ArcTec AB 92 Review – Headfonia

This is the review of the Arctec AB 92 Airborne open-back planar magnetic headphone. It is selling for €2.400 EUR.

Disclaimer: The AB 92 headphone was sent to me by ArcTec Berlin directly in exchange for our honest opinion.

ArcTec Berlin

ArcTec Berlin is a new company, and it hasn’t been featured on Headfonia.com yet. I met the ArcTec team in Munich last year at the High-End show and then they got hold of me when their first headphones were ready.

ArcTec isn’t just any new company. Oh no. It was founded by Klaus Heinz, which you may know as founder and Chief Engineer of both ADAM Audio and HEDD AUDIO. He has a proven track record in designing sonically outstanding headphones and loudspeakers. And we all know the AMT-driven HEDD HEDDphone (1) he has developed.

On the ArcTec Berlin website we can read that the new company targets audiophiles, professional sound engineers, and music lovers alike. So basically, everyone who’s serious about audio. You can fins out all about the German company on their website here.

In this article we’re looking at their very first creation under the ArcTec name: the AB 92 Airborne headphone.

Let’s find out what it’s all about.

ArcTec AB 92

The ArcTec AB 92 Airborne (or AB 92 in short) is a planar magnetic aka orthodynamic driven headphone, and it is an open-back version. So contrary to the AMT driven headphones Mr. Heinz worked on before, he now opted for a planar Magnetic driver. A wise choice? We’ll find out in this article.

The Planar driver in the AB 92 features a HighTec PET diaphragm with pure silver conductor tracks. As an ortho driver, the impedance is low at 33Ohm. The sensitivity is rated at 90dB/mW or 105 dB/1V. That doesn’t make it an easy to drive headphone, but more on that later in this review.

Our goal was to design the best possible planar headphone, and the AB 92 is the result.

So why switch from AMT to Ortho? Mr. Heinz explains:

Because I could motivate a high-tech company (in China as I have to admit) that could make a very thin diaphragm (ultra-thin <1.5 μm) where the circuitry is done with pure silver with an electroplating process. If one looks for the ideal conductor material for a moving diaphragm, with respect to both conductivity and specific weight, the answer clearly is silver. So better results you get either with a new idea, like AMT, or better materials, see ArcTec AB 92. I was surprised with the good results, so I started with this kind of technical approach.

So what sets the AB 92 apart are not the 92mm magnets, as most companies nowadays use the same quality ones, but the membrane. For ArcTec, it must be as light as possible, so that it can react quickly producing an effortless and unrestrained sound.

Airborne: floating in the air, free from reflections. The completely open design prevents any coloration from rear-radiated sound bouncing back to the membrane.

As the AB 92 is an open-back headphone, the sound is radiated towards the rear, and it must be possible to escape with as little obstruction as possible so that reflections back onto the membrane are avoided. The AB 92’s outward-curved grilles practically eliminate this effect – according to ArcTec – so that the sound reaches the ear in an uncolored way. Hence the “Airborne” name.

We’ll get back to the AB 92’s performance later in this review.

Box, Accessories, Price

The AB 92 comes in an overly large, but high-quality box. On the inside of the box, we find the nicely protected AB 92 headphones (cut-out foam), as well as a 1.5m long 6.3mm terminated cable with 3.5mm jacks and a welcome note/user manual.

The cable that comes with the AB 92 is nice, though I would have liked to see a balanced cable in the box as well.

The ArcTec AB 92 headphone sells for around €2.400 and it is available from a selected number of resellers worldwide like Elise Audio in the UK and Headonist in France.

It’s a simple package with a low set of accessories at this price point, but it surely is nice and qualitative as you can see in the pictures.

Design, Build Quality

The AB 92 comes with a black polished aluminum finish, and it looks like a typical headphone with a self-adjusting suspension headband.

The AB 92 features milled aluminium shells and yokes with nickel-chrome plating. Black anodized and glass pearl blasted for lasting beauty and acoustic neutrality.

To provide a perfectly stable foundation for the driver, the AB 92 transducers are mounted in a rigid, milled aluminum ring which offers exceptional stiffness, carefully damped to eliminate ringing.

By creating an acoustically inert base, the housing ensures that the sound you hear comes purely from the diaphragm itself, leading to a remarkably settled and uncolored bass and midrange.

The AB 92 is built to last. The meticulously machined aluminum rings and yokes are finished with a durable black anodization and glass pearl blasting. This ensures the headphones not only feel premium but also retain their sophisticated appearance and structural integrity for years to come.

Whether you like the AB 92’s design or not is very subjective. For me personally it looks great overall, but I’m not the biggest fan of the shiny yokes and driver you can see through the black grill. For you that might be the coolest part though, just saying.

The build quality – as we expect at this price point – is very good and you get a typical high-end headphone, with a top-level finish. It looks and feels great and will last you for years.

Sound

Introduction

This is the section where we find out how the brand describes the sound signature of the unit in question. For the ArcTec AB 92, we find the following:

The AB 92 is engineered for a truly spatial listening experience. Its open-back “AirBorne” geometry, combined with generously dimensioned ear pads, allows for unobstructed sound radiation and minimizes reflections back to the diaphragm. This design philosophy creates a room-filling, three-dimensional stereo image that feels less like headphones and more like a personal concert hall. The AB 92 delivers a remarkably settled and uncolored bass and midrange.

Let’s dive in further.

General

I used the AB 92 in multiple desktop systems, with a series of desktop solid state and tube amplification. DACs used were the Musician Audio Aquarius and Pegasus. Music streamed from my laptop with ROON (Tidal) to the Eversolo T8 and DMP-A6.

The first thing you notice when listening to the AB 92 is how open it sounds. Contrary to a lot of headphones where the music is between your ears, you here get a very open, all around you type of presentation. The music is everywhere, it’s very enjoyable.

The airiness and spaciousness are excellent from top to bottom, and the soundstage width is impressive. I would say the AB 92 is wider than it is deep, and the layering can be improved. You need a good amp like the Headonia 300B for this to become more audible. That said, the 3-dimensionality here still is a pleasure to the ear, and the left/right balance and stereo imaging are nice. Note that when the amp synergy is not the best, the AB 92 to my ears can sound unnaturally airy because of the lack of control.

The AB 92’s tonality is neutral, with a presentation that’s softer and easy to the ear. The AB 92 is accurate as you’d expect coming from an ex HEDD and ADAM engineer. The AB 92 doesn’t enhance anything, and you get a nicely weighted/bodied but balanced, natural sound.

Some say the treble section in this headphone is on the energetic side, but I would not describe it as such. The top to bottom tuning is very linear, balanced and coherent as a matter of fact. It perfectly fits within the tuning and there are no extremes.

The AB 92 reaches a good level of precision, as you’d expect from a headphone of this level, but I do feel there’s still room for improvement. You’re not absolutely missing out on anything but speed, decay and tonal extension could be even better (when compared to other high-end headphones).

The vocal presentation also is a highlight for me. It’s natural, correctly positioned and not boosted in any way, with a slightly soft delivery. Lovers of vocally strong music will be delighted. The overall timbre is also very well-done.

The delivery is always clean, clear and musical. With its transparent character it lets you hear what your amplifier brings to the party. With a tube amp like the Auris Audio Nirvana, you get a softer and slightly slower, powerful sound, where the treble section is energetic, yet controlled and never offensive. The precision could be better though. We’ll get to the synergy part in a bit.

The AB 92 sounds natural, and it with its musical, refined presentation and open character, just is a very easy and enjoyable headphone to listen to. Its strengths lie in the soundstage spaciousness and width, as well as the airy presentation, natural tonality and vocal rendering.

Classics

As mentioned earlier, I do find the AB 92 to be a balanced sounding headphone, it doesn’t enhance bass, mids or treble and you get a nice, linear signature.

The AB 92 has good body and weight, but in a neutral way. It’s realistic, engaging and sounding natural.

Bass reaches low, but the sub rumble is not overly present. It’s more about quality than quantity here and as said, there is room for improvement for depth and layering. Billie Eilish tracks easily make this recognizable.

The mids are spacious and have a very airy presentation with excellent separation. The mids perfectly connect to the bass from a weight perspective, and the timbre is musically and slightly soft, especially when connected to a tube amplifier.

The top end extends well and shows the same airy, spacious presentation. The treble tuning is in line with the bass and mids and it’s a safe tuning. Treble never sounds harsh or overly present, and you get a natural and ear-pleasing tonality here. The top-end extension and decay for me could even be more present.

All-in-all the Arctec AB 92 Airbourne is a well-tuned, spacious, open, natural sounding and balanced headphone with a musical delivery. It’s easy and nice to listen to, and it shows you what your amplifier brings to the party. The improvement is on the technical level, think ultimate precision, decay and extension.  

The review continues on the second page, with more on sound. Click here or use the jumps below.