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from the audiophilia-for-the-1-percent dept.
El Reg reports
Sennheiser has announced a new pair of headphones it says will cost "around €50,000" (£35,314 or US$54,279).
The forthcoming "Orpheus" model boasts silver-plated copper cable and "gold-vaporized ceramic electrodes and platinum-vaporized diaphragms ... exactly 2.4 µ thick, the result of extensive research that shows that any thinner or thicker would be sub-optimal." The accompanying amplifier boasts "comes from Carrara in Italy and is the same type of marble that Michelangelo used to create his sculptures.
The tubes "rise from the base and start to glow", and "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."
We could go on, but fear doing so may induce ire among some readers. Know, then, that there's a very gushy website here [ecmascript required] full of all the jargon a rich audiophile could want.
(Score: 2) by Sir Finkus on Friday November 06 2015, @02:28AM
They still do, although I've heard some of their lower end models have durability problems with cheap plastics.
A lot of these audio companies have an outrageously priced "flagship" model. I suspect it's mostly for marketing reasons, as speaker/headphone technology is pretty simple. You gotta make it look like you're innovating with space aged technology or something like that.
Join our Folding@Home team! [stanford.edu]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 06 2015, @05:45AM
They still do, although I've heard some of their lower end models have durability problems with cheap plastics.
I bought 5 years ago a pair of sennheisers for 65 € (~ 80 $?) and the earpads are chipping away now. They do sound pretty decent though. Next phones will be same price (or less) and I'll try another (non-sony!) brand.
This is a PR gimmick for sure but hey if somebody wants to pay 50G go right ahead, stupid.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Nuke on Friday November 06 2015, @11:14AM
A lot of these audio companies have an outrageously priced "flagship" model. I suspect it's mostly for marketing reasons
Yes, the idea is to make their mid-range $10,000 model look like a bargain.