Sennheiser has been one of the leading lights in the affordable open-back headphone market for decades, and it is looking to further lock down that legacy with its latest pair. The HD 505 are new additions to the company's 500 Series, which has previously included models such as the HD 599 and HD 560S, and which sits below the 600 Series of HD 600 fame.
Available today, the HD 505 cost £230 / $249.95 / AU$449.95, putting them in the firing line of a current five-star favourite within the What Hi-Fi? reviews team, the similarly priced Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X. They also sit between Grado’s multi-Award-winning SR80x and SR325x in price. So while wired headphones may not be as popular in the affordable headphones market as they perhaps once were, there is still plenty of competition for the new Sennheisers here.
No doubt in a bid to overcome those challengers, the HD 505 feature a custom 120-ohm driver within their open-back frame, produced at the company’s factory in Tullamore, Ireland. Sennheiser says the driver can deliver a frequency response between 12 to 38,500Hz and has a THD (total harmonic distortion) level of less than 0.2 per cent. Sennheiser's engineers have angled the drivers to replicate the triangular positioning of a set of nearfield loudspeakers, supposedly to deliver an expansive yet compelling soundstage.
Ensuring those drivers can perform to their best is a headphone chassis that includes a synthetic leather headband and metal mesh earcup covers, the overall weight coming in at a respectable – and comfort-friendly – 237g. Sennheiser has traditionally kept its wired headphone design language consistent over the years – smart, clean and distinctly ovular – and that the HD 505 are in line with that is welcome.
They come with a detachable 3.5mm-ended, 1.8m cable so you have a bit of freedom from your laptop, phone or other source device, as well as the customary 6.3mm adapter, although a range of cables (and earpads) can easily be swapped in if, say, you want to use a balanced source or would benefit from having a cable with an in-line microphone.
The Sennheiser HD 505 certainly look to be promising propositions, and we look forward to taking them for a spin to see how they fare against their closest aforementioned rivals.
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