You would think that headphones are something that we use for music listening, meetings, and streaming but there are some folks who spend more than the average price for a good pair of cans. While there are great sounding headphones available in the market ranging from PhP15,000 to PhP20,000, there are headphones that cost as much as PHP 5,000,000. Sounds ridiculous? Not really.
There’s a certain group of people who thrive with these gears and they’re fondly called “Audiophiles”. They find joy in listening to music and purchase the most that they can get out of their budget. There are extremists, though. There are audiophiles who would go over the moon and back just to purchase headphones that don’t just deliver superb quality, but also those that offer over-the-top looks and sleek designs. Listed below are some of the MOST EXPENSIVE HEADPHONES that are currently available in the market.
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Focal Utopia by Tournaire
Dubbed as the “most expensive headphones in the world’ priced at USD 120,000 (That’s around PHP 5M), the Focal Utopia by Tournaire was crafted by master jewelers, Tournaire, which features 18-carat gold mounted with a trilogy of diamonds on the headband totaling 6.5 carats handcrafted at their workshops. These are circum-aural open back headphones, 5Hz-50kHz frequency response, 40mm pure Beryllium “M” shape dome is nothing but pure bliss.
Onkyo H900M with 20-carat diamonds
Onkyo decided to pimp up one of its cans and add some flair to its H900M headphones to make one of the most expensive headphones ever. The Onkyo H900M’s earcups are covered 20-carat diamonds with rubies that spell out L and R for you to figure out which is which. If that’s not enough to make it fancy and expensive, I don’t know what will. These jewelry-laden headphones, of course, deliver Hi-Res audio letting you have that music escapism to the next level. The Onkyo H900M with 20-carat diamonds cost USD 100,000 (PHP 4.8M).
Sennheiser Orpheus/HE 1
The flagship Sennheiser HE-1 headphones come with their own valve amplification with the eight valves and dials, that let each pair be customized to the user’s liking. The chassis where the headphones sit is made out of the same type of stone Michaelangelo’s masterpieces were sculpted – Carrara marble. The sound the comes from the Sennheiser Orpheus/HE-1 definitely does not disappoint in any way as it has its own amplifier for you to customize the output, the headphones have a frequency response of 10Hz to 20kHz, input sensitivity of 400mV, and an input impedance of 10k ohms. The Sennheiser Orpheus/He-1 cost USD 66,000 (PHP 3.2M).
Final Audio Design Sonorous X
Final Audio continues to add more premium headphones under its belt, the Final Audio Design Sonorous X is a combination of machined aluminum and stainless steel that makes these headphones mean business. These headphones offer clarity and vividness in terms of the sound with its 50mm diameter driver unit with titanium diaphragm integrated with the front plate machined from pure aluminum. These headphones may not be as pricy as the previous ones listed before but they do offer the same level of sound and style. The Final Audio Design Sonorous X costs USD 5,700 (PHP 280k).
HiFiMan HE1000 V2
The HiFiMan HE1000 V2 utilizes planar magnetic headphones that sport a 0.001mm thin driver that is partnered with an advanced asymmetrical magnetic circuit, a three-core cable, polyester earcups, and an ergonomic open-back design that’s comfy enough to wear for hours. It has an input impedance of 35 ohms and frequency response of 8Hz to 65kHz which makes these headphones an impressive feat of engineering. With this design and comfort, who would mind paying a huge sum for these cans? The HiFiMan HE1000 V2 costs USD 3,300 (PHP 160k).
Like cars, headphones usually represent the personality of the owner. From jewelry-suited headphones to more sound-delivery focused headphones, there are a lot of choices that Audiophiles can choose from. No matter what the cost, there will be audiophiles who would purchase them for their own listening pleasure.
