Greg Chaffins I am lucky enough to remember my grandfather having a classic upright radio powered by vacuum tubes. He had built and rebuilt it himself (I do come from a long line of gadget tinkers), and the sound quality it had was unlike any radio I’ve experienced since. It had a solid sound, and to this day I think it pumped out more than its fair share of smooth square waves. It sounded, for the lack of a better word, warm. I’ve respected the power of tubes in audio equipment ever since. And now tubes are finding their way into modern equipment, albeit in a portable design.
The écoute TH2 Portable Vacuum Tube Headphones may be like no other headphones you’ve seen. It’s not often you’ll find vacuum tube warmth coupled with Bluetooth and ANC technology, yet the device pulls it off. The unit utilizes a Korg Nutube 6P1 preamp, ensuring natural harmonics before amplification. A dual-core hi-res DAC running at 32 bit / 384 kHz provides hardware decoupling.
Dual monitor signal paths from the DAC to the drivers serve to reduce crosstalk, ensuring that the stage stays wide and sonic imaging stays crisp and distinct. You’ll want to experience this without being disturbed by the outside world, so Hybrid ANC gives you your private listening space, but it does have a transparency mode for when you do have to interact with others. And there is an 8-band ±12 dB equalizer to fine tune your audio taste preferences.
A sound this good deserves a lossless signal, so you can plug in a 3.5mm cord and bypass the Bluetooth mechanism for purer sound. These headphones packs serious punch for the audiophile, but it doesn’t come cheap. The écoute TH2 Portable Vacuum Tube Headphone can be found on KickStarter for $799.
