Like many of you, I have owned portable setups in my audiophile journey. However despite the rave reviews, the output from my Audio-Technica ATH M50 LE and EMU Teak never sounded like music. My experience led me to discount headphones as a means of serious music listening, until I heard the Obravo.
Like you and I, Obravo founder David Teng was staggered at the disparity in music reproduction between headphones/earphones and loudspeakers. Are we destined to have to spend a fortune on high-end loudspeakers to appreciate the fine details of an orchestral performance? David refused to bow down to the status quo. He left his lucrative career to embark full-time into researching the ideal headphone that could provide a loudspeaker-like music experience. Having expended much personal financial resources and time, David finally succeeded.
At Love Sanctuary Stereo and Sky Audio, we are proud to demo the Obravo HAMT-1 MKII and HAMT-3 MKII. These are over-the-ear headphones integrating a Heil Air-Motion Transformer tweeter and Neodymium Motor Magnets mid-bass driver in a coaxial design to exploit the strengths of both technologies and prevent mutual driver interference. They also feature premium materials such as thermal-treated Acacia wood on the back cover and Alcantara suede on the headband and earmuffs for comfort and maintainability.
Compared to my EMU Teak, vocals and musical instruments through the HAMT-3 MKII have a liveliness much closer to real life. They are also no longer jumbled together but in a definite position within the soundstage, just like when heard through loudspeakers. The HAMT-1 MKII with its bigger 57mm mid-bass driver captures the weight and tonality of vocals and musical instruments with a level of refinement matched only by high-end loudspeakers. As Hi-Fi Plus’ Alan Sircom said “It’s like strapping a little pair of Wilson Audio loudspeakers to your ears”.
