Sennheiser HD 485 Cambridge Azur Reference

Cables and accessories [ Review ]
Cambridge Azur Reference
TYPE Analogue interconnect
PRICE £50 (0.75m terminated pair)
CONTACT 콯 0870 900 1000
q www.cambridgeaudio.com
I
t’s hardly surprising that Cambridge
Audio would bring out an interconnect
cable to partner the successful Azur
range of separates. Nor is it much of a surprise
that the material value for money looks
very good – a big fat
(8mm-diameter)
interconnect of silverplated copper with twin
screens and low loss
insulation for £50 seems
decent to us. It’s reasonably flexible and, if you
need to, it’s easy enough to unzip the two
channels for use with two mono amps, for
instance. The phono plugs are nice grippy
affairs with split centre pins.
The cable itself may be bulky, but what’s
most striking about the sound is its airy agility.
Bass is in fact very good, but the treble really
stands out as exceptional among sub-£100
cables we’ve heard, with extension that seems
limitless and superb definition of acoustic decay
and physical placement of instruments. All
those delicate little percussion sounds that so
easily get submerged – bell tree, triangle and
those small metallic things only percussionists
know the correct names for – are crystal-clear
and very well defined in space. High melody
instruments also have an unusually natural
timbre and voices are unforced and lifelike.
We thought there might be just a hint of
lightness in the upper bass/low midrange, but
low bass is full and very well controlled, and
across most of the midrange the balance seems
exemplary, while rhythmic impact is good but
not exaggerated. HFC
Richard Black
VERDICT
CONCLUSION
The performance wouldn’t
shame a cable twice as dear:
especially adept in the treble,
with no trace of dryness.
>> 88%
Sennheiser HD 485
TYPE Headphones
PRICE £65
CONTACT 콯 01494 551551 q www.sennheiser.co.uk
S
ennheiser’s range of headphones covers
every base imaginable, but it seems to
have been a while since we looked at any
of its cheaper hi-fi models. Do these HD 485
phones offer a bargain approximation of the
performance of the rather wonderful HD 650s?
Appearance-wise, at least, they’re not very
similar to the 650s, but they’re certainly smart
and modern, with an ingenious nod to the
famous Sennheisers of yore in the spoked
ear-cup. At first sight, the cups look too small
to fit over most ears, but in reality they fit
snugly. This both keeps them on your head
when you turn round and ensures the sound
is well coupled into the listener’s shell-likes.
Comfort is pretty good – some may find the
clamping force on the head a little too much,
but sweat doesn’t seem a major problem.
Most importantly, what we like about these
headphones is the sound. Clearly they’ve
benefited from some ‘trickle-down’ technology.
In a side-by-side comparison with the HD
650s, they’re easily distinguishable by their
relative lack of transparency and
slightly sibilant character, but
that’s hardly surprising. After all,
we’re taking as a reference a
product that offers fine value at
five times the price. In terms of
what one expects for well under a
ton, the 485s are an astoundingly
fine example of the headphones
art. Their levels of transparency
and resolution are on a par with
what one expects from speakers
costing a king’s ransom, and the
extended bass and treble are
fabulous too. The sibilance will
only bother the most picky. HFC
Richard Black
VERDICT
CONCLUSION
Great all-round headphones
for the occasional (or frankly
even heavy) user, refined in
sound and comfortable in use.
>> 87%
august 2007
HFC296.access Sec1:65
HI-FI CHOICE 65
6/6/07 11:35:04