Few headphones have generated as much forum argument as the HD 800. Sennheiser’s answer, over a decade on, was the HD 800 S — the same enormous ring-driver open-back, quietly recalibrated to settle the one complaint that never went away. It’s still the headphone people reach for when they want to talk about soundstage, and it still punishes a mismatched amp.
Meze Audio built its reputation on walnut cups and boutique flagship electrostatics, and the 105 SILVA is the moment that DNA trickles down to a genuinely attainable open-back. At around £469 it undercuts most of the planar open-back pack while sounding like a hand-made instrument rather than a lab exercise. This is Meze proving the 99 Classics formula scales up as well as it scaled down.
The £149 closed-back bracket is usually where headphones get boring — safe V-shapes tuned for a demo, not for living with. The FT1 is FiiO applying the same engineering rigour it brings to its DACs to a pair of cans, wrapping a genuinely thought-through 60mm driver in real American black walnut, and the result is a rare closed-back that doesn’t feel like a compromise purchase.