[Acix]

Pioneer Monitor 10.

 

[glac1er]

Assuming the OP is referring to build quality and a sense of luxuriousness when holding onto the headphones, given its price, DT880/990 are the only ones I have absolutely nothing to complain about in terms of build quality. That thing is build like a tank. I admit I am biased toward metal though...

 

[Georgl]

What does "quality" mean in this discussion?

- The luxurious feel and image of the materials used?

- The fit & finish?

- The long-term quality and reliability?


The overall best build headphone/amp ever made is the Sennheiser HE90/HEV90 - no surprise given their price...

The HD800 is underrated because of it's "spacy" look and silver painted plastic. But given the robust design, precise fit & finish of nearly every detail and the use of expensive and rigid materials mostly in invisible areas (normally it's vice versa...).
The T1-prototype I held in my hands on IFA was superbly build, but they seem to have trouble with production units - that's why they're postponed, let's see.

Many people may see it differently, but just put it this way: we won't see any convincing Chinese copies of neither HD800 or T1 in the future - their production is too complex (just try to find a supplier for the mesh).

There are other luxurious exotics, my (unlike other Stax) Omega 2 is also well made - but not very well thought out...

The DT48 is a typical professional headphone, very rigid - but neither beautiful or luxurious...

But many so called "luxurious" headphones are designed to look luxurious and I'm not too convinced about their actual build-quality, Denon, Grado, HE-5, Jade... is typical for that.

 

[MD1032]

I agree, "quality" is loosely defined here. I really don't think the materials define a headphones' quality, honestly. Uncle Erik makes a great point about injection-molding...it really is an art of its own.

 

[Landis]

Well, the strongest built of my headphones would be either my SRH840 or my DT770; either of which I would feel fairly comfortable throwing out of my second floor window.

My HE-5 has nice materials used, but I would hardly want it dropped onto hard flooring even my desk height. I'd bet my SE-L40s could stand a similar drop out of the window, but I wouldn't want to risk damaging those beauties. As for my K601s, they'd probably float away if an updraft struck them, but definitely would not functionally survive a two story drop; they're built well for comfort and sound, but definitely not a highly durable headphone.

Keep in mind, the two I mentioned as my most durable have the most plastic of any of my headphones.

 

[Palpatine]

Strange how packaging can sometimes give you an initial impression of a headphone's quality.

 

[Meliboeus]

Beyerdynamic Pro phones are really sturdy : metal headband, metal cup holders, the plastic the actual cups are made off feels like it would last...no premium materials anyways, just studio grade durability.

The HD650 would rank high if it wasn't for that plastic headband....

 

[s1m0]

AT ath-a1000x - same as a2000x but the cups are made of aluminium instead of titanium