Warwick Acoustics Bravura open electrostatic headphones
The owner of Warwick Acoustics Bravura headphones seems to be a brave person: he has to put on a device that uses almost 1.5kV of electric voltage on his head. This is required by the electrostatic working principle of Bravura. In open headphones, sound vibrations are transmitted by an HPEL driver with a diaphragm weighing only 0.5 g and an area of 3,570 mm2.
Each HPEL driver is handcrafted – this time, according to the manufacturer, with improved materials and updated technology. The cases are made of die-cast magnesium, and the Bravura design is almost entirely borrowed from the flagship Aperio headphones. The trim is hand-stitched and the ear cushions (also hand-stitched) are stuffed with Cabretta lambswool.
The signal to the headphones is transmitted by a special ultra-low capacitance cable, manufactured in collaboration with Atlas and Lemo. The cable is reinforced with Kevlar for durability.
The headphones are equipped with the proven Sonoma M1 amplifier – it is assembled on discrete field-effect transistors and operates in class A. Input switching – digital USB and coaxial S / PDIF, as well as analog RCA inputs.
Via USB, the device accepts a signal with a resolution up to 32 bit / 384 kHz PCM and DSD via DoP (DSD64 and DSD128), and the S / PDIF input – PCM up to 24 bit / 192 kHz. On board – DAC ESS SABER ESS, which made it possible to obtain a measured signal-to-noise ratio of 129 dB. Signal processing is occupied by a custom 64-bit fixed point DSP.
The AKM Premium ADC is responsible for converting the analog signal to digital for processing in the DSP. It generates a 32-bit/384 kHz multichannel signal with a signal-to-noise ratio in excess of 120dB.
All of this is housed in a fully shielded machined aluminum chassis. Like the headphones themselves, the case can have a silver (Silver) or black (Black Edition) coating.
In Europe, Warwick Acoustics Bravura Silver headphones cost 1,750 euros (Black Edition – 350 euros more). A silver kit with a Sonoma M1 amplifier will cost 5,750 euros.
