The most important aspects of headphones are things like comfort, sound quality, and features. However, they’re also something we wear on our bodies, or leave out in the open when not using them, so what a pair of cans look like is also pretty high up on the list.
While most people have tiny wireless buds shoved in their ears these days, I still like to appreciate (and use) full over-ear headphones and really love an attractive pair. So I thought: “What are the prettiest headphones ever made?” and after trawling the web for a few hours, it seems that these are the most likely candidates.
10
Sennheiser Orpheus HE 1 (2022)
It feels weird to think of the Orpheus HE 1 as just a pair of headphones, because this setup is actually an electrostatic headphone paired with a bespoke valve (tube) amplifier built into a Carrara marble chassis.
There are eight tubes encased in the quarts rising up from the base, so there’s a lot of pomp and circumstance when you sit down to listen using these phones. From a sound engineering perspective, these headphones are pretty much the pinnacle. There are over 6000 components, and materials include platinum, gold, ceramic, and stone. It’s the ulta-thin diaphrams that are plated with platinum, by the way.
This is, of course, an open-back circumaural set of headphones, and to my eye it manages to look as expensive as it is, without being gaudy. If you’re rolling around in a limo snacking on Grey Poupon, these might be up your alley. I’ll just be happy to look at pictures, because at a whopping $60,000 these are unlikely to ever grace my ears.
9
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95
This is B&O’s flagship noise-canceling set of cans, and at “only” $999 you can buy 60 of these for the price of the HE1, and still have some money left over for CDs. Personally, I think they look nicer than the HE 1 too, at least the headphone bit does. There’s no marble block attached to these which is probably why the price is more reasonable.
These were released in celebration of the brand’s 95th anniversary, and I adore the classy styling they’ve come up with. These headphones manage to look modern and classic at the same time, which is quite a feat. It’s the contrast between the brushed metal cups and the pads that do it, and, of course, the actual shape of the cups is very pleasing to my eyes personally.
While, at this price, you’re not getting platinum in your headphone speakers, the drivers are made of titanium, and that’s good enough for me.
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95
The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 are the flagship phones from one of the world’s best audio gear makers. Beautiful and almost reasonably-priced for this segment.
8
Focal Utopia (2022 Refresh)
Focal
Of course, the most artistic headphone design on this list had to be from the French. I can certainly see see Louis XVI losing his head over these gorgeous cans. It’s like someone broke down a cathedral and used the bits to fashion headphones.
These are reference headphones with an open back, which means that if you want to hear uncolored sound the same way the engineer who mastered your music did, then this is possibly the audio utopia you’re looking for. My own personal dreams of utopia were shattered by the $5,000 price tag, but hey to someone, somewhere, that’s entry-level.
Focal Utopia (2022)
Though the price of the 2022 Focal Utopia headphones puts them solidly into the eccentric audiophile bracket, it’s hard to argue with that absolutely gorgeous design, and uncompromising audio quality.
7
Grado Heritage Series GH4
Grado
This is a limited edition set that’s not for sale anymore, but it’s part of Grado’s tradition of making headphones out of rare supplies of wood. I’m a sucker for gadgets that include wood, and the GH4 has this weirdly-rugged aesthetic I find appealing. Incidentally, these use Norwegian Pine, and by all accounts they sound pretty good too.
6
Sony MDR-R10 (1989)
Sony thinks the MDR-R10 is special because it was “the first in the world to adopt a bio-cellulose diaphragm with rigidity comparable to that of aluminum.” I think it’s special because just look at it. This is arguably the first ever ultra-premium set of headphones, and it’s only right that Sony should be the one behind it. It might be hard for some younger readers to imagine, but they were once the last word in AV gear, and, honestly, they still make amazing headphones, but the MDR-R10 is certainly a high point.
Made using 200 year-old Japanese elm, with a lambskin leather headband, these are high-end from end to end, and, despite being a closed back design it provides a very speaker-like presentation. At least, that’s what I’ve read. Since only about 2,000 units were ever made, I’ll almost certainly never get a chance to hear them for myself.
When they first launched, they were $2,500 a pair, which made them the most expensive headphones in the world. Today, they can fetch around $6,000 which is actually pretty fair considering inflation.
5
Master & Dynamic MW65
Based in New York, Master & Dynamic apparently has a design ethos of “modern yet timeless, using only the finest materials”. I think they’ve certainly nailed the first part with the MW65, because that’s really what I was thinking when I saw these headphones. They look like they’d fit into just about any professional studio during the 20th century, yet they are undeniably a product of modern precision engineering. Lots of precision metal machining, leather, stainless-steel hinges, and looks you can cut diamonds on.
This is the company’s lightest over-ear model as far as I can tell, and this was achieved using materials like aluminum to keep things strong yet light. The drivers are made from Beryllium, which is a rare choice for wireless headphones, but it does benefit them in passive wired mode.
The price, if you can find one in stock, is also downright reasonable, since I’ve seen them go for around $250. I keep expecting to see Trent Reznor wear a pair of these.
4
Audeze LCD-4
The LCD-4’s by Audeze looks like it wouldn’t be out of place in a 1950s radio studio, or the study of a mustachioed man named “Nigel” who explores jungle ruins in his free time. It’s been replaced by the LCD-4z and LCD-5, but they’re a little more tame on the design front, even if they are a technical improvement.
Apparently, the ebony wood rings take four weeks to finish, and each individual pair is unique in appearance.It’s a hefty set, but you have the choice of a leather or carbon fiber strap to spread the weight, which is a lesson I wish Apple had taken to heart with the AirPods Max, which tend to leave a nice dent in the top of my head.
3
Meze Audio Empyrean II
With a name that sounds like it’s straight from Warhammer 40K the Empyrean II features CNC-milled aluminum earcups adorned with an intricate art deco-inspired grille. At around $3,000 I’d expect nothing less, but the more I look at those earcups, the more details I see.
These headphones were reviewed really well by the audiophile press, and the asking price isn’t that high in that context, but I also appreciate the teardrop shape of the cups, the interesting angle of the hinges, even the seemingly lazy fold of the headband.
2
AKG K1000
The 1989 AKG K1000s are the most cyberpunk-looking headphones on this list. Its design is radically different from conventional headphones: the K1000 has two large, rectangular driver panels that sit a few centimeters away from the ears, suspended on adjustable metal forks.
This was an early attempt at getting headphones that sounded like speakers to the listener, and AKG was pretty literal about it. There are no earcups, as such. Just two huge driver cabs strapped to your head. You can angle the drivers to adjust the soundstage, which is pretty neat, and the crazy thing is that it succeeds at what it sets out to do. However, the K1000 is notoriously power-hungry. Rated at 120 Ω impedance with only 74 dB SPL/mW sensitivity, it requires a speaker amplifier’s output (or very beefy headphone amp) via its 4-pin XLR connector and cable to reach proper listening volumes.
I think these headphones are beautiful because of that almost industrial design. It’s retro-futuristic. It’s Robocop and Mad Max at the same time, and I love it. Sadly, a mint pair of these go for around $1,500!
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1
Bowers & Wilkins P9 Signature
Bowers & Wilkins
To round off this list I was tempted to sneak in my own AirPods Max daily driver headphones, but let’s be honest, it’s nowhere near any of these headsets in the looks department and the P9 Signature deserves to be here much more.
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The earcups are clad in high-quality leather, and I am personally and perhaps embarrassingly a big fan of leather as a material. These are undoubtedly the least adventurous pair here, but the ones I’d be most likely to wear in public, if only my phone still had a headphone jack.
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