AB-1266 Phi TC Reference Headphones

Designing AB1266

The AB1266 is all about the sound. Our goal was to capture the sound of the finest speaker systems and music rooms in the world. Most importantly, they had to convey music as naturally as if you were sitting in the room with the band. This was a huge undertaking for a small company.

The first thing you notice when you hear the Abyss AB1266 headphone is what the human brain is so good at recognizing, natural musical sounds, freedom to the music. The headphone is not producing weird sounds that tell the brain it’s a headphone. Instead, you hear cymbals ring out in time without hard metallic sounds, guitar strings resonate inside the guitar body, not some tubby or tin box. Drums have real impact, you hear the rolling of the drum skin, not a thump and it’s over.

Let’s start with the most important component, the speaker or driver. The AB1266 driver must transform an amplified signal to motion so your ears hear only music, not some vibrating plastics or metallics. Getting it right here is most critical, and most difficult.

We started from scratch with an open mind, and used up nearly 5 years of our lives to create unique materials, magnetics, and acoustic design never before thought of in any full range headphone driver. This patented speaker design is unique to the world, hearing them in action is never boring.

Next up was the structure or frame upon where to mount these fabulous drivers. Our extensive knowledge of high-end loudspeaker design and materials told us the finest loudspeakers have minimal cabinet resonances, meaning they do not vibrate and produce a sound of their own that would interfere with the beautiful clarity of our drivers. Typically with loudspeakers this equates to a very heavy multi-layered cabinet, not something you can wear as a headphone.

Headphones tend to be riddled with lots of plastic, moving parts, all sorts of loose fitting components that translate into rattles and noises not part of the music. There was no way we were going to let that happen here.

The AB1266 was designed with a lightweight rigid frame, machined from solid aluminum. Dozens of prototypes were built, and at each level greater intricacy was obtained in it’s anti-resonant construction and artistic detail.

Machining to this level of detail is nothing short of art in programming and tooling, so much so we purchased our own CNC machines and trained for more than a year to do it ourselves in Western New York, USA. It was the only way to control the finished quality of what was to be the world’s finest headphone.

Once we engineered the main frame components, adjustability was necessary, every persons head is different. Trouble is adjustments mean vibration, noise, and points where failure ultimately occurs. We wanted the AB1266 frame to withstand most any abuse, never requiring maintenance or repairs due to broken parts; durability was key.

Engineering boiled it down to a single pivot point on the top of the headband. It took another 6 months designing just this pivot point, ultimately machining our own unique screw and slot design that allows not only width adjustment, but also height, toe in or out, and clamping force. Simpler is better.

So now we have the speaker drivers, anti-resonant structure, and ability to adjust for fit. Next up is how to rest the AB1266 on top of various head shapes as comfortably as possible. In essence it had to float and act as a suspension system isolating head motion from the music. and what’s more comfortable than a hammock. We worked toward perfecting this shape, adjusting leather and foam thickness, suspension, so many small details so this relatively large headphone sits on any head feeling light and comfortable. We studied the forces at play using statics and physics to tweak right down to the way the leathers were stitched.

Last but not least was acoustics, how to create a near perfect miniature acoustic space as if you were listening to your favorite band in an open room. Ear pads, foams, surface shapes and dimensions all had to be experimentally derived over many hundreds of hours of listening to many different genres of music. The goal was to ride a fine line between ultimate resolution and musicality while recreating as best as possible the original acoustic space in proper perspective.

In the end, all that is heard is the beautiful wave of music from the drivers coupled directly to your ears in an acoustically fine-tuned space having the subtle details of the instruments, voices, and the room the microphones picked-up during the recording- Music in your own private space in the Abyss.

Description

Our patented TC (Total Consciousness) high resolution planar speaker drivers paint a breathtaking sonic landscape and allow you to hear the most subtle natural nuances within your music. AB1266 TC is well known for having the most effortless powerful bass in the world. 

Newly redesigned very comfortable hybrid ear pads made in our New York Facility with the finest lambskin and Ultrasuede materials and memory foam core with pillow top softness improve the sound even further, in total taking this latest generation AB1266 TC acoustic performance to even higher levels of sonic bliss.

Combined with a fine leather headband embossed with ABYSS  gives this headphone a multitude of adjustability and surprising comfort as it literally floats on your head; it's far more comfortable than it looks.

From the very first note you will hear musicians and instruments in a whole new way. Voices appear out of nowhere and float outside of your head. Piano is in front of you to the left, singers centered in front of you and drums slightly behind Spatial cues are endless and define every subtle nuanced image with a full 360 degree soundscape. No electronic tricks, simply the natural sounds of the recording coming through striking emotional chords, that's Abyss. AB1266 TC can convey the power and space of a huge symphony and the nuances of the quietest background sounds and delicate strings and woods decaying out in time, a private concert for one.

• We CNC machine and finish all aluminum frame components, produce our planer speaker drivers, and skillfully assemble the AB1266 TC with US made stainless steel hardware, all within our own USA facility.
• Chassis consists of left/right side frames and adjustable two piece headband. No plastic parts to break, all components machined from solid aluminum for exceptional strength. Integrated resonance control for minimal added coloration.
• High quality two-tone black on back metallic polymer ceramic finish, the hardest thin film coating in the world.
• Patented planar magnetic transducer design utilizing our very thin, very low mass diaphragm. Effortless dynamics and low level detail retrieval in the bass, mids, and highs with spacious sound outside of your head. A front row listening experience with stunning bass impact no other headphone can provide, like the finest loudspeaker system scaled to fit on your head.
• Matched driver pairs.
• Unique custom made high power neodymium magnets design patented by JPS Labs with optimized slot pattern.
• Low carbon steel front baffle with integrated resonance control.
• Unique foamed aluminum metal back side acoustically tuned to our planar diaphragm for completely open sound without reflections and peaks you hear in so many other headphones.
• Newly redesigned fine lambskin ear pads are a hybrid design with soft Ultrasuede layer to your face, solid inner lambskin maximizes acoustics to your ears, and a perforated lambskin outer layer provides breathability and maximize bass response. Magnetically adjustable positioning lets you fine tune fitment to your personal head shape.
• Newly redesigned beautifully made padded French leather headband with head movement isolation properly distributes weight for hours of comfortable wear. Looks are deceiving, these headphones are designed not to clamp your head, but rather float atop and loosely touch your ears. 'ABYSS' embossed logo on top.
• Custom cable set by JPS Labs made specifically for the AB1266, with available upgrade cable set to further enhance the resolution capabilities.
• Serial numbers permanently laser engraved for traceability and collectability.
• Transducer: Patented proprietary 66 mm planar magnetic drivers- Highly optimized open back design utilizes aerospace foamed aluminum metal to protect the speaker while providing a huge open listening experience.
• Impedance: 50 ohm nominal
• Phase: Flat
• Frequency Response: 5 Hz - 45 KHz
• Sensitivity: 88 db/mW
• Distortion: Average 0.03% THD - Very Low
• Weight: 640 grams

Available accessory packages: