Trial with Quad Era 1 headphones: Detailed sound and comfort of use

The classic British headphone brand Quad has decided to put its skills to the test with headphones as well. As with the rest of the company’s products, the execution is, of course, of high quality but also personal.

Text: Heikki Kivelä
Photos: Manufacturer

The long-established British audio brand Quad is probably familiar to enthusiasts in the industry, not only for its legendary amplifiers (starting with the Quad 1), but also for its electrostatic speakers. Against this background, it comes as no surprise that when the brand produces its first headphones, they also deviate from more conventional design solutions.
Era 1 is therefore, through Quade, the first headphones ever made that are implemented using a magnetoplanaic principle instead of a dynamic operating principle. Typically, headphones use dynamic headphone elements with a membrane that is moved by a voice coil. In the case of Era 1, however, the membrane is located between two magnets, and when the music signal is conducted through the membrane to a kind of voice coil or its equivalent, it causes the membrane to move. Because the element’s structure is lightweight, it has been found to offer better transient response than a dynamic implementation, for example. Many names are used for the same technology, such as magnetostatic, planar, and orthostatic.

Value for money

When taking the package out of the box, you’ll find exciting ear pads that combine leather and nubuck, and the feel of them stands out even in the fully leather-covered cable. The earbud housing has 3.5mm connectors for both channels, and the included cable is pleasantly padded with a soft fabric and flexible, although not at all excessively thick. There was no noticeable difference in microphone quality. The connector is a 3.5mm plug suitable for mobile devices as well, and the sales package also includes a 6.35mm adapter.

Externally, the design of Quad Era 1 seems convincing in every way: elegant, harmonious, and unified. Without a doubt, the appearance has more of an engineering quality than a more artistic aesthetic approach, but the overall design is still coherent in every way.

Although the headphones weigh a hefty 420 grams, their fit is surprisingly good, with the lower part of the earbud coming slightly over the cheekbones when worn, but the balance between compression and grip was very good in the author’s hands. The headband is soft, and at the right point on the head, the headphones don’t really move at all, even when the head is slightly more shaken.
Structurally, the Era 1s are open, which is something to keep in mind if you are using the headphones in a noisy environment. Due to their structure, the headphones do not offer very good passive noise isolation, and similarly, the music playing through the headphones also sounds quite loud on the outside. Conversely, the open structure offers certain advantages in terms of comfort and sound quality. They do not create a kind of bubble around the ears like closed headphones, and there is slightly more air during playback.

Overall, the quality effect conveyed by Era 1, both in terms of appearance and user experience, is easily at a level demanded by the price range.