Skip to content
Headfonics Top Gear Awards 2023
This year too, the best Head-Fi products were chosen by Headfonics and Headfonia. We are particularly proud that we carry all of the following award-winning products in our shop! 😊😍
Our 2023 Top Gear Awards — Headfonics
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – BEST CUSTOM IEM
Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor
Quite often monitors that try to stretch everything out sound either too thin, bright, or bloated on the low end. You get nothing like that here. It sounds wonderfully coherent, almost too darn perfect dammit, we want flaws and I can find very little of that here, at least sonically.
The benchmark for 2023 for a multi-BA custom monitor performance? Yes, and beyond BA for that matter. This will be a tough one to beat for sure."
- Unique bone conduction influence on the bass
- Complex and highly engaging soundstage
- One of the best customs fits in the business
- Disparity between advertised and actual face plate design
- Tuning might be too 'perfect' for some
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – BEST UNIVERSAL IEM
FiR Audio Radon 6
9.4 Award Score
Buy FiR Audio Radon 6 at Audio Essence
"The FIR Audio Radon 6 is the most complete and natural-sounding monitor we have heard from the company to date.
We adore the explosivesiveness of the Krypton 5 bass and it has its place in our line-up for specific genres. However, the Radon 6 works wonderfully well with almost everything, especially if you want an open midrange with excellent levels of detail.
And it’s a flexible sound signature also.The combination of ATOM
It is a pity that this is a limited edition release for now because the Radon 6 is an excellent high-end monitor and one of our favorites since first hearing it at CanJam Singapore." Buy Noble Audio Ronin at Audio Essence Buy Effect Audio Cleopatra at Audio Essence Buy Cayin RU7 at Audio Essence Buy Auris Audio HA-2SE+ at Audio Essence Buy Meze Audio Empyrean II at Audio Essence Buy Kinera Loki at Audio Essence "The Kinera Imperial LOKI is a sonically exquisite masterpiece and one that produces a euphoric and captivating listening experience. The company's first shot at a multi-kilo-buck flagship level IEM delivers a lush and hyper-detailed mid-range and excellent bone conduction implementation." Buy Spirit Torino Twin Pulse Beryllium at Audio Essence You can make a reasonable assumption that detail, clarity, and good imaging do not always go along with a character of smoothness in the signature. This defies that logic presenting the listener with a rich, somewhat warm signature as well as some excellent definition to go along with it. My only quibble is the bendable wire inside the ear hook area. I would have preferred a pre-bent, soft segment, which to me would be more workable. A minor flaw in an otherwise excellent package. Changing the filter and tips can make for a nice flexible system to better tailor the sound of this IEM to your preference. Overall, this makes for a very versatile package." Buy Letshuoer Cadenza 12 at Audio Essence "I think the LETSHUOER Cadenza 12 is one of those IEMs that everyone will really like upon first listening impressions. It has no party tricks because it doesn't need one. It's exceptionally well-rounded, answering a price gap in the $2,000 range that has been lacking quality top-of-the-line releases."
Noble Audio Ronin
9.4 Award Score
PROS
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – BEST CABLE
EFFECT AUDIO CLEOPATRA II OCTA
9.2 Award Score
"The Effect Audio Cleopatra II OCTA has excellent dynamics, more than what I was expecting, and meshes really well with monitors that have excellent bass capability. If you want your tone smooth and natural but with a bit of sparkle up top combined with excellent imaging capability then this is a good cable pairing."
PROS
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – BEST DONGLE DAC
CAYIN RU7
8.8 Award Score
PROS
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – BEST DESKTOP TUBE AMPLIFIER
AURIS AUDIO HA-2SE+
9.2 Award Score
"The Auris Audio HA-2SE+ is the perfect balance between the original's charming tonal quality and the HA-2SF's more aggressive but also more neutral tuning. It is beautifully refined and energetic with a smattering of welcome tube sweetness making it a very engaging SET headphone amplifier."
PROS
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – EDITOR’S CHOICE
MEZE AUDIO EMPYREAN II
9.3 Award Score
PROS
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – WRITER’S CHOICE: JOSHUA
KINERA IMPERIAL LOKI REVIEW
9.3 Award Score
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – WRITER’S CHOICE: LYNN
SPIRIT TORINO IEM TWIN PULSE BERYLLIUM REVIEW
8.8 Award Score
"I was very surprised by the Spirit Torino IEM Twin Pulse Beryllium. And in a very good way. Its smooth character not only won me over but also, the level of detail that came with it.
TOP GEAR 2023 AWARDS – WRITER’S CHOICE: RABI
LETSHUOER CADENZA 12
9.0 Award Score
More blogs on the topic