Listed in The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide

"Top Class Headphones"

HiFiMan's HE-5LE headphones use a tweaked version of the orthodynamic headphone drivers used in the critically acclaimed original HE-5 'phones. The open backed circumaural design delivers a huge and open sound. The planar magnetic drivers are like a scaled down version of electrostatic panel speakers that fit your head!

"HifiMan's revised HE-5LE has real potential to upset the ranking status quo of top-class headphones," reports Srajan Ebaen in a 6moons.com review for May 2010.

TechPowerUp.com calls the HE-5LE "a bargain" in a June 23, 2010 posting. "Given the fact that these high-end headphones only cost $699, you still have a hell of a lot of cash left over to spend on source and amplifier."

"One Of The Finest Headphones You Can Buy Under $700"

The HiFiMan HE-5LE was honored by its inclusion in The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide, which noted, "The HE-5LE remains one of the finest headphones you can buy under $700… Precious few headphones can match this one's impressive performance per dollar."

Balanced Sound Signature

Compared to the HE-5, the HE-5LE deliver a more balanced sound signature without any trace of the harsh treble which the HE-5 revealed when used with some headphone amps.

The new plastic cups in the HE-5LE are more reliable than the wooden cups used in the original HE-5. There are no more cracking wood problems after sudden temperature and humidity changes. These news cups are more lightweight than the wooden ones, which means that you can enjoy the LE's longer and in greater comfort. The cups rotate in two axes to conform to head shape, too.

The HE-5LE is terminated with a four-pin balanced connector similar to the termination of AKG K1000 headphones and an XLR to 6.5mm converter. The cable uses high quality OFC copper conductors.

• Planar magnetic driver
• Open backed circumaural design
• Lightweight plastic cups
• Detachable OFC cable
• Termination: 4-pin XLR and XLR to 6.5mm converter

• Frequency Response: 10 Hz to 60 KHz
• Sensitivity: 87.5 dB, 1 mW
• Impedance: 38 Ohms
• Weight: 402 g, without cable

Listed in The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide

"The HE-5LE remains one of the finest headphones you can buy under $700… Precious few headphones can match this one's impressive performance per dollar."

- The Absolute Sound 2012 High-End Audio Buyer's Guide, November 2011

"HifiMan's revised HE-5LE has real potential to upset the ranking status quo of top-class headphones… It's sonically already as linear as AKG's K702 and in matters of bass weight and slam, ahead of the Sennheiser HD800. Then it adds a peculiar richness of tone which none of the competition quite matches."

- Srajan Ebaen, 6moons.com, May 2010

"From the first moment that I put on the HE5LE, I immediately like this version better than the original HE5! The changes is significant enough that even when I didn’t have the HE5 with me, I was able to tell that this is clearly a more balanced version of the HE5 sound.

- Mike at Headphonia.com, May 2010

"Given the fact that these high-end headphones only cost $699, you still have a hell of a lot of cash left over to spend on source and amplifier before you have spent as much cash as a single set of Sennheiser HD800s cost you. So in that sense these headphones are a bargain."

- Frederik S., TechPowerUp.com, June 23, 2010