This pictorial blog represents Part 2 of our “Postcards from CanJam London” series and is our attempt to convey some of the sheer diversity of the products on display at the event. From mega-priced/ultra-high-performance headphones and headphone amplifiers on down to excellent yet reasonably priced model, CanJam London featured something for everyone interested in the best personal audio has to offer.
As always, we apologise in advance to any worthy manufacturers whose products we inadvertently may have overlooked.
Acoustic Research
Once associated primarily with bookshelf-type loudspeakers, the name Acoustic Research now refers, among other things, to an ambitious range of portable digital audio products such as the GBP 899 M2 digital audio player/headphone amplifier shown here.
Audeze
Audeze’s powerful and sensibly priced £599 Deckard headphone amplifier/hi-res DAC was used as the power plant of choice for Audeze’s many headphone demonstration stations at CanJam London.
Audeze
The open-back Audeze EL-8 planar magnetic headphone (£599) shown here makes a concerted effort to bring the vaunted Audeze sound available at a more accessible price point than ever before.
Aurisonic
Hailing from the great American music city of Nashville, Tennessee, Aurisonic’s Bravo-series universal-fit earphones–the £249 Kicker, the £379 Forte, and the £489 Harmony–leverage technologies drawn from Aurisonic’s more costly range of custom-fit in-ear monitors.
Beyerdynamic
For CanJam London, Beyerdynamic rolled out its brand new DT 1770 Pro headphone (£699), which represents a significant update on the design of the firm’s venerable DT 770 model.
Brimar
High performance audio cables featuring exotic conductors and advanced internal geometry are not just for speaker-based systems as these specialised headphone cables from Brimar demonstrate. In fact, several Brimar cable models use conductors comprised of 5% 24k gold and 95% ultra high-purity silver.
Brimar
Brimar not only offers headphone and earphone signal cables, but an extensive range of personal audio orientated adapter cables, as shown here.
Fostex
It is not lost on Fostex that a number of headphone makers have been successuf in offering modified versions of Fostex’s T50RP headphones, so that the firm has chosen to release a significantly updated, mid-priced planar magnetic headphone of its own: namely, the TH500RP (£529) shown here.
HiFiMAN
With HiFiMAN’s flagship HE 1000 headphone garnering so much attention these days, it is important not to overlook the firm’s achievements at the other end of the pricing spectrum, where HiFIMAN has recently released the entry-level HE 400S planar magnetic headphone (£219). Many who have heard the HE 400S in action are astonished by its extraordinary value for money (it is a bargain, pure and simple).
HyperDynamic
The HyperDynamic dual-driver universal-fit earphones, which use the distinctive combination of a dynamic and a piezo-electric driver, offer impressive performance at the modest price of $200 USD.
Jerry Harvey Audio (JHA)
In recent month, Jerry Harvey has expanded his firm’s range of Siren-series CIEMs and universal-fit earphones to include the new top-tier Layla ($2,595) and the third-from-the-top Angie ($1,299 CIEM, or $899 universal-fit). Both the Layla and Angie are characterised and monitoring-grade transducers with extremely neutral voicing, where the middle model of the range, the Roxanne, has a slightly more rock-orientated voicing curve. By special arrangement, Astell & Kern has been granted exclusive rights to sell the universal-fit versions of Layla and Angie (as shown here).
Lotoo
The powerful and versatile Lotoo PAW Gold digital audio player (£1,499) has already found favour among many headphonistas–especially among those seeking less expensive alternatives to Astell & Kern’s premium-priced top-tier models. The deceptively compact PAW Gold features a chassis carved from solid Duralumin and appears to be built like the proverbial tank. Watch for an upcoming Hi-Fi+ review.
Lotoo
In addition to its flagship PAW Gold player (right), Lotoo also showed its significantly less expensive entry-level player, called the PAW 5000 (left, £329).
MrSpeakers
Making its UK debut at CanJam London was the USA-made MrSpeakers Ether open-back planar magnetic headphone (£1,150). The Ether uses a distinctive diaphragm technology called V-Planar technology said to promote more linear and uniform excursion across the entire surface area of the diaphragm. Many who have auditioned the Ether feel it offers sonic purity, resolution, and neutrality of voicing to rival the best headphones available, regardless of cost.
MrSpeakers
Here listener enjoy the all-new MrSpeakers Ether C, which is a closed-back planar magnetic headphone loosely patterned after the open-back Ether model. Look more closely, though, and you will discover the Ether C has an entirely different driver to the one used in the standard Ether–one that offer terrific openness, transparency, and transient speed. While the Ether C and Ether are not strictly identical in voicing, they are very, very close and provide somewhat offsetting sonic virtues. For perhaps the first time in recent memory, then, we have a closed-back headphone that is every inch the performance peer of its open-back sibling.
Oppo Digital
Shown here is Oppo’s extremely easy to drive and highly accomplished PM-3 closed-back planar magnetic headphone (£350), which is earning a reputation as great choice for discerning listeners on a budget who want planar magnetic performance in a model that lends itself to on-the-go listening.
Oppo Digital
Shown here is Oppo’s lovely HA-2 portable headphone amp/DAC (£259), which makes the perfect companion for the PM-3 headphones above.
Pendulumic
Rather than resting on the laurels earned by the firm’s Stance S1+ wireless headphones, the specialists at Pendulumic have been hard at work on the new Tach T1 wireless headphone shown here (projected price £199 or $249). The Tach T1 should arrive in November of this year–just in time for Christmas shoppers. The Tach T1 is a smaller, on-ear headphone as compared to the larger over-the-ear Stance S1+ and it introduces a number of subtle refinements and improvement over the technologies used in the critically acclaimed Stance, such as an all-new low latency version of the popular aptX Bluetooth implementation.
Schiit Audio (Europe)
Behind the MrSpeakers Ether headphone in the foreground we see Schiit Audio’s new Mjolnir 2 headphone amplifier (top, £850) and Gungnir Multibit DAC (bottom, £1,200), but of which made their UK debut at CanJam London. The Mjolnir 2 shown here can potentially be valve-powered, but this sample is fitted with Schiit’s distinctive LISST (Linear Integrated Solid-State Tube) device. The Mjolnir 2/Gungnir Multibit combination is intended to provide performance close to Schiit’s flaghip Ragnarok amplifier and Yggdrasil Multibit DAC, but at a substantially lower price. All Schiit Audio products are manufactured in the USA. What’s with the product names? Suffice it to say the folks at Schiit Audio are big fans of Norse mythology.
Soul
Soul’s main point of emphasis at CanJam London was to show its new range of sports/active wear-optimised headphones and earphones such as the Pulse (£39.99), the Flex (£49.99), the Transform (£69.99), and beefy and aggressively named Combat+ (£159.99).
SoundMAGIC
The Chinese firm SoundMAGIC is perhaps best known for its keenly-priced universal-fit earphones, but at CanJam London the firm previewed its new full-size P55 “premium portable” headphone (projected price, £199), as shown here.
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By Hi-Fi+ Staff
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