The Oppo PM-3 headphones Oppo The Oppo PM-3 headphones knocked me for a loop: they look and feel great, sound like a more expensive pair, and they’re really comfortable to wear. As for build quality, they’re way ahead of similarly priced Beats, Bowers & Wilkins, HiFiMan, Sony or V-Moda ‘phones. The PM-3’s thick metal parts …

I spoke with Andrew Jones by phone last week, just as he was finishing tweaking a prototype of his latest speaker design, the bookshelf Debut at ELAC’s brand-new design lab in Southern California. He started out working as a research engineer for KEF, then moved on to Infinity and later rose to prominence at TAD, where he designed the $80,000 …

Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald was right there, singing ever so sweetly between the two Magnepan .7 speakers. The sound was startlingly realistic, and somehow the .7s were doing a better job conjuring a full-bodied human voice than a lot of much more expensive speakers I’ve reviewed over the last 18 years. This kind of scale and presence is something you …

The Noontec Zoro II HD in sapphire. Steve Guttenberg/CNET Here’s an under the radar pick for an outstanding headphone, where the price/sound quality ratio definitely qualify as excellent. The Noontec Zoro II HD on-ear headphone’s winning sonic neutrality allows it to play well with all music genres. Then there’s the bass, the Zoro II HD’s low-end is nice and deep, …

The Audio Technica ATH MSR7 headphones with Brainwavz HM5 earpads on the right, stock ear pads on the left Steve Guttenberg/CNET I found these extra plush Brainwavz HM5 Replacement Memory Foam Earpads produced a huge comfort upgrade for some Audio Technica, NAD and Sony over-the-ear headphones. Brainwavz claims the pads also fit some full-size AKG, Fostex, Hifiman, Phillips and Ultrasone …

Steve Guttenberg/CNET From time to time, I hear from readers requesting lists of great-sounding music, so when I find noteworthy efforts I’m happy to share the news. Granted, personal taste plays a role in defining music and sound quality, but I’m sure there are a few gems here that’ll click with you. What follows is a roundup of the best-sounding …

KEF Reference 1 speakers KEF Come on, it’s just you and me, how do you rate it? Is sound quality the main thing, or is price, features, size, styling, name brand or scoring the best possible deal? It’s probably a combination of all of those things, but how high does sound quality rate for you? Ten years ago at a …

The new FiiO X3 2nd Gen music player. FiiO Neil Young’s Kickstarter funded high-res PonoPlayer may have grabbed the lion’s share of media attention, but FiiO’s more-affordable portable players were on the market years before Pono entered the fray. FiiO has continued to refine and improve its players, and its latest, the X3 2nd Gen is totally revamped, looking nothing …

The Morel Octave 6 Limited Edition Bookshelf speaker sounds big, and bass oomph and definition were well beyond the norm for mid-size bookshelf speakers like this. Better yet, clarity and refinement were commensurate with what I’ve come to expect from high-end speakers in the Octave 6 Limited-Edition’s price class, but this speaker is small enough to fit in average size …

Audeze EL-8 Open-Back headphones Steve Guttenberg/CNET Audeze makes some of the very best headphones on the planet. That’s great, but now with the introduction of the sleek new EL-8, Audeze has brought the price down to a somewhat more affordable range. The handsome new look, with subtly curved aluminum ear cups and sumptuous padding lends a decidedly luxurious feel to …