Of course I did all my picking according to some marketing shots and FQ charts but even so when they arrived I was pretty impressed by the effort put into a $130 headphone regarding packaging and accessories. This is not shoddy by any means and visually they look as impressively silver and purple as they did on the web site pics but sadly my hope that the metallic looks was indeed some sort of heavy duty metallic finish was punctured flat by the feel of plastic. Oh well it is $130 after all but still looks undeniably flash and bling. Opening up the box it also reminded me of the Blaupunkt 112 DJ Edition which is has been out for a while now and is being sold around $60 these days. Sadly I never got to hear the 112DJ but the Throne does have that feel albeit with a different design. I cannot say if they share the same driver or technology sadly based on the specs but the vibe is there in terms of form factor.
Unlike the 112DJ though the cable is not detachable from the Throne cups but it is single sided and the cable seems reasonably durable, purple, and terminated with a gold plated 3.5mm jacks. In the accessory kit apart from a soft cloth pouch there is also a quarter jack adapter and a small mobile phone adapter cable.
The headphone itself is a mix of mainly molded plastics and metal with a leather finish with an impression of I-Mego in Gothic type lettering on the top. The cups are in a more oblong rounded rectangular shape, much the same as the 112 DJ version and finished in plastic and an internal purple cloth behind the silver plastic. The pads are made of plether and memory foam and of reasonable depth. On the head the clamp is also of average pressure but not too much in the way of passive isolation but perhaps on par with the Marshall Monitor in that respect. This is an on-ear closed headphone of the slightly larger variety and sits reasonably well on my ear with some slight adjustment for comfort and seal. The overall fit was actually quite comfortable but of course a bit sweaty in hot conditions after prolonged use. The leather headband was a bonus and sat very well indeed with above average distribution of pressure. All in all quite a comfortable wearing headphone.
Sadly the Throne doesn’t fold or lay flat with the cups having a somewhat limited swivel capability so its feels bigger than it had to be and coming with a soft pouch there is not that much protection for it to be a robust commuters’ choice. The build quality for me is above average in terms of visuals but a little lacking in terms of durability. Though not fragile these are not rough and tumble headphones like the Aiaiai Capital, TMA-1 of the German Maestro 8.35D which are veritable tanks and priced not too far off. They will however catch the eye far quicker them some other cans on the retail shelf which sometimes is half the battle.
Click next page for sound impressions…
