When we published AJ Wykes’s review of the Meze Audio Poet headphones on SoundStage! Solo on September 1, we presented readers with a product that’s as striking visually as it is sonically. Meze Audio, a Romanian company known for blending artful design with high-end audio engineering, had already established itself as a producer of headphones that feel luxurious and sound accomplished. With the Poet headphones—an open-back design selling for US$2000, CA$2799, £1899, or €2000—the company solidifies that reputation further.

The Poets have an unmistakable aesthetic, with AJ writing that they “definitely look like they belong in four-figure territory” and that they have “a sort of steampunk-inspired aesthetic combining matte gunmetal (magnesium) with warm copper tones and black leather.” Adding to the unique look, the headphones combine a suspension headband and a lightweight magnesium chassis in what AJ calls a “relatively compact design similar to Meze’s Liric ’phones.”

At their heart are Rinaro-built MZ6 Isodynamic Hybrid Array drivers, each with a Parus diaphragm—a semi-crystalline polymer film that spans more than 3500mm² yet weighs only 0.06g. The drivers are made in Rinaro’s factory in Ukraine. The Poets also incorporate another company’s technology: Dan Clark Audio’s Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System. In the review, AJ describes that tech as a metamaterial designed to “create a programmable array of dual-function waveguides. The waveguides reorient the sound waves to change soundstage perception, so it’s more like the sound is coming from in front of the listener.”

Commensurate with their price, the Poet headphones come in a high-quality case that AJ notes isn’t quite a flight case but “takes inspiration from one, with the inside lined with black, open-cell foam with a cutout that accommodates the headphones (with the cable removed) perfectly.” The Poets come with a very long headphone cable—2.5m (8′2″)—that AJ describes as “neatly braided” and “substantial,” the latter observation corroborated by its 105g weight.

As striking as these design details are, it was in listening that the Poets revealed their excellence to AJ, who, right off the bat, describes their sound as “wide open,” noting their “excellent treble extension, and the wide, spacious soundstage.” Playing “Tamacun (Remastered)” from Rodrigo y Gabriela’s self-titled 2017 album, AJ points out that the headphones exhibited “wide bandwidth and dynamic abilities,” “brought exceptional clarity to the percussive elements,” and rendered the track with such precision, it made him feel as if he were “right in the acoustic space between Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero as they unleashed their signature flamenco-inspired strumming and fingerpicking styles.”

Beau Nectar’s “Buds,” from the duo’s album Two Lips, demonstrated to AJ the Poets’ ability to deliver low, linear, and accurate bass. He was also impressed with the headphones’ delivery of transients, noting that the Poets “made the percussion instruments sound extremely lifelike, often jumping out of the mix in ways” he was unaccustomed to. He details how the “complex conga pattern” in Beck’s “Derelict,” from Odelay, possessed “a quality that leaped out” at him. In the review, AJ attributes this quality to the Isodynamic Hybrid Array transducer technology and the close pair-matching of transducers in each earcup.

AJ compared the Poets to Sennheiser’s classic HD 600s, which he describes as being his “mainstay reference.” He explains that when playing Pendulum’s “Silent Spinner,” from the EP Anima, the bass from the HD 600s was “shy when compared to the more linear low end of the Poets,” “the thumping floor toms to the left and right seemed to be spread a bit wider on the Poets,” and that although “vocals sounded similar across the two sets of headphones,” they were “a little fuller, more open, and smoother-sounding on the Poets.” On Blue Man Group’s “Drumbone,” from their album Audio, the Poets gave AJ “the impression of a larger space and more lifelike transients,” and he felt that the HD 600s sounded more “closed in.” He ends the comparison by stating: “To summarize, if you’re looking for depth, spaciousness, and detail, the Mezes have all that in spades.”

Perhaps what distinguishes the Poets most in the marketplace is how they merge luxury, design, and performance. Meze has managed to create a design that is appealing to hold and beautiful to look at, and also produces sound that is unambiguously reference-grade. The sound is what distinguishes these headphones for us.

Yet the Poet headphones might not be ideal for all listeners. AJ points out that “their tuning may not appeal to everyone, particularly those sensitive to treble, or anyone looking for more pronounced bass.” He warns: “While they excel in comfort and aesthetics, the sound signature of the Poet headphones might be less universally compelling than some of their competitors.” Ultimately, though, he felt the sound quality was right for his ears, declaring: “There was really nothing I didn’t like about them.” As a result, in the SoundStage! Solo rating system, the Poets received a perfect score of 10 for their sound quality, which is what earned them a Reviewers’ Choice award at the time the review was published. That perfect score is also why the Meze Audio Poet headphones are being recognized this month with a Recommended Reference Component award.

Manufacturer contact information:

Meze Audio
1–3 Morii Street
430162, Baia Mare
Romania
Phone: +40 770-769-376

Website: www.mezeaudio.com