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When you first look at the Meze 99 Classics you’re immediately brought back to the days of rich, wooden stereo cases and delicately filigreed radio screens. The 99s are some of the best looking – and best – headphones we’ve used in a while and wearing them is a surprising treat.
Priced at $309 online, the headphones are a bit pricy. That said, you get a lot for that three bills.
The headphones are wonderfully comfortable. I’ve worn them on multi-hour plane rides – including a trip to Asia – and had none of the traditional ear or neck pain that I’ve found with Bose or Sonys. The ear cups are soft and the wooden enclosures are lighter than plastic. The arched headband keeps the cups light on the ears.
The specs are equally impressive. You get a 15Hz – 25KHz frequency response and 103dB at 1KHz, 1mW sensitivity. You also get 50mW input power and double single outputs to each earcup. The walnut casing is apparently sourced from sustainable sources – a bonus – and adds a warmth to the whole mix that I particularly enjoyed. Because the cans offer complete coverage you even get a little noise reduction although they definitely won’t completely cover airplane noise.
Music and movies sound great on these with excellent separation and great coverage. My son used them as gaming headphones for a few days as well and wore them for hours a day, a feat that I’ve yet to replicate with any headphones, let alone these.
Meze is well within the realm of affordable audiophile gear and I was surprised and please with the quality. While it won’t replace a solid pair of noise-canceling headphones for my travel wear, I definitely see these as solid music-listening headphones for around the home. The wooden styling and sleek lines add even more to the mix.
You can pick up the 99 Classics here. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
