Audiophiles spending a lot of money on their passion (hint: it’s music) is nothing new, but these $30,000 pair of headphones from Sennheiser definitely take the cake. What’s even more amazing, is that the Orpheus headphones as it’s known, aren’t even brand new products, they’re a limited edition analog headset that were made in the year 1991.
The company brought them out for display at this year’s CES 2013 event, where they showed off the headphone alongside it’s more modern and cheaper descendent, the HD800. Both headphones are the best of the best that the company has to offer at the moment, and were displayed alongside each other at the booth for the sake of comparison.
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The Orpheus comes with a handmade analog amplifier; that actually looks like something from a work of steam punk fiction, set in the 1950’s. The products press release states; “When it was introduced in 1991, the Orpheus was unsurpassed in its masterful design and uncompromising sonic purity. The essence of this perfection is still reflected in every product that Sennheiser manufactures to this day.”
And they’re not joking. This thing has a platinum-coated diaphragm, and electrodes made out of specially created glass. When it was initially released two decades ago, at the Berlin International Radio Exhibition, it was priced at $12,900 (holy god!). Only 300 units were ever made since then, and the only way one can buy one it is at an auction, or taking a high ranking member of a company hostage.
The headphone’s open ear design was done on purpose, to give the product an open air feel, sort of like when you’re at a concert. Click here for a full rundown of the product’s specifications and press release (warning: 20MB auto PDF download alert!).
But, if $30,000 is slightly outside of your budget for pair of headphones, you can still enjoy a similar if not superior sound quality, and at a fraction of the price. Remember the HD800 I mentioned earlier on? That costs about $1,500 greenback. Remember, I said at a fraction of the cost, I didn’t say it would actually be affordable.
So, are you already breaking out the checkbook? Or are those $30 pair of cans good enough? Sound off in the comments!
Mohseen Lala
Mohseen is the native Yeti of Geek Insider, specializing in consoles, Apple tutorials, reviews and anything that's fun, geeky and worth writing about.
