Best 20 bucks I've spent in my life. Without a doubt.
Written: Jul 03 '04 (Updated Jul 20 '04)
Product Rating:
Pros: $20, unbelievable sound quality for sub-50 dollars, comfortable for hours.
Cons: Bass is weak, but with a boost (which basically everything has) is superb.
The Bottom Line: I've never had a Labtec break, sound is unbelievably good, and I wear them everywhere. Not ultra-portable, as they're ear-cupping, but quality worth the size.
groxx's Full Review: Labtec Elite 840 Consumer Headphones
I'm really picky when it comes to sound quality. I look at people listening with cheap Sony headphones, and I can do nothing but cringe. THAT ISN'T HOW MUSIC IS SUPPOSED TO SOUND!!!
argh.
My brother and I fall into the category of "Audiophiles". We love our music. No, not like that. My brother has a pair of Grado SR-60's, and omg, those are excellent. But, I'm cheap, and I have had really really REALLY good luck with Labtec before. My first pair I got for 20 bucks, I still have them after 4 years, and they have the best bass I've ever heard in headphones under 100 dollars. A year ago, I upgraded to these.
The biggest problem with these is that they have somewhat weak bass. Better than most for 20 dollars, but you NEED the bass boost to make the music balanced like SR-60's can do without the boost. It's not that they don't have good bass, these (and labtec in general) have outstanding bass and don't distort until extremely high volume levels (unsafe-type-high. I can't get them to distort with my stereo), it just takes a boost to get it to punch back. It never "booms", which I hate, it's always smooth with a heck of a right hook.
Boosting the bass on these doesn't drown out the high and mid ranges like most headphones do, it's still there entirely unchanged. With the bass boost, my brother and I can barely tell ANY sound difference between his 60 dollar SR-60's, except mine are more comfortable and 40 dollars cheaper. Yes, they really are that good.
I'm a devoted fan of Labtec. Not that I'll go out and buy one without testing (I spent 6 months picking out my stereo, and 3 months picking out these headphones), but I've NEVER been even the slightest bit disappointed with them. Very durable, very comfortable (for their headphones), and every speaker of any type that they've made has the sound quality of speakers two or three times their price, and few of ANY price can compare with their bass. These headphones keep the line of excellence going.
If you're looking for headphones under 50 bucks, you probably won't find better ones than these, period. I've looked for years and nothing has even come close.
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