Sennheiser HE 1 Headphones With Tube Amplifier Launched at Rs. 45 Lakhs

Sennheiser is one of the most popular audio brands and the company grabbed many headlines around the world when it came up with new version of its Orpheus range of premium headphones two years ago (mostly because of the $55,000 price tag). On Thursday, the company launched the successor to Orpheus, new Sennheiser HE 1, headphones in India. If you want to put your hand to your heart for the price, now is the time to do so, as the company has priced the headphones at Rs. 45 lakhs for the country and will be made available from May 27.

If you are wondering why these headphones cost as much as a house does, it could potentially be because the company says that just the development of these headphones took around a decade. As per company's claims, the new HE 1 premium headphones offer "a frequency response that extends beyond the range of human hearing and the lowest total harmonic distortion that has ever been measured in an audio reproduction system."

In order to achieve improved sound, the new Sennheiser HE 1 headphones use a tube amplifier. The amplifier comes with eight vacuum tubes that are used to process the incoming signal. The company claims that the use of tube amplifiers is because of their superior impulse processing. However, as the tubes are sensitive to air-borne-noise, the company says that it crafted amplifier housing from granular, inhomogeneous Carrara marble and says that it is freely suspended with the amplifier.

"The decoupling of the tubes in combination with the damping properties of the marble has the effect of reducing structure-borne noise to an absolute minimum. The tubes themselves also have a high-quality patent-pending enclosure consisting of quartz-glass bulbs that perfectly shield them from their surroundings," the company said in its release. The tube amplifier is coupled with a ultra-high impulse amplifier stage integrated into the earcups.

"The headphones use a completely new amplifier concept that combines the superior impulse processing of a tube amplifier with the low distortion of a transistor amplifier to perfection," said CEO Andreas Sennheiser. The company is also touting gold-vaporised ceramic electrodes and platinum-vaporised diaphragms for better acoustic output. Another highlight is a frequency response from 8Hz to 100KHz.

Commenting on the launch, Kapil Gulati, Director Consumer Segment said "We are very thrilled to have launched the world's finest headphones, now in India. India has emerged as one of the biggest and fastest growing markets in the audiophile industry and with the launch of these headphones we have managed to set a new benchmark yet again. We at Sennheiser always thrive for excellence and are reshaping the future of high-end audio world in pursuit of perfect sound."