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Sony's MDR-1AM2 could be 2018's top wired headphone

The highly rated Sony MDR-1A has a successor and it's coming this spring for $300.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews
Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.
Expertise Mobile accessories and portable audio, including headphones, earbuds and speakers Credentials
  • Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
David Carnoy
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Sony

Sony's MDR-1A launched in 2014 and became one of our favorite wired headphones, with its combination of excellent sound and comfort. Now Sony's bringing out a new, improved version: The MDR-1AM2. The new model also lists for $300 and will ship this spring.

While the headphones look the same as the previous model, they have a newly developed 40mm driver with up to 100kHz frequency playback. Sony says the the aluminum-coated liquid crystal polymer diaphragms "support every fine distinction with perfect reproduction" and feature a Fibonacci-patterned grille to support ultra-high frequency ranges as well as silver-coated OFC (oxygen-free copper) for less transmission signal loss.

They share some of the same DNA as Sony's Signature Series MDR-Z1R, and like that model, come with a standard cable as well as a 4.4mm balanced connection for devices that support balanced connections.

I'll give you further impressions as soon as I get my hands on a review sample. 

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