Sennheiser might have sold off its consumer business to a hearing aid specialist but that hasn’t meant it’s not putting out new consumer gear. Newly announced is its HD 505 open-back headphones at a price that won’t beggar budding audiophiles looking to experience (wired) audio quality.

Pricing starts at R4,600 but you should expect to pay more. The headphones launch on Amazon.com later today and, based on other listings, will ship here. Since the listing isn’t live yet, we can’t give you a total cost but shipping and import duties will be a factor. Somewhere upward of R6,500 is a fair guess, however.

Now in HD 505

The HD 505 overs are an open-backed design with 120-ohm transducers that feature a frequency response of 12 Hz to 38,500 Hz. They’re produced in Ireland if that matters to you, and they also feature a “total harmonic distortion measurement of less than 0.2%.” That most assuredly matters to you.

Sennheiser talks up the performance of these headphones but we’ll spare you the marketing speak. We’ve got no doubt that the HD505s are aurally excellent but we prefer not to accept second-hand claims. Only sticking a pair of these on our appreciative skulls will prove Sennheiser’s Klaus Hanselmann’s claim of “[putting] serious listening within arm’s reach of the emerging audiophile or gamer.”

The inner earcups are manufactured from fabric, while the headband is coated in synthetic leather. A metal mesh covers the outer earcups, an excellent design choice unless someone decides to mash a cupcake against the sides of your head (don’t ask). The 1.8-metre cable is detachable and swappable, allowing 3.5mm and 6.3mm plugs for various audio sockets. The earpads can also be swapped, another premium feature in a relatively affordable product.