Open-back Headphones

Open-back headphones vent the rear of each driver through grilles on the earcups, and Meze Audio links the design to a spacious soundstage and natural reproduction. Audio Lounge presents open-back designs from Meze Audio, Focal and Yamaha, with planar magnetic and dynamic drivers, including models made in France and Japan. Enquire about hearing the range on Wigmore Street, ideally with the amplifier you use at home.

How Open-Back Design Shapes the Sound

An open-back headphone leaves the back of each earcup open behind a grille, so sound passes freely in both directions. Meze Audio associates the approach with a wide soundstage, and Yamaha describes the open back of the YH-4000 as providing substantial internal acoustic volume.

The trade-off is isolation, which Focal lists as absent on open designs: music carries into the room and the room is heard in turn, so these headphones suit quiet spaces at home. Where privacy matters more, the closed-back headphones collection holds sealed designs, and the wider headphones collection brings both together.

Planar Magnetic Designs from Meze Audio and Yamaha

Meze Audio builds the Meze POET and the Meze ELITE around Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array drivers, planar magnetic designs with a polymer film diaphragm. The POET is a compact planar design in a magnesium chassis, while the ELITE frame is milled from a single piece of solid aluminium, with a headband of carbon fibre and leather.

Yamaha calls the same principle orthodynamic. The Yamaha YH-5000SE is produced at the Yamaha Kakegawa factory in Japan, with a thin film diaphragm carrying metal coil patterning in a magnesium body, and the Yamaha YH-4000 is made in Japan at a factory that also handles flagship grand pianos, with conductive coils on both sides of the diaphragm.

Dynamic Drivers from Meze Audio and Focal

Meze Audio also builds open-back models around dynamic drivers. The Meze 105 SILVA pairs a bio-cellulose composite dome with a titanium-coated torus and walnut wood earcups, and the Meze 109 PRO surrounds the dome with a beryllium-coated torus in a body of walnut wood, cast zinc and manganese steel.

The Focal Utopia uses pure beryllium M-shaped dome drivers in an open-back design, with a yoke of recycled forged carbon, and Focal makes the Utopia in France, in the Focal workshops.

Choosing the Best Open-Back Headphones

Comfort matters as much as the driver over a long evening of music, so fit and weight are worth trying in person: the Yamaha pair are the lightest here and the Focal the heaviest. Then consider the amplifier, because impedance varies from model to model, and the headphone amplifiers collection holds dedicated designs to match.

Bring a favourite recording to Wigmore Street and enquire about a demonstration, with advice on amplifiers and cables to suit each pair.

Questions About Open-back Headphones

What are the best open-back headphones for home listening?

The best open-back headphones are the pair that suit your ears, your amplifier and your favourite recordings. Among the models here, the Meze POET and ELITE and the Yamaha YH-4000 and YH-5000SE use planar magnetic drivers, while the Meze 105 SILVA and 109 PRO use dynamic drivers and Focal’s Utopia a pure beryllium dome. Audio Lounge can narrow the choice to two or three pairs worth hearing.

How do open-back headphones differ from closed-back designs?

Open-back headphones let sound pass through the earcup grilles in both directions, which Meze Audio connects with natural reproduction and a sense of space. Closed-back designs seal the earcups, keeping sound in and outside noise out, whereas open models give no isolation. Choose open-back headphones for quiet rooms at home and a sealed design for travel or shared spaces.

Do open-back headphones need a dedicated amplifier?

A dedicated amplifier is the surest way to match gain and drive to each model’s impedance: 32 ohms on the Meze ELITE, 34 ohms on both Yamaha models, 40 ohms on the 109 PRO, 42 ohms on the 105 SILVA, 55 ohms on the POET and 80 ohms on the Utopia. Audio Lounge can pair each with a design from Naim, Yamaha, Manley or Lehmannaudio for a demonstration.

Which open-back headphones are the lightest?

The Yamaha YH-4000 and YH-5000SE are the lightest here at 320 grams each, followed by the Meze 105 SILVA at 354 grams and the 109 PRO at 375 grams. The Meze POET weighs 405 grams and the ELITE 433 grams in the Tungsten finish, while Focal’s Utopia, at 490 grams, is the heaviest in the collection.