Sennheiser has unveiled a successor to its Orpheus headphones, offering “an unprecedented audio experience” and carrying a price tag of around 50,000 euro (around $76,000).Back in 1990/91, Sennheiser introduced its Orpheus headphones, and now almost 25 years later the German audio company states that it is “opening up a new chapter in audio history” introducing Orpheus’ successor, the HE 1060 headphones and HEV 1060 vacuum tube amplifier.
Sennheiser states the electrostatic headphones system has been in the works for almost a decade, with a team of experts “working against the limits of what is technically possible”, and is made up of more than 6,000 “meticulously chosen” components.
“It is able to deceive our senses in a completely unique way, creating the perfect illusion of being directly
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immersed in the sound,” Sennheiser CEO Daniel Sennheiser states of the system.
The components are retracted when inactive, with Sennheiser describing the process of turning on the system as follows:
“Gently pushing the on/off volume control brings the sculpture to life: the control elements, each of which are crafted from a single piece of brass and then plated with chrome, slowly extend from the marble housing, before the vacuum tubes enclosed in quartz glass bulbs rise from the base and start to glow.
“Finally, a glass cover is raised, allowing the headphones with ear-cups finished in genuine leather to be
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removed.”
Among the 6,000 components, Sennheiser has utilised exclusive components such as gold-vaporised ceramic electrodes and platinum-vaporised diaphragms, with the amplifier housing marble coming from Carrara in Italy, the same type of marble used by Michelangelo.
Sennheiser states the the headphones will be handcrafted in Germany from next year.
Further information can be found here.
