Gallery: 9 of the World's Most Outrageously Expensive Headphones

  • Image may contain Electronics Headphones and Headset
    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    01
    AKG's new $1,990 open-backed flagship, the K812, marries premium materials with precise sonic engineering.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    02
    Proudly made in Brooklyn, the $1,700 PS1000s are the tippy-top of the Grado line, and thus the finest expression of the company's signature airy, roomy sound.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    03
    Like many of the headphones in this gallery, the $1,299 Hifiman HE-6s use planar magnetic drivers that are supremely thirsty. To showcase their true potential, you'll need to plunk down an extra $500-$2,000 for a quality amp to supply that voltage. NBD.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    04
    Like all Beyer's premium Tesla headphones, the $1,400 T1's drivers are made with lightweight, and thus highly efficient, neodymium magnets.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    05
    Ask any audiophile to name the best sounding headphone he or she has ever listened to and the alphanumeric answer is likely to be: HD 800.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    06
    At a mere $5,000, the Edition 5 from Ultrasone is not the priciest headphone on our list. But these Bavarian beauty queens are certainly the most rare — only 555 have been manufactured for sale.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    07
    If the M50s are Audio-Technica's $140 Crown Victoria, the W5000s are the company's $1,200 Bentley.
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    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    08
    Another fixture in audiophile listening rooms around the world, the $1,945 Audeze LCD-3 is renowned for its tight, impactful bass and lush sound.
  • Image may contain Electronics Headphones and Headset
    Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
    09
    The Abyss AB-1266 holds two distinctions. First, at a wallet-wilting $5,495 they are the most expensive pair of headphones in this gallery. They're also the only headphones that look like they could have been used as a medieval torture device.
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