HD500 series up to and including the top of the range HD700 and HD800 headphones and the new Momentum headphones, as will the top of the range wireless RS220 system.) Stax, Hi-fi Man, Grado and Audio Technica.

Headphone amplifiers on demonstration will include models from Rega, Edwards Audio, Project, Hi-Fi Man, Lehmann and others, some of which will be shown for the first time within the UK.

Free refreshments will be available throughout the day and there will be representatives from various manufacturers on hand to answer any questions you may have and even better Deco Audio are encouraging yu to bring along your own CDs, LPs and iPods.

Please feel very welcome to bring along your own CDs, LPs and iPods (etc).

 

 

 

 

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Musical Fidelity EB-50 In Ear Monitors

20. September 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Headphones · Tags: ,

The EB-50 In Ear Monitors (IEMs) are British hifi manufacturer Musical Fidelity’s first venture into the world of headphones and they have created them in house from scratch, with a flat frequency response being crucial to the design remit… the manufacturing of the EB-50s is done in China. The concept is to offer a studio quality monitor with the classic Musical Fidelity signature sound. The driver capsules themselves employ neodymium magnets and are enclosed in a multi-layer, anti-resonant material to help minimise internal vibrations and then this is itself encased in a milled aluminium case which is said to further improve damping.

The IEMs arrive in a well presented box containing 3 extra pairs of colour coded tips, presumably so they can be shared amongst your friends and family, seven pairs of differently shaped tips to get the fit you feel most comfortable with, over ear clips to keep the headphones in the right position (or to stop them falling out during physical activity), a tie clip, a mini to quarter inch adapter, a carry pouch and the headphones themselves.

The headphones come with a cable of about 1.2 metres, a 3.5mm gold-plated plug and a mic’ mute button for users of smart-phones… and a handy cable tie attached to the cable which helps when packing them away into the supplied pouch. They look well constructed and solid, but surprisingly they do not feel heavy, in fact they feel unexpectedly light – 28g apparently. More »

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AKG Tiesto Range of Headphones

14. September 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

AKG has announced the ‘AKG by Tiesto’ range of headphones.

The K67 Tiesto is a compact, on ear, closed-back design with 40 mm drivers and – like its siblings –a 3D-Axis folding mechanism enabling flat storage. Next up, is the K167 Tiesto, which uses an over ear, closed-back design and the  top of the range is the K267 Tiesto an over-ear, closed-back design featuring adjustable bass boost. The K267 Tiesto also incorporates an innovative DualPlug system that lets you connect the cable to the left or right side of the ‘phones.

For those that don’t know, Tiesto is one of the most influential DJs in the world. His achievements have ranged from playing at the opening of the 2004 Olympics to an audience of billions, to Grammy Award nominations and the coveted title of ‘Greatest DJ Of All Time’, bestowed on him by Mixmag.

The K67 Tiesto and K167 Tiesto go on sale in the UK during September, while the K267 Tiesto arrives in November.

Recommended retail prices are £99, £199, and £329.

 


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Harmon Kardon’s New Headphone Range

13. June 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Harmon Kardon release today a series of 4 headphones with a 5th due shortly.

The BT (pictured) is an over the ear wireless headphone that features Bluetooth equipped with a built-in microphone, AAC and apt-X wireless coding and user-exchangeable headbands to allow for a better fit. Price for the BT is 220£.

The 170£ CL is said to blend sophistication and simplicity in an over the ear design and comes with an Apple 3-button remote.

The AEs are an in-ear design made from an aluminium alloy that is said to give superior acoustic dampening and will cost 130£.

The NI is the cheapest of the new releases at 90£ and is again an in-ear design featuring a 9mm driver system which is said to offer sonic clarity even at low levels.

The final headphone, yet to be released is a noise cancelling design and will sell for 300£.

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CA Electronics HS-1 Headphone Stand

08. March 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Hifi News, Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Having just bought a new pair of lovely “audiophile headphones” I thought “Why keep your headphones stuffed into a cupboard or drawer, getting the cable and the cable extension tangled up?” The house is already a bit of a sty after all and i really don’t need any more clutter!

Having spent so much of my hard earned cash I want them in plain sight, on a bookshelf or right next to my hi-fi where I can get at them with ease? In short I want to show them off a bit whilst having them close at hand. A quick search found CA Electronics, a Dutch manufacturer of connectors, isolators, damping plates, loudspeakers and hand-made, hand coated headphone stands that look very nicely made indeed.

Each headphones stand is powder coated by hand which provides a very durable finish to maximize the stand’s longevity.

The HS-1 looks just the job and is described as being the “perfect stand for any headphone”. It’s made of 3mm thick curved aluminium, stands about 25ch high and is about 10cm deep. The stand has been designed so that the curve of the stand supports the headband and the narrow end holds the ear-pads in place. The slight flexibility of the stand is said to leave headphones resting in a natural position when not in use and CA claim this will enhance a headphones lifespan.

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Grado 325is Headphones

05. March 2012 · Comments Off · Categories: Headphones · Tags: , , , , , ,

Needs Must

In the main I like to listen to my music through real speakers, but, being the henpecked member of the farmyard, Hifi Pig sometimes has to either turn things off or resort to the use of headphones. Now I have my own listening space (to call it a listening “room” would be wholly inappropriate as its just one end of a large living area) I’m listening to lots more music and, let’s face it, sometimes the drivel on the television is just too much to take and a retreat to the sty and some soothing tunes is all there is for it.

It’s with the above in mind that I recently took the bull by the horns and decided to invest in a pair of decent quality headphones. The choice is bewildering, but I had certain criteria I needed to meet and so a short list was made: They needed to be comfortable, they needed to be open back ( I find that closed backs actually sound a little closed in and less airy than their open back counterparts) and they needed to sound good.

Now I’ve owned Grados in the past and liked the presentation and, despite many calling them uncomfortable, I’ve had no problems with them in this respect at all.  So it was with a certain degree of piggy trepidation I ordered a pair of the company’s 325is headphones. More »

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