I had a chance to catch up with Brand Manager Christopher Vick at his Canmania table as he hosted the new Oppo personal audio products. You can find our review of the new planar magnetic headphone PM-1 [here].
Much to my surprise, in addition to the new HA-1 amplifier Christopher was also showcasing the yet-unreleased PM-2 with him as well. The PM-2 contains the same driver as the PM-1 but with slight adjustments to the housing that allow Oppo to sell it at a lower price. Some of the small changes include metal replaced with plastic within the frame and a leather headband swapped out for a faux one.
Even though the ambient noise was a bit high in the room for critical listening, a quick A/B between the two revealed enough to say that the two headphones are pleasantly close, but not exact replicas of each other. Further study is required for anything other than a top line preliminary listen, but I expect good things for those who found the PM-1’s price point just out of reach. If we are to learn anything from the companies early efforts with Blu Ray players its that Oppo isn’t afraid to push the boundaries of consumers expectations. The PM-2 should hit store shelves in early August for $699.
