Sennheiser HE- 1

IF YOU ARE AN AUDIOPHILE, look no further than Sennheiser’s HE-1 with a tube amplifier. It has an amplifier sitting on a housing crafted from glass, and a solid block of Carrara marble. This luxurious natural stone is not just for aesthetics but also prevents structureborne noise. Dials are milled from a single piece of brass before being plated with chrome. This is the first electrostatic headphone with a Cool Class A MOS-FET high voltage amplifier integrated into the ear cups. For electrical and acoustical performance, gold-vapourised ceramic transducers have been used, while 99.9 per cent silver-plated OFC cables are used for optimal conductivity. Even the ear cups are precision-machined from solid aluminium, featuring handmade earpads of the finest leather and a soft, allergenfree velour/microfibre construction. For digital to analogue conversion, the amplifier can receive digital signals via optical and coaxial SPDIF inputs or USB input. It also accepts high-resolution PCM and DSD data. Music data is converted to analogue signals using the eight internal converters of the ESS Sabre ES9018. Four channels in parallel are used for each stereo side to enhance accuracy. Price: $55,000