Sennheiser launches £999.99 headphones

CES 2009: Change from a grand with the HD 800s

View more images

8 January 2009 19:28 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Sennheiser has launched the HD 800 headphones, a high-end pair that will go on sale for a frankly astonishing £999.99.

Credit-crunch be damned, these are hand-made in Germany from stainless steel, aerospace plastics and silver-plated low-oxygen copper detachable cables.

With a new whopping 56mm "high definition RING driver" developed just for the HD 800s, potential buyers are promised detail never before heard, with a seriously low distortion and a 6 to 51,000 Hz frequency response.

With a "futuristic design language" in black and silver and a special head band, even the ear pads are special, made of Japanese Alcantara, apparently particularly friendly to the skin and easy to clean.