Meze Empyrean Headphones / Cardas Audio Parsec Balanced Cable 2.5m

Here we have a super pair of high-end headphones from Romanian company Meze Audio. The Empyrean’s have been well received and won many awards worldwide, and our pair come with an added bonus in the form of an upgraded Parsec Balanced headphone cable from Cardas Audio. They are in very good condition and come in their original case along with our regular three month warranty.
Meze Audio Say….
The First Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone.
Empyrean is the product of two passionate companies coming together to explore what is possible beyond their individual capabilities. The result is a no compromise headphone embodying the Meze Audio daring aesthetic and user-centred design approach and Rinaro’s experience in research and development within the field of planar magnetics.
Rinaro is a progressive audio company with over 30 years of research and development experience in the field of planar magnetics and Isodynamics combining high quality materials & refined design to deliver unrivalled clarity and detail of sound.
Rinaro have collaborated with Meze to create a new standard in planar magnetic audio with the MZ3 Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver for their Empyrean headphone. Over 30 years of research and development in the field of Isodynamics have led to the creation of the first dual coil driver array to be seen in the field of planar magnetic headphones. The resulting technology is one of the lightest and most advanced planar magnetic drivers on the market.
The MZ3 is an Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver that has been created exclusively for Meze Audio.
The MZ3 combines individual switchback and spiral shaped voice coils in the one driver, their individual unique benefits allow sound to be targeted with accuracy around the natural shape of the ear. This combination has allowed for an increased exposure of direct sound wave frequencies over the 10kHz range and improved imaging and localization by decreasing the impact of short wave time delays caused by diffused field reflections.
Higher efficiency through weight reduction has been key to enabling longer listening sessions without the pressure point fatigue inherently created by heavy headphones, putting user-comfort at the same level of priority as audio performance.
The first of its kind the Empyrean Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver combines two independent shaped coils within the same diaphragm delivering more selective acoustic performance to the various areas within the structure of the ear.
To create an audiophile headphone that is powerful yet light the driver needed to maximize power output while reducing weight as much as possible. Weight was minimized by optimizing a magnet structure around an ovoid shape that fits the ear more closely, reducing unnecessary inactive surface area (and weight). Power output was increased through the use of a completely bespoke coil and magnet array design that optimized the active usable area of the driver within its ovoid shape.
An innovative design feature developed by Rinaro for Meze audio is the Isomagnetic ear cup attachment which utilizes the magnetic field generated by the hybrid array driver to hold the ear cup in place whilst improving the efficiency of the driver by 1db or 12% by targeting the magnetic field back into the driver.
Features:
Open-back, Circumaural headphones
Aluminium CNC frame
Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver
Carbon fibre headband
Pressure distribution wings
Isomagnetic earpads
Anthropometric earcup shape
Specifications:
Driver Type: Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array
Operating Principle: Planar Magnetic
Ear Coupling: Circumaural
Frequency Response: 4 – 110,000 Hz
Impedance: 31.6 Ω
Nominal SPL: 100 dB (1 mW/1 kHz)
Maximum SPL: > 130 dB
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): < 0.1%
Weight: 430 g
Cardas Audio Parsec Balanced Headphone
Parsec Headphone has all the legendary benefits Cardas is known for: richness, warmth, detail, non-fatiguing, musical, etc. The cable is very flexible and the rubber jacket slides nicely without snagging your clothing. The shielded star-quad design is one of our most versatile and successful products, very similar to our original headphone cable introduced back in 2003.
Design/Construction: Conductors: Grade 1, 99.9999% pure oxygen free copper with SPN clear coat (Litz), gauge sizes scaled to Golden Ratio proportions. Cross-field layer geometry, insulated in a PFA jacket. Geometry: Shielded Star-Quad 4 conductor, bound together in carbon impregnated FEP tape. Super flexible Alcryn rubber jacket.
Gauge: 4 x 23.5 AWG
Outside Diameter: 5.21 mm

To read a review from the online website Hi-Fi Pig please click here