[davidhunternyc]

After considerable thought and thanks to the input of everyone at Head-Fi, I have made a list of the "most beautiful looking headphones ever made." You may vote for more than one. I have not included "mods" or custom made headphones. I also know there are several headphones that are not on this list that many people consider beautiful. If your choices are not listed above, the following headphones are on Part l of the poll. Click on the link below to vote for these:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/wha...r-made-382457/
AKG K701/K702
AKG K1000
Audio Technica ATH-W11JPN
Audio Technica ATH-ESW10JPN
Grado HP-1000
Grado RS1
Sony MDR-R10
Sony Qualia 010
Stax SR-007 Omega ll
Ultrasone Edition 7

Now that you've voted, comment on why you made the choices that you did. Why do you think that a certain headphone is the most beautiful ever made? Form, color, shape, fit, finish, ergonomics, build quality, and the use of materials are all examples that make certain headphones more beautiful than others. Please discuss and debate. Also, below are the latest results of both polls combined. If you don't think certain headphones belong on this list, please explain why. If there are any other beautiful headphones that you feel deserve to be on the list, please explain why and if possible, please post pictures.

Here are the top 10 headphones from both polls:
#1 Audio Technica ATH-L3000/L3000G
#2 Tie: Audio Technica ATH-W11JPN, Grado RS1, and Sony Qualia 010
#3 Audio Technica ATH-ESW10JPN
#4 Audio Technica ATH-W5000
#5 Audio Technica ATH-W2002
#6 AKG 701/702
#7 Tie: AKG K1000 and Grado HP-1000
#8 Sony MDR-R10
#9 Tie: Sennheiser HE90 and Stax SR-007BL
#10 Tie: Stax SR-007 Omega ll and Ultrasone Edition 9

Here are your top five headphones on this thread:
The Most Beautiful Headphones Ever Made?
#1 ATH-L300 #2 ATH-W5000 #3 ATH-W2002 #4 007BL #5 Tie: AH-D7000 and HE90

 

[Nocturnal310]

ah..i ll have to repost them here also:

well u missed one important headphone:


I call it THE Beauty:

Let me know what u think



.

 

[yaluen]

XD are we going to have endless iterations of this like the portable rigs threads? Voted L3000 and W100 here. I would've gone for the W2002 too but, compared to the ESW10, these look rather obtuse for having so much lacquered surface area.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ah..i ll have to repost them here also: well u missed one important headphone: I call it THE Beauty: Let me know what u think

That HD540 is a gorgeous headphone. But you guys are killing me! : ) These could certainly be on a Part lll list. My initial purpose was to only list maybe 5 headphones total. I really wanted to list only what were the MOST beautiful headphones ever made. Now we are at 20 headphones. Since this is a poll, I suppose more needed to be listed. All lists are flawed and so is my decision making but I did the best job I could. I hope you found this poll satisfactory. By the way, I find the HD540 Reference Gold to be far more beautiful than the JVC-DX1000. The problem is, because it isn't as popular, I wonder what kind of votes it would have garnered. That's why polls are flawed. It's more of a popularity contest. Also, 6 out of 20 headphones on this list are Audio Technicas. A bit of an unfair advantage if you ask me. Regards.

 

[TopPop]

Nothing commercially made, imo. DIY can beat them all in terms of straight aesthetics...

From member xnothingpoetic (although I don't believe he made them himself):

Ahhh... pure beauty...

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopPop /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nothing commercially made, imo. DIY can beat them all in terms of straight aesthetics... Ahhh... pure beauty...

Those are nice. I do think though that the HP1000's are nicer and they are commercially made.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Wow, the L3000's are sweeping this half of the poll. In my opinion, this half is weaker than the original poll and the L3000's would've had stiffer competition in the first half.

 

[jonathanjong]

suggestion: put pics of the shortlisted headphones in the OP.

 

[davidhunternyc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonathanjong /img/forum/go_quote.gif suggestion: put pics of the shortlisted headphones in the OP.

Thanks. I already thought of that. I need to wait though for this poll to get plenty of responses before I post pictures in the OP. In terms of "shortlisted," do you mean the headphones that gather the most votes? If it were up to me, I would only shortlist the Grado HP1000, Sony Qualia 010, ATH-W11JP, and Stax SR-007BL. It boggles my mind that so many think the L3000 is the most beautiful headphone ever made.

 

[jonathanjong]

Shortlisted = The ones listed in your OP. You might change that list depending on suggestions, yes?

 

[Uncle Erik]

I love these cans. The machined aluminum cups are nothing but quality and I love the minimalist design. Only the Grado HP-2 rivals it for sturdiness. And weight. But a few extra ounces on the head is worth forgiving for both cans.

 

[Wolfskie]

As I wrote in the other thread, it's w100 and w5000 for me.

 

[midget]

qualia anyone?

 

[silverrain]

I like the looks of my various deep-cup Darth Beyers, and also my Darth V4 Terminators, too.
Solid, well-built, sound great, and pretty, too.

EDIT: Forgot to add my nice DX1000 -- almost on par with Darth Beyers! Real close.

 

[krmathis]

Finally a Stax SR-007BL to vote for...

Quote:

Originally Posted by midget /img/forum/go_quote.gif qualia anyone?

Thy his other thread.