Which One Is More Important for Hi-Fi?

Clear sound is the goal of any serious audio setup, but there’s more than one to get it.

Your music files, your amplifier and your headphones are the three crucial factors for delivering music to your ears, and which one you should upgrade first depends on what you already have.

The headphones

According to Owen Kwon, the president at Astell&Kern, your headphones are the most important link in the chain.

“A quality headphone or earbud can produce better sound quality from even the most basic music playback device such as a smartphone [or laptop],” Kwon explained.

But it’s not a nailed-on guarantee that more you more spend on headphones, the better sound, although that is generally the case.

Pricier models, like the Grado SR325e, have more powerful drivers that a can more accurately able to separate frequencies (low, high and midrange) so the sound has depth. Instead of sounding muddled or scratchy.