Stereophile Recommended HeadFi Components
Leading HiFi magazine Stereophile published their recommended component list for 2021. Please find the complete list of recommended components for Headphones and accessories on the Stereophile website. In this article we highlighted the ranking of components that Dune Blue distributes.
HiFiMAN Susvara – A+
Herb Reichert wrote that he thinks the Susvara is a contender for the world’s best headphones.
HEDD Audio HEDDphone – A
The “HEDDphone” headphones use full-range, air-motion-transformer (AMT) drive-units and proved a synergistic match with the Pass Labs HPA-1 and Feliks Audio Euforia headphone amps, found HR, commenting on “an extraordinary level of transparency.”
HiFiMAN Shangri-La Jr (with Energizer) – A
Herb praised the Shangri-La Jr for presenting and preserving vocal tones and textures, and noted its uncanny way with subtle details: “I heard the full Doppler effect of cars shifting gears as they passed [the recording venue],” he wrote, declaring that “this level of vibrant resolution makes the Shangri-La Jrs’ $8000 price seem reasonable.
HiFiMAN Jade 2 (with Energizer) – B
Herb found The Jade II’s sound to be “cool, clean, and well sorted” but lacking in the bass depth, grainlessness, and clarity of the company’s more expensive electrostatic headphone set, the Shangri-La Jr. Using the Shangri-La Jr’s tubed amp/energizer to drive the Jade IIs restored some, but not all, of the charms of the higher-priced set.
Meze Audio Classics 99 – C
Tyll Hertsens said: “This…is an awesome all-around headphone” in his review for Inner Fidelity, which was also published on Stereophile. Ken Micallef praised their “slightly buttoned-down sound”
Feliks Audio Euforia – A
The Euforia made the Grado GS3000e headphones sound “more transparent and satisfying” than the other headphone amps Herb had on hand; he further observed that “the Euforia’s radiant liquidity enhanced [the Focal Clears’] sense of flow and resolve.”
Auris Audio Nirvana – B
The Nirvana drove the closed-back Focal Stellia headphones “in a manner I would describe as straightforwardly neutral and well-controlled but also glowing and magical.”