THE REVIEWS
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OBRAVO RA-C-CU (IEM) REVIEW
The Most Expensive IEM in the World and a Masterstroke of Design Engineering!
The Obravo RA-C-CU is a TOTL IEM not unlike the TOTL super cars—the Bugatti Chiron, Ferrari 488 Pista, Koenigsegg Jesko, Lamborghini Veneno, and Pagani Zonda Revolucion. And when its needs are dutifully met, as outlined above, its owner will be greatly rewarded with next-level musicality, transparency, and engagement.
MEZE EMPYREAN WIRE REVIEW
At the time of the MEZE Empyrean review, I was aware of the upgrade cables—the Pure Copper Ultra High Drawability (PCUHD) cable ($249-$349) and the PCUHD Silver-Plated Copper cable ($399-$499)—but I had not heard either. And there were scant if any reviews, save for customer reviews, that had found the cable well worth the price of admission. I was intrigued. Could the Best Product for 2020 and AudioKey Reviews’ only DIAMOND AWARD winner, to date, sound even better?
EMPIRE EARS ODIN REVIEW
The EMPIRE EARS ODIN delivers tremendous transparency, which offers up a wealth of microdynamics and spatial cues, critical in the determination of positioning and layering, as well as a midrange laid wide open from a wealth of details.
EDITOR’S CHOICE 2020
There were quite a few incredible products this year. And if the early reviews are any indication, it will be exceptionally difficult to select 2021’s Best Products, let alone the Best Product of the Year, and Editor’s Choice! The Editor’s Choice Award for 2020…
BEST PRODUCT OF 2020
Rare is the piece of audio equipment that can remove itself as intermediary to the music and reveal performers, venue, emotion, truth of timbre and tone as a genuine, heartfelt experience. The Meze Empyrean embodies that rarity for what it does in the service of the music. And for that very reason we award the Meze Empyrean our Best Product of the Year Award for 2020.
BEST PRODUCTS OF 2020
It has been quite the year, as we have discovered a good number of exceptional products from headphones to In-Ear-Monitors (IEMs) to DAPs to DACs and so on. Below you will find the products that we feel are remarkable for what they do—beautifully free the music from the confines of their various platforms/media for our, the collective, musical enjoyment.
ASTELL&KERN SR25 REVIEW
The Astell&Kern SR25 provides superb transparency, musical engagement, exceptional bass and treble extension, and 21 hours of playback! It is genre agnostic and it will scale beautifully with higher priced IEMs. The SR25 does this in a small, avant-garde form, for a fraction of the price of a number of top of the line DAPs.