Top Picks

2017 Top Picks Of the Year Headphones

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Headphones

Audeze LCDi4 In-Ear Headphones
(January 2018) Audeze revolutionized the in-ear headphone category with its striking open-back, planar magnetic models, including the state-of-the-art LCDi4 that our headphone maven Steve Guttenberg called “hands down, the best-sounding in-ear headphone I’ve heard.” $2,495, audeze.com

Focal Utopia Headphones
(July/August) Audio editor Mark Fleischmann found Focal’s top-of-the-line model a revelation, citing its ability to create solid, tight images of instruments and vocalists that he’s never heard from any headphone. $3,999, focal.com

MrSpeakers Aeon Headphones
(October) Though not the most expensive headphones from MrSpeakers, the closed-back Aeon planar magnetics delivered highly natural sound with spacious imaging. $799, mrspeakers.com

Audeze iSine 10 In-Ear Headphones
(May) These headphones can’t match the transparency of Audeze’s high-end LCDi4 in-ears, but the far-more-affordable iSine 10 gets you in the ballpark. $399, audeze.com

Astell&Kern Michelle Limited In-Ear Headphones
(February/March 2018) By a considerable margin, the Michelle brings the price of a set of triple armature, Jerry Harvey-designed in-ear headphones to a new low price point. $399, astellnkern.com

1More Quad Driver In-Ear Headphones (See "Value")

COMMENTS
Traveler's picture
Submitted by Traveler on January 20, 2018 - 12:58pm

I bought a Sony Bravia X900E 55" and a Roku Ultra box and am very satisfied, it perfectly fills the field of view at 8' and the sound is just fine. Was going to buy an matching player but Netflix doesn't seem to carry 4K disks so I'm sticking with my OPPO 105D.

brenro's picture
Submitted by brenro on January 21, 2018 - 8:36am

I've been using these guys.

German-Pete's picture
Submitted by German-Pete on February 13, 2018 - 8:57am

Sorry, but the combination of ELAC with Roon (Essentials) is not at all professional. Since November 2017 Mac-, IOS- and Android-Apps are buggy. Freeze or shutdown when selecting Settings/Storage or Services and according to the Roon forums I am not the only one. From German Elac Support: "Unfortunately, we have no control over the software / firmware provided by Roon….". That is the position of Roon (Mike Roon Labs): "First, I should note that Roon and Roon Essentials are different products, with support for Roon Essentials handled by ELAC." Haaha.

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