You may think that those headphones you’re rocking are the best money can buy, but you’d be wrong unless you’re using electrostatic ones. Electrostatic headphones are known the world over as producing some of the best sound quality imaginable, but at a very expensive cost. A good pair can see prices in the $1000 range while a really great pair can cost 10x that. Not only that, these things aren’t really portable at all and require the use of an external amplifier to get the most out of them.
That brings me to the Sharkk Bravo headphones which feature something called Hybrid Electrostatz technology. These headphones offer the best of electrostatic technology without the need for an external powered amplifier.
What are Hybrid Electrostatic Headphones?
What sets the Sharkk Bravo Headphones apart from your traditional consumer headphones is the use of electrostatic technology. Designed using award-winning Hybrid Electrostatz technology, Sharkk’s Bravo Headphones feature an ultrathin film ten times thinner than a dry-cleaning plastic bag within the headphone’s ear cups. When a static electric charge is placed on the film, the headphones emit an exceptionally vibrant, natural, and ultra-dynamic sound with crystal clear vocals up to 45,000Hz. A closed acoustic design with 40mm driver units delivers a powerful bass and noise isolation.
While most electrostatic headphones require an external source of power, Sharkk’s Bravo Headphones uniquely utilize power from within.
How do they look and feel?
From afar, the Sharkk Bravo is pretty nice looking. They feature an ample amount of what I assume is black leatherette on the head band and accents on the ear cups. The use of the red thread and red highlights are also a nice touch that add a bit of color to all the black and silver.
Now here is where the design kind of breaks down. There are bits on the headphone that I assumed were metal when I first laid eyes on these headphones. Upon closer inspection, I discovered this wasn’t the case at all. The silvery bits on the headphones are actually made of plastic and painted silver. These is a chrome ring around the ear cups as well, but I’m going to assume that these are made of plastic too. This might be why the headphones feel unbelievably light and comfortable when worn.
The earcups are very nicely padded and feel very soft and comfortable around my ears. There’s plenty of space inside for your ears to sit so the foam wont pinch them.
In my opinion, even though these are supposed to be affordable alternatives to higher priced electrostatic headphones, they shouldn’t have cut back on the quality of materials. These headphones would have been so much nicer looking if they used something like real aluminum for the metal accents even if it meant sacrificing some weight to it. I mean this is the look that is seems like they were going for, but they didn’t go the distance with the materials used.
These headphones however are pretty nicely made, despite the overuse of plastic.
How do they sound?
One area where I was not disappointed was the sound. These Sharkk Bravo headphones sound incredible. The sound is unbelievably crisp and clear no matter what genre of music you’re listening to. There are distinct highs and lows with good punchy bass that doesn’t sound muffled.
With that said, the Sharkk Bravo headphones sound very, very good. I’ve never heard of electrostatic headphones before so I can’t really compare if these hybrid electrostatic ones sound just like the more expensive kind. All I know is that for what they are, they sound very good and is up there in sound quality.
So what’s the verdict?
Are these the best sounding wired headphones I’ve ever used? Maybe. Maybe not. Honestly, I don’t think I have the ears to tell the minute differences in headphones. All I know is that these sound really good and are one of the clearest sounding headphones I’ve used in a while.
However, would I use these on a regular basis? Probably not because I just can’t really deal with it being wired. As amazing as they sound, I still prefer wireless headphones for convenience.
On that note, if you prefer wired headphones dude to latency and the fact that wired headphones most likely sound better, then give the Sharkk Bravo a look. Again, I’ve never heard of elecrostatic headphones of Hybrid Electrostatz headphones, but the technology seems to work and the produce some really great sounding headphones. For more info about the Sharkk Bravo, you can check out the official page here. For purchasing, head on over to this page.
