Home cinema expert Onkyo has launched its first range of headphones in the UK, including the on-ear Onkyo ES-HF300.
The new range features four models, led by the over-ear Onkyo ES-HF300. There’s also the dinky in-ear Onkyo IE-HF300, if you don’t get on with full-size headphones.
The full-size pair is the more expensive of the two, set to sell at £179.99. They’re full-sized closed headphones with aluminium-topped earcups and a removable cable. Onkyo claims they offer “audiophile grade” cabling too, made of oxygen-free copper.
The £149.99 Onkyo ES-FC300 headphones are almost the same, but use a lower-grade cable that’s flat to minimise tangling. It also comes in a few different colours – including red and purple.
The Onkyo ES-HF300 and ES-FC300 use 40mm titanium drivers with an internal chamber designed to offer great bass depth.
For those who prefer in-ear headphones, the Onkyo IE-HF300 cost £129.99 and use the same cabling as the top-end on-ear model. And again, they’re available with lower-grade cabling for £99.99, in the form of the Onkyo IE-FC300. There’s no in-line remote on either pair, but Onkyo plans to release headphones with a microphone and remote housing later this year.
The in-ear models feature 14.3mm dynamic drivers, much larger than average among earphones.
Onkyo’s new headphones will start shipping from 22 April.
Onkyo has diversified its product range to exploit the current popularity of headphones, popularly attributed to the rise of the Beats by Dre range of style headphones.
Onkyo’s headphone move is not a result of failure in its core home cinema products either – Onkyo claims to be the most popular maker of home cinema receivers in the UK with 34.4 per cent of the market, although the home theatre market’s worth dipped by 30 per cent in the last year.
The company also predicts that headphones will become the most lucrative area in audio by the end of the year. Onkyo is clearly out to mitigate the downturn in home cinema sales.
We’ll be back with a review of the new Onkyo headphones soon.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
