Headphones

The HifiGear showroom in King Street is home to a huge number of different headphones of all types and applications. We also stock and demonstrate a number of high quality, dedicated headphone amplifiers and DACs.

Headphones are one of the most popular high fidelity products on the market. There's something unmatched about getting up-close and personal with a sound, and as smart-phones and media-devices become more and more advanced; the portability of headphones is a benefit that simply can not be ignored. Headphones come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, designs and applications depending on preference and purpose. 

When considering a pair of headphones for home, hifi-stereo/critical listening - the best option is for a circumaural (also referred to as 'full size', 'over ear' and 'on ear') headphone, with an open-back design. This open back design allows the intricate driver technology within the ear pad to move more freely and utilise the air more efficiently to provide a cleaner, more detailed sound. Of course, this does mean that sound leakage is quite prominent, and so would be less acceptable on a train or in a public space. 

When you require your music to be a little more personal and less invasive to others, a closed-back design is the way to go. You'll usually find that the midrange/bass on a closed-back pair of headphones is a little more punchy and dynamic, but you'll potentially lose some of that high freq detail/openness. When portability is key, in-ear headphones are often favoured. It's far more difficult to achieve the level of bass control and midrange dynamic with in-ears due to their tiny 'cabinets', but a number of higher quality brands are able to rectify this issue using innovative design techniques and construction methods. 

A number of manufacturers also build wireless headphone models for various purposes, whether that be convenient on-the-go wireless listening via Bluetooth or for wireless, home cinema purposes. Noise-cancelling headphones also exist for the purpose of counteracting distracting, droning frequencies caused by trains or air-planes. 

We have headphones in all of these categories available for demonstration and comparison, so whatever your needs, budget or style - we're happy to help.