The Earphone Evolution is Now!

Movin' on up: Many audiophiles (of a certain age) are a little slow on the uptake. They clutch the past like it was a plate full of the best-mashed potatoes; "Don't touch my spuds!" Well, in many ways, classic two-channel—speakers out in the room, with a "sweet-spot" listening position—was a bowl of tasty spuds, but now, the sweetest spud may be the "bud"—ear bud that is. Headphones and in-ear speakers are moving up—from Can-Jam fun in the big room on the ground floor to the dee-luxe suites on the upper floors. Many of the best sounds and listening experiences at CES were with headphones.

George Cardas has been making fine-quality interconnects and loudspeaker cables since 1987. But, in 2009, he saw the future and started experimenting—looking for a technology to create a truly audiophile-quality in-the-ear loudspeaker. In 2013 he released the well-regarded EM5813 Ear Speakers ($425). At the time of their release, only the $1099 Jerry Harvey JH13s exceeded the Cardas for midrange quality, bass detail, or high-frequency elegance. Both set new standards for "ear buds" and the unique enjoyment they can deliver.

I went to the Cardas room at CES with the hope of experiencing his new prototypes; in-ear phones where the tiny earspeaker driver is positioned deeeeeep into the listener's ear. However, George was not there and neither were the deep-ear drivers. But! I was able to audition the brand new A8 earspeakers ($299) and touch the new "101" loudspeaker cable ($6.75/ft or $175/5ft pair terminated with spades or banana plugs): both of which I am hoping to audition in my Brooklyn Bunker System very soon.

I listened to Hi Rez files fed from a Pono player via Cardas's new balanced headphone cables (two 3.5mm stereo plugs) to his new A8 earspeakers. The sound was smooth and extremely well-balanced. Liquid-sounding. Not too strong or too weak. Tight clean bass with no ear-grabbing extras. Tunes just rolled into my head—in a way that made me want to hear more.

Before I move on to covering the more conventional under-$5k audio gear I was assigned—"Herb! Stay out of those headphone rooms!—I must at least mention the new EAH-T700 headphones from Technics ($1199). They are two-ways with an aluminum primary diaphragm supplemented by a cute, tiny, domed "tweeter" diaphragm. The main driver looked ever so much like a diaphragm culled from a Western Electric or Altec compression driver. And guess what? It sounded like that too. I hope to study these more—they look and sound extremely promising.

COMMENTS
JUNO-106's picture

"speakers out in the room, with a "sweet-spot" listening position—was a bowl of tasty spuds, but now, the sweetest spud may be the "bud"—ear bud that is. Headphones and in-ear speakers are moving up"

I agree. This is why I took down my "big" system last year and have been listening to nothing but headphones since and finding them more satisfying.

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