Somehow, there's the perception that extremely high quality audio should be inexpensive to buy, whether through speakers or earphones, while a high quality television should naturally set you back about a thousand bucks. I get it—we're a visual society, and a high-end HD image is awe-inspiring, but precision equipment, whether made to monitor audio, play video, or record either, is expensive because it represents the ideal. But even with this minority stance, I entered this review of the in-canal Sennheiser IE 800 earphones with some skepticism. If your budget matches the $999.95 (direct) price—first, congratulations—and second, it's hard to see why you might not choose a custom model for just a little bit more, relatively speaking. That's probably what I would do, but make no mistake: In the realm of non-custom molded earphones, the IE 800 is in a league of its own, and it easily earns another PCMag Editors' Choice for Sennheiser. DesignVisually speaking, the IE 800($799.00 at A...
The Sennheiser IE 800 is the most expensive non-custom-molded in-canal earphone pair we've reviewed, and it earns its price with excellent audio performance.
Superb audio performance through the frequency range, with rich lows and clear, vibrant mids and highs; Thoughtfully designed ear tips are easy to swap out, clean; Protective filters keep outside elements away from drivers
Extremely expensive; Cable is not fully detachable—hardwired to ear pieces