MRSPEAKERS ETHER-C HEADPHONES
ether-C headphones
Riveting highs, real and taut bass, spectacular speed and long-term listening comfort are just some of the positives listed in this review of these new planar magnetic headphones.
Planar magnetics are a high-end headphone technology—easier to drive than electrostatics, and in theory have less distortion than conventional dynamic headphones since the conductor excites the whole surface rather than a single point. While inevitably inhabiting the higher price bracket, their detail and speed can be thrilling.
It is in this market that Mr Speakers, a small company from California, has grown its reputation by upgrading and sometimes radically revamping Fostex planars, notably the T50RP—I reviewed the company’s ‘Alpha Dog’ design a few years back. But in the Ether-C, MrSpeakers has delivered a headphone all its own—a headphone MrSpeakers says was entirely ‘ designed, built and tested in San Diego, California.’ The Ether Cs are remarkably light for planar designs, partly thanks to the ‘industry-first’ use of NiTinol (nickel-titanium alloy) ‘memory metal’ which fixes a light but sturdy floating headband system in the perfect position to deliver fit and comfort.
While an open-backed Ether design is available, these ‘C’ versions are closed, so provide isolation both in and out. MrSpeakers does recommend the ‘C’ version for the road and the office, but note that the thick braided and rather kinky premium DUM cable which was used to voice the Ether terminates in a full-size quarter-inch (6.35mm) stereo jack suited to a proper headphone amp, and that’s how I tested them. At the headshell end they connect using four-pin plugs that pop on and secure with a twist. Those closed shells are striated by a snazzy carbon-fibre pattern, and you get a solid bulbous case for storage. But the star of the construction is, of course, the planar transducer itself, which MrSpeakers says is ‘processed’ with its V-Planar technology, introducing pleating which addresses nonlinear driver motion to allow the driver to push more air at low frequencies, with greater acceleration, better dynamics, and measurably lower distortion.
MrSpeakers’ V-Planar technology is an evolution of a technique for pleating a headphone diaphragm patented by Bruce Thigpen, the founder of Eminent Technology. In fact MrSpeakers’ own patent on its V-Planar technology lists both Thigpen and MrSpeakers’ founder, Dan Clark, as co-inventors, so there was obviously some collaboration. Essentially, MrSpeakers’ V-Planar design uses deeper pleats in order to further increase compliance. Just as the pleats of accordion expand and contract without stretching the fabric, the pleats in the V-Planar diaphragm work in a similar fashion.
I’m not arguing the technicalities—I enjoyed the Ether-C using the company’s premium DUM cable (it’s $100 less with the standard cable) and it proved an absolute delight. If, like me, you’re wondering about those initials, they reportedly stand for ‘Decidedly Un Magical’, which is Dan Clark’s way of saying that the improved performance of this cable is because of the way it’s engineered, not because of any ‘voodoo’ charms waved over it.
By chance I began with Chick Corea and Gary Burton’s piano/vibraphone marvel Hot House, and I could not have selected a better demonstration of the Ether’s tonal accuracy and scintillating speed. Such is the detail portrayed—and the complete lack of overhang—that there’s none of the mid-bass emphasis and bloom so common in dynamic drivers, and silences, when they come, are as transfixing as the music itself.
Well-recorded and acoustic music benefits greatly in beauty from such presentation, but the Ethers are by no means a one-genre pony, nor do they lack for bass. Well-mixed pop and rock was well-supported by real unexaggerated electric bass. On occasion the sheer edginess of it all could conflict with a modern mix—Lily Allen’s The Fear played at volume had too much edge, not enough smoothness, and spoken voice on radio or podcast could become overly slimmed by the lack of plumminess in the low mids. But those riveting highs, real and taut bass, spectacular speed and long-term listening comfort proved great joys, and all the more remarkable for coming in a closed design.
A most delightfully thrilling pair of headphones. Jez Ford