AudioQuest NightHawkPrice: $599

Website: www.audioquest.com

Brent said: There’s no contesting that the AudioQuest NightHawks are an extraordinary design with best-in-the-business comfort, and sonic isolation that I didn’t think possible from semi-open-back headphones. They’re also the product of a huge amount of knowledge, research, experimentation, and original thought. I don’t know if you’ll like them, but I do know that they deserve your audition.

Read the SoundStage! Xperience review.

The gist: Controversial voicing in a beautifully conceived package.