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A Meze Empyrean II resting on a turntable beside a spinning record with an orange label, its silver cable across the plinth

Everything in the shop

Headphones, records, cables and recording gear, on one page.
Close up of the black ribbed cup of a Meze headphone, lit low from one side

The condition scale

One standard for used headphones, instruments, amps and drums.
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Come in
Close up of the brass yoke against the walnut cup of a Meze 99 Classics

How we listen

What we listen for, and what a measurement will not tell you.
A Meze Empyrean II lying on crumpled black fabric, lit from one side, its cable running out of the frame

The listening room

Third floor at 215 E. Lewis Street in Livingston, by appointment.
Headphones
Amps, DACs and in ears
The Best Headphones Around $300

The HD 600 or the HD 650 is the whole question at this money.
The Best Desktop Amps and DACs Around $150

Five desktop amps and DACs around $150.

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Where to start

Buying guidesHeadphonesAmps & DACsCustom headphone cablesGradoMeze AudioGrace DesignRecords
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), three-quarter view of the walnut earcups
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), side view of the walnut earcup
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), front view
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), lying beside its case with the cable
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), worn by a listener
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), close up of the gold yoke and headband
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), close up of the walnut earcup and gold cable socket
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), close up of the walnut earcup and gold pivot
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), close up of the braided cable
Meze Audio

Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen)

Price$349.00

The 2015 headphone that made Meze's name, revised in a second generation with a cleaner tuning and pads you can clip off by hand.
Ordered from the maker when you order, then shipped usually inside two weeks and always inside thirty days. Shipping
Thirty days from delivery to send it back. Returns
Specifications
  • Type Closed-back dynamic
  • Driver 40 mm dynamic
  • Impedance 16 ohms
  • Sensitivity 103 dB SPL/mW at 1 kHz
  • Weight 290 g
  • Housing Walnut, spring steel, cast zinc
  • Included 3.5 mm to USB-C adapter with DAC and amp
Why it is here

The original 99 Classics was warm to the point of being soft, and people bought it anyway because it was beautiful, comfortable, and three hundred dollars. The 2nd gen is retuned, and it is walnut, spring steel and cast zinc at three hundred and fifty, with every component replaceable and a USB-C DAC adapter in the box so it works properly off a phone. Acoustic absorbers are in the box too.
How it is built

40 mm dynamic drivers, walnut wood cups, spring steel headband, cast zinc hardware, detachable memory foam pads on a clip-on mount. Ships with a 1.8 m dual-twisted Kevlar-wrapped OFC cable, acoustic absorbers, a 6.3 mm adapter and a 3.5 mm to USB-C DAC adapter.
What it is for

A first good headphone, or a closed-back for someone who is not going to buy an amplifier and should not have to. At 16 ohms and 103 dB it runs off anything with a jack.
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen), three-quarter view of the walnut earcups
Meze Audio 99 CLASSICS (2nd Gen) Price$349.00
Before you buy
How I Listen, and What a Measurement Will Not Tell You

How I listen

A Grado headphone with cherry wood cups and a tan leather strap hanging on a curved cherry Grado stand against a pale concrete wall

The buying guides

A woman in a grey knit sweater listening on wood-cup Grado headphones, eyes closed and one hand raised to the cup, in a dark room

FAQ

Headphones on a pale wood desk striped with bars of afternoon sun, the cable coiled beside them

Shipping

A woman on a brown leather couch listening on Grado headphones, eyes closed and one hand behind her head, two stacked wood-cased amplifier units lit up on the table behind her

Returns

Jamey Warren waving hello in a recording studio

Can you help me choose?

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