Top 10 Headphones for Audiophiles – Rating 2025

Sometimes there is simply no room in the room to create a full-fledged audiophile installation based on separate components and a big floorstanding speakers. And the costs of such luxury can outweigh all the pleasure of listening. Do not despair - modern High-End offers a lot of more compact and flexible solutions - among which, of course, it is worth noting traditional wired over-ear headphones. We have studied the market of this class of equipment in detail as of the beginning of 2025 and selected in this buyer's guide ten of the most impressive and striking models of extra-cash headphones that meet the most demanding views on sound quality and offer a genuine synthesis of modern technologies.

Meze Audio ELITE ALUMINIUM

Meze Audio ELITE ALUMINIUM look gorgeous and sit perfectly on the head, but the main thing here, of course, is the sound. It's hard not to fall in love with it - the open presentation with excellent macro- and microdynamics is mesmerizing. The price that Meze Audio asks for its product is high, but the innovative 75-gram Isodynamic Hybrid Array drivers (which took ten years to develop) are worth it - being among the lightest and most technically advanced on the market, they provide unparalleled sound. There are enough innovations here for an encyclopedia - for example, the Rinaro Parus diaphragm made of heat-stabilized polymer with a conductive layer weighs only 0.11 g and has an active area of ​​4650 mm2, and the use of grilles with two coils creates a balanced frequency response across the entire range.

Yamaha YH-5000SE

The first isodynamic headphones from Yamaha in thirty years with the legendary proprietary "orthodynamic" emitters, guaranteeing a minimum of distortion. The thinnest round diaphragm used in the drivers is distinguished by a uniquely shaped voice coil, applied to both sides of the membrane. The open scheme cups is made of magnesium alloy, and the original acoustic filter made of stainless steel ensures optimal sound pressure and the formation of the correct directional pattern. The box set includes two types of ear pads filled with foam material with a memory effect - trimmed with genuine leather and Ultrasuede velour. The Yamaha YH-5000SE headphones have an impedance of 34 Ohms with a sensitivity of 98 dB - an open design and innovative emitters provide an incredibly attractive sound with a scattering of details.

T+A Solitaire P-SE

The Solitaire P-SE planar overear headphones differ from the company's top model in their slightly simplified design (a synthetic composite material is used instead of an aluminum alloy, and a different material is also used for the ear pads) - but the radiation principle is the same, magnetic-planar. Ultra-light film diaphragms measuring 110 x 80 mm, oval in shape, mounted on a carbon rim. Neodymium magnets TPM 2500 here are made with a precisely calculated segment shape, and are also precisely matched in length in accordance with the oval contour of the diaphragm; this ensures that the generated magnetic field lines have a uniform course. And the design of the locking rings and magnetic mount maintains the position of the diaphragm in the magnetic field, ensuring movement with almost no inertia effect.

The frequency response of the T+A Solitaire P-SE headphones is in the wide range from 8 Hz to 45 kHz with a low nominal impedance of 45 Ohm and a sensitivity of 101 dB - that is, the Solitaire P-SE will not become a difficult load for the amplifier, which is quite atypical for this class of equipment. The sound of the headphones captivates with its pedantry, smooth response and accurate timbre picture.

HiFiMan Susvara

HiFiMan Susvara - flagship overear open magneto-static headphones from a well-known manufacturer. Most open headphones use a metal mesh to protect the drivers. This protective grille should be as open as possible so that the air around the membrane can move as freely as possible. According to the manufacturer, HiFiMan's top models, including Susvara, are equipped with specially designed grilles, since they use drivers with a membrane of nanometer (!) thickness, which is so light that air reflections from the protective grille affect the nature of the membrane's movement. Susvara headphones use HiFiMan's Stealth Magnet technology with an asymmetrical two-sided magnetic system that gradually changes the hole and cross-sectional shape of the magnet both inside and outside the membrane. Unlike sound waves created by a conventional magnet, the specially shaped stealth magnets used in Susvara allow the waves to pass through themselves without creating interference. Sound quality in conventional magnetic planar headphones suffers due to magnets getting in the way of sound waves. The same thing happens in electrostatic models, deterioration in quality caused by interference on the stator. In this case, the problem is solved - and the diaphragms with negligible mass additionally guarantee the minimization of distortions.

The frequency range of HiFiMan Susvara extends to a record 6 Hz to 75 kHz, the sensitivity is 86 dB, and the nominal impedance is 45 Ohms. The sound of HiFiMan Susvara is more reminiscent of a window wide open to the street - a flurry of details is simply amazing.

Focal Utopia Headphones

Another flagship headphones, this time from the French company Focal, is a great example of when the price is determined by both its chic appearance and unique technological solutions. In front of us are some of the most modern dynamic headphones on the market, equipped with drivers with a 40-mm diaphragm made of pure beryllium! But that's not all - the coils here are made of copper, which provides clarity of sound, and aluminum, which provides airiness. As a result, Focal Utopia Headphones work without active or passive correction in the field from 5 Hz to 50 kHz.

In terms of detail, volume and echeloning, they compete on equal terms with the best electrostatic models - also providing record-breaking bass length.

Stax SR-X9000

The Stax SR-X9000 electrostatic Japanese headphones use emitters with an area 20% larger than the previous SR-009S flagships (this gives the widest sound stage in the history of the brand). To pump up a complex model in this regard, you will need an High-End external amplifier - then the sound delivery pulls out tons of new details from familiar compositions. Stax SR-X9000 use a new generation of MLER-3 emitters - fixed mesh four-layer electrodes with a thermocompression connection. The metal mesh reduces air resistance and the reflection effect, the technology of diffusion (thermocompression) connection ensures the overall integration of the system. The diaphragm is made of ultra-thin plastic film - due to the mass close to zero, an excellent transient response is guaranteed.

ABYSS DIANA DZ

The first impression of the ABYSS DIANA DZ sound is scale. The headphones pump air like a pump - and reveal a truly huge stage to the listener. Planar technology with ultra-low mass diaphragm speakers with a diameter of 63 mm provides an impedance of 50 Ohms with a sensitivity of 92 dB, which exceeds the performance of previous models of the company. Large patented planar emitters, developed specifically for Diana DZ, operate on the basis of a passive radiator design, providing high sensitivity and a wider range of soundstage.

Dan Clark Audio CORINA

Dan Clark Audio CORINA headphones are equipped with 88-mm electrostatic emitters with a new system that provides better membrane tension both in strength and uniformity. At the same time, special attention is paid to the selection of pairs of emitters with close characteristics in order to provide an excellent three-dimensional sound stage.

Also here for the first time the proprietary AMTS (Advanced Metamaterial Tuning System) technology is used, which provides a much smoother amplitude-frequency characteristic without peaks and dips. CORINA demonstrates a wide and deep sound stage, energetic bass and rich middle - without giving the slightest reason to criticize the presentation in any genre. Yes, yes, even metal or rock is quite within the power of these electrostats - the bass is simply phenomenal.

Audeze CRBN2

The second generation of Audeze electrostatic headphones uses the new Symmetrical Linear Acoustic Modulator (SLAM) technology, which guarantees powerful bass and excellent dynamics. And this is a real breakthrough, now, while maintaining the transparency of the sound, the headphones cope well with powerful bass. SLAM technology optimizes the distribution of air pressure, due to which it is possible to achieve not only an improvement in low-frequency response, but also the formation of a more accurate sound stage. In addition, SLAM eliminates a common nuisance for any electrostatic headphones - static noise. This can happen when electrostatic headphones are put on or taken off, which creates a pressure surge that presses the membrane against the stator. With SLAM, this air pressure wave is released through the SLAM channels, which significantly mitigates this problem, protecting the drivers from accidental damage.

Using an electric field instead of magnets allowed us to reduce the weight of the CRBN2 headphones to 480 g, which is almost 100 g lighter than the Audeze LCD-4z headphones. There is one “but” here too - the headphones cannot be connected to an ordinary amplifier; to drive the Audeze CRBN2, you will need a device that provides an output bias voltage of 580 V.

RAAL Requisite 1995 IMMANIS

RAAL Requisite 1995 IMMANIS provide an exceptionally agile and open sound along with a jaw-dropping bass. Genre omnivorousness is another calling card of this extraordinary model. The finish is of exceptional quality - the ear pads made of memory foam are covered with lamb suede on the inside and perforated leather on the outside.

Innovative True Ribbon R3 Driver technology (a pure aluminum corrugated ribbon driver with Viscodamp “Silent Metal” viscosity damping) with a maximum sound pressure level of 118 dB, fiberglass housings with aluminum and veneer inserts - your head will spin!

The system's impedance is extremely low (0.057 Ohm) - but the company has taken care of the users and developed a special interface in the form of a headphone stand, which, together with a special cable, allows connection to a “normal” headphone amplifier. As a result, the headphones require only 2-6 W from a headphone amplifier or 8-25 W at 8 Ohm from a loudspeaker amplifier.