Bose Around-Ear Headphones (silver)

Pros: Good sound, nice flat response range

Cons: Flawed design, susceptible to distortion

Summary: I have owned 7 (Yes, seven) pairs of these wonderful headphones. I love the clarity of the sound and the very even frequency response. The only problem with the sound is that the base can distort at very high volume levels. Not a major flaw. But these have been replaced six times by Bose, three times after they claimed they fixed the "manufacturing defect." If you have an average-sized head or greater, the slides WILL break from day-to-day usage. Bose customer service can't be beat, however, and after I brought these in for my eighth trade I decided to give the QuietComfort 2's a try instead. I love those too, but the required battery is a minus, not to mention the sound, while having really good, warm, clear bass, is lacking treble definition (and I'm usually sensitive to lots of treble). They can be pushed to uncomfortable volumes without distorting or losing their clarity, however, which is a noticeable improvement in that department over the TriPorts.

My suggestion is to not pay any attention to these, and go to another brand or go right to the QuietComfort 2's. These will just make you wish you had bought the QC 2's, and then subsequently wish that that those QuietComfort2's could match the flatter response of these TriPorts. A thoroughly depressing situation from two otherwise exceptional products. If Bose would simply design a new TriPort that didn't put all the pressure of wearing them on two pieces of plastic 1mm by 1mm by 2mm, these would be my preferred choice, especially for the money. Unless noise-cancelling is a factor for you.