MrSpeakers New Electrostatic VOCE Hits The Stage – AXPONA 2018

Contrary to the ruse in this title, the new MrSpeakers Electrostat is actually pronounced Voh-Chay and is Italian for “voice”. But the reality that one of planar magnetic headphones biggest stars has moved over to the high end electrostatic technology is no joke. Dan Clark’s newest headphone was on display at both CanJam LA and AXPONA’s Chicago HiFi show a mere week apart. Dan himself caught a bit of a travel bug during his time in LA, but was back up to maximum output by the time we sync’d up at AXPONA.

The new headphone has been fully flushed out from the early prototypes we saw over the past year. Dan is one of audio’s hardest working presenters, making the trek to nearly every audio show one can feasibly attendee over…well… the past 3 years at least. Now the high end piece is finally ready for shipping and Dan couldn’t be more proud. Some specs from the company site:

Super-large 88mm diaphragm for extended low frequency output
2.4 micron driver, optimized for stability and resolution
Fully dust-shielded driver
Ultra-thin metal stators for superior sound
MrSpeakers’ signature NiTinol memory metal headband for exceptional comfort, light weight and durability
Detachable* custom fabricated silver-plated copper cable that is non-microphonic, round and super-supple, yet low capacitance
Proprietary machined Teflon amplifier plug with machined aluminum housing, gold plated solid copper pins and a machined aluminum headphone connector**
580V “Pro-bias” compatible for use with any Stax-pro compatible amplifiers
Italian Napa leather ear pads
Vat-dyed US made leather headband

The headphone can be driven from the rest of the Stax-compatable options already on the market, and could be seen at AXPONA attached to a number of different amplifiers in multiple locations. The 15th floor where Dan spent most of his time that weekend housed a very serene sight and was one of my favorite rooms of the entire show. Partnered up with Kimber Kables, Sennieser and and Woo, the huge suite was a cornucopia of high end rigs. On Saturday the snow started to fall and the view out of the large open windows was oddly refreshing to my sunny California-adjusted eyes. A cash bar at the end of the room didn’t hurt much either.

MrSpeakers is taking the refined approach as the new VOCE ships with a very nice packaging, which can also serves as both a storage and display box for the sleek flagship. The outside is comprised of walnut hardwood and acrylic opening doors. The accompanying cable has a few refinements as well – offering up a more round, manageable shape like a traditional headphone wire than the more common flat arrangement of the rest of the electrostatic market.

The new VOCE retails for $2999 and is available direct from MrSpeakers, now shipping.

MrSpeakers was also paired up with Schiit Audio down in the main EGX area in the main expo hall. There, one could find the new AEON ($799) we reviewed as well as the rest of the Ether line attached to the wide array of wallet-friendly headphone amplifiers by the Southern California based company.