No Ordinary Headphones
Most headphones use mass-produced dynamic cone drivers, the limitations of which can hamper transient response and cause uneven frequency response. Quad's cutting-edge planar magnetic technology delivers a more natural and accurate sound, ensuring you hear every nuance of the recorded musical performance.
The Quad ERA-1 incorporates an ultra-thin, electrically active diaphragm - thinner than a human hair yet extremely light, strong and highly elastic. This is fused with a precision arranged magnet array, designed to maximise sensitivity and consistency of the applied force over the driver area.
Patented non linear vibration suppression technology allows the driver's effortlessly extended frequency response to be heard unsullied, ensuring perfect clarity. The metal cavity behind the driver is specially designed for optimal acoustic performance, and the drivers themselves are closely matched to ensure spacious, three dimensional stereo imaging. The result is that the ERA-1 provides a musically engaging, dynamic and effortless sonic performance that suits all music types.
Musical Magnetism
When sound enters our ear,s, it has a planar wave front with all the spectrum components in phase. A typical dynamic headphone driver disrupts this coherence with its phase irregularities, resulting in less than perfect signal peak reconstructions,
Quad's planar magnetic driver has much better phase coherency, since all parts of the diaphragm are vibrating in concert without break up and delayed response. The driver's flat conductor pattern, with absence of inductive components, eliminates inductance-related intermodulation distortion - this is especially common in dynamic drivers with high impedance and a high number of voice coil turns.
Many planar magnetic headphones require high power amplifiers to driver them. The Quad ERA-1 combines high sensitivity with low impedance to enable excellent performance with a wide range of partnering devices, from portable audio players to high-end headphone amplifiers. Quad's valve based PA-One headphone amplifier/DAC makes a superb match for the ERA-1,combining sonic clarity and fluidity to stunning effect.
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