When I went shopping for headphones, I went out with only two requirements. The first requirement was that these new headphones I was about to spend lots of money on would perform well with all genres of music. The second requirement was comfort! I sometimes listen to music for hours be it at the computer, traveling, or just relaxing. I was sick and tired of wearing headphones that hurt my ears. So with those points in mind I went to my local electronics shop, in this case being Circuit City, and proceeded to blindly try on a variety of headphones. I ended up going with the Kenwood KPM-610 open-air headphones for a few reasons.
The first thing that turned me on to the Kenwood headphones was the unique design. At first I was skeptical about the automatic adjustment feature, but that was the only thing I had reservations about. As soon as I tried on these headphones I could tell that I wanted them. Kenwood provides a large leather pad on the top of the headphones and both ear cups are padded with a material on par with velvet. This spells major comfort. So I was sold on the Kenwoods comfort. About this time a salesman approached me and asked me if I would like to demo the headphones. I agreed and he gave me a Red Hot Chili Peppers CD as I recall. The headphones sounded great! The open air design allowed for more bass without a sacrifice in the mid to high range. All of the highs seemed very clean. Compared to the other headphones I could get in this price range, the Kenwood blew everything out of the water. Sony makes great headphones but for the models I wanted I would have been looking at spending well over $150.
Some specifics about the headphones themselves... The KPM-610 comes with 8 feet of cord, making it perfect for your computer. It also comes with volume control on the cord so you don't have to worry about amplification levels elsewhere. Another plus if you are looking at using these with turntables or other expensive stereo equipment is that it comes with a gold plated jack and a 1/4 inch adapter. Now that you know why I bought them, let me tell you a few things that I dislike about them.
First, the automatic adjustment feature makes these headphones much bulkier than they have to be. I wish Kenwood would have provided a model with manual straps because as is they are too delicate and awkward to take on may trips. If you are going to use these headphones exclusively in your home for your computer or stereo, then this shouldn't be a problem. Another problem, well this may be a problem for you, is if you need to be stylish while listening to your music in public. A lot of my friends think these headphones look goofy and way too big. I personally believe that the comfort and the quality of the sound outweigh this issue. A final minor complaint is that the volume control on the cord is a bit finicky. Sometimes when I adjust the sound to fast it seems to cut out a bit on the left side until I fiddle with it a little more. Not a huge problem as I have always been able to get it to come back but something to be mentioned none the less.
All in all, for the price, the sound quality and the comfort of these headphones cannot be beat. I have owned these headphones for well over 2.5 years now and have had no problems. Hope this helps in your search for the perfect headphones.
~Kevin


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