AKG's new $1,990 open-backed flagship, the K812, marries premium materials with precise sonic engineering.

Proudly made in Brooklyn, the $1,700 PS1000s are the tippy-top of the Grado line, and thus the finest expression of the company's signature airy, roomy sound.

Like many of the headphones in this gallery, the $1,299 Hifiman HE-6s use planar magnetic drivers that are supremely thirsty. To showcase their true potential, you'll need to plunk down an extra $500-$2,000 for a quality amp to supply that voltage. NBD.

Like all Beyer's premium Tesla headphones, the $1,400 T1's drivers are made with lightweight, and thus highly efficient, neodymium magnets.

Ask any audiophile to name the best sounding headphone he or she has ever listened to and the alphanumeric answer is likely to be: HD 800.

At a mere $5,000, the Edition 5 from Ultrasone is not the priciest headphone on our list. But these Bavarian beauty queens are certainly the most rare — only 555 have been manufactured for sale.

If the M50s are Audio-Technica's $140 Crown Victoria, the W5000s are the company's $1,200 Bentley.

Another fixture in audiophile listening rooms around the world, the $1,945 Audeze LCD-3 is renowned for its tight, impactful bass and lush sound.

The Abyss AB-1266 holds two distinctions. First, at a wallet-wilting $5,495 they are the most expensive pair of headphones in this gallery. They're also the only headphones that look like they could have been used as a medieval torture device.