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What Hi-Fi?
What Hi-Fi?
Technology
Ioan Hazell

Final’s new luxury headphones aim to deliver the “impact and energy” of closed back listening, while overcoming issues that “limit the format”

Final DX10000CL dark .

Japanese manufacturer Final has announced its new flagship closed-back headphones, the DX10000 CL, which the company calls its “most ambitious headphone project to date”. And we should hope so, too, considering that the standard edition’s pricing begins at £7499 / $8499.

So, what justifies the cosmic pricing of these high-end headphones?

Well, to start with, at the heart of the DX10000 CL is Final’s newly developed 40mm True Diamond diaphragm dynamic driver.

According to Final, diamond’s high rigidity and strong internal damping allow the diaphragm to maintain pistonic motion, reducing diaphragm deformation and suppressing residual vibrations after the signal is cut, for faster transient response and lower distortion.

A similar degree of care has been taken inside the headphones’ silver-accented, high-rigidity aluminium-magnesium alloy housing. Unnecessary material has been removed to reduce weight, and the resulting cavities have been filled with acoustic damping to minimise internal reflections.

(Image credit: Final)

The earpads are made of ultrasuede (a blend of ultra-fine polyester and elastic plastics), which Final says achieves the “intended acoustic response” through carefully controlled air permeability while ensuring “long-term comfort”.

According to Final, the DX10000 CL are a closed-back flagship designed to sound powerful and immersive without losing the openness, clarity and natural tone expected from the highest level of personal audio”.

The headphones use screws rather than adhesives throughout the construction, which ensures that components can be replaced and serviced throughout their lifetime.

Included with the headphones are two silver-coated cables: a 1.5m cable with 4.4mm connection, and a 3m cable with XLR connection. 6.3mm adapters for each cable are also included for use with a wide range of sources.

The Final DX10000 CL are now available to pre-order, with shipping expected by the end of July.

The first 150 pairs of these high-end headphones are available as a limited collector's edition, which have gold-coloured accents, and include a presentation box, a silk pouch and a CNC-machined aluminium headphone stand for an extra £500.

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