Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC

摘要

Is conventional headphone design an example of what biologists call convergent evolution - adoption of a common design solution because it's optimal - or something more akin to herd behaviour: doing it a particular way because we always have? It's a question that thinking audiophiles will inevitably ask when presented with a product like the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC, the more so given that this rejection of headphone design convention comes with a price tag of £4950. While Abyss's top model is not as iconoclastic as the Mysphere 3.2 [HFN Jan '20], nevertheless its unusual headband design begs an obvious question: has everyone else got it wrong or is Abyss the only boy in step?