With the clocks about to go back, and the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing well underway, you may feel that it’s time to consider an antidote in the form of a pair of headphones.

Here in store we have a selection of headphones of the closed and open back varieties, and in this blog we thought we would focus on a couple of models which might help you through these difficult few months.

MEZE AUDIO 99 CLASSIC

Antonio Meze’s company is based in Baia Mare, Romania and has been making headphones since 2009. The 99 Classics were launched in 2015 and have been making waves in Head-Fi circles since then, for a number of reasons.

For a start, they are very nicely made from good quality materials and are assembled using old school techniques, which means that any maintenance or repair is a straightforward process – no glued components to separate. The ear cups are beautifully turned from solid walnut which gives a touch of class; rare for any headphone, let alone those which sell for such a reasonable price.

The self adjustable mechanism means they are very comfortable on heads of all shapes and sizes; they come with a useful set of accessories and, most importantly, sound extremely entertaining.

They are a closed back design so isolation from ambient noise is good; sound staging is a little more restricted than one would expect from an open back pair but there is still a pleasing openness about the midband and plenty of treble detail without the upper frequencies becoming painful or intrusive.

Bass (particularly the lower mid bass region) is particularly potent which makes these ‘phones really good for lovers of music with oodles of low end, and it also gives a pleasing richness to classical and acoustic music. In reality, pretty much anything sounds fun and engaging through these wooden gems.

They sell for the princely sum of £269 and are available in either Walnut/Gold or Walnut/Silver finishes. To make the deal even more impressive, if you buy a pair from us you will receive a free pair of Meze 11 Neo in-ear monitors which retail at £49. We currently have stocks in both finishes.

MEZE AUDIO 99 NEO

If you would like the function of the very impressive 99 CLASSICS at a lower price point, the 99 NEO might fit the bill. They are very similar in construction but are made from ABS plastic to keep weight and costs down.

Although not quite as natural sounding as the Classics, they are really impressive with more modern and electronic music as the low end has even more heft so you have a choice of flavour. They come with a similarly good quality case and set of accessories, and sell for just £189. Again, we have stocks in store.

Both these sets of cans have a low-ish impedance and 103dB efficiency so work perfectly well connected directly to a phone or a digital audio player (DAP). However, to really get them singing, you could think about partnering them with the fabulous Chord Electronics Mojo DAC/Amp. This little marvel will drive these (and indeed most other) headphones to perfection, and you will thus be insulated from anything the TV can throw at you. Turn it up loud enough and you might be able to ignore all the Brexit arguments too.

Come on in and have a listen - Simon, Gareth - Audio T Reading.

Meze headphones are available at the following branches of Audio T:

Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Online, Reading, Southampton, Swansea

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