Andover Audio PM-50 Review

The Box, Accessories & Price

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The PM-50 arrived in a very nice box and it made me think of the Hifiman boxes, but many companies nowadays use these kind of boxes with a foam cut-out.

The PM-50 isn’t cheap and it’s selling for $499 USD, aiming it at the mid-fi market. This seems like normal to me but at the same time this segment is highly competitive with award winning headphones such as the Hifiman Sundara, the Audeze LCD-1 and the Sendy Audio Aiva. Andover will have to deliver on several fronts such as design, build quality and of course, sound. We’ll find out along the way if they manage to do so.

Inside the box you will find:

• PM-50 Planar Magnetic Headphones
• Two Sets of Ear-Cushions
• High-Grade OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) Cable
• 1/4″ (3.5mm) Adapter

The newest set of earpads was sent to me just last week, and these will actually be sent to all clients who bought the PM-50. The new pads have a bigger inner size making the PM_50 feel more like an over ear headphone and my ears actually perfectly fit inside (though my ears still touch the pads). It’s something we’ll come back to in the review.

Andover Audio PM-50

The OFC cable that comes with the PM-50 is a single ended one, and it looks, feels and sounds pretty good. It’s certainly a cable I’ll use with other headphones. There’s no mention of “balanced” anywhere on Andover’s website. But that doesn’t mean we won’t try it later in this article.

All-in-all a nice package and a pleasant unboxing experience, with a minimum set of accessories (though supplying 3 sets of pads is impressive)

Design & Build quality

This of course is personal but I think these look quite nice with the wooden genuine walnut ear cups and metallic grill with the Andover logo. According to Andover, the design was based on their Model One Turntable Music System.

The headband system is also quite nice and works flawlessly. The PM-50 weighs around 380g without cables connected, but it actually feels very light on the head. This means the headband is doing a great job distributing the weight evenly over your head.

Build-wise everything looks to be perfect. From the 3.5mm connectors who sit perfectly flush in the ear cups to the fancy aluminium like ring around the earcups, everything feels sturdy, classy and smooth.

Comfort

The comfort is good, as I mentioned before, but at the same time this headphone exercises quite a bit of clamping force on the side of your head. Andover knows about this and they have a “headband adjustment guide” available in case you want to stretch the headband out so it sits more comfortable on your head. Personally I quit like a bit of clamping force, so I did not adjust this.

Andover Audio offers two sets of ear cushions with the PM-50, giving listeners two options for their favorite sound and comfort. There is a small set and a larger set of ear pads. The 3rd set which was sent separately is a new version of the larger set, with more inner room for the ear. It’s also the most comfortable, softest set of pads. The PM-50 in theory is an over ear headphone but it’s small in size and it will depend on your ears if you can fit them inside the pads. It’s basically the same in size as the other headphones we’ll compare the PM-50 to later to in this article.

Andover Audio PM-50

The newest pads are the largest so I suspect most people comfort wise will go for these. After a few hours your ears will start to feel warm, but that’s something we’re used to with many headphones.

Do take these things into account when you’re looking at this headphone for your next buy.

Sound – Pad Difference

As explained you get two sets of pads, smaller ones and bigger ones. The bigger ones used here are the new version. It’s extremely easy to swap the pads as Andover integrated a 5-point click-system. For this comparison we used the single ended cable.

Pad version 1:

Bass has good body and impact. The PM-50 is not shy of bass but it isn’t overly present either. It’s bass tuned for the masses with a good amount of warmth, so it certainly isn’t neutral. Bass isn’t the tightest or fastest but it does have a nice rumble to it.

The mids are lush, smooth, spacious and airy and have a good amount of warmth. The precision isn’t the very best however. One of the things you notice here is how the voices are a little more to the front.

The treble section is very easygoing and soft. The energy and sparkle on top is missing here and the focus clearly is on the bass and lush mids.

Andover Audio PM-50

Pads version 2:

For me the overall clarity, balance and energy improves with these pads. Bass is more in control and lighter in body. It’s also faster with better clarity and as such you get more detail here.

The mid range still is spacious but it’s more clear and the vocals here blend in better. The mids are still presented in a smooth and musical way but like in the bass section, there’s more energy and clarity resulting in more detail being audible.

The treble section still is on the soft sight here but it for sure is more clear. For me personally it could be more energetic and extended but the Andover team clearly didn’t have that kind of tuning in mind.

Choosing between the two sets of pads for me is easy. The latest set of larger pads doesn’t only fit better, they also provide more comfort and they make the PM-50 sound more balanced and better. For the rest of this review we will use the newest set of pads.

Sound – Balanced vs Single ended

As said, the cable that comes with the PM-50 is a single-ended one and Andover nowhere recommends to use or try the PM-50 in balanced mode. The parts on sound in this review, except for in this chapter here, are all with that single-ended cable. The balanced cable I chose for this quick comparison is one by C3Audio.

In balanced mode you get a nicely balanced sound and the extension probably is best this way. From bass to treble you get a spacious sound and it to me sounds more natural compared to the single ended cable. The treble section still is soft but it to me is most enjoyable in balanced mode.

If you have a balanced cable, I would suggest using the PM-50 in balanced mode.

The article continues on page three, after the click here. You can also use the jumps below.