Avantone Planar If you crave the refined sound of large planar magnetic cans but are put off by the price, Avantone’s newest headphones could well be the answer. The headphone market shows no sign of ceasing to boom. It’s still dominated by traditional moving‑coil designs, but alternative technologies are gaining traction too. Already this year I’ve been very impressed by HEDD Audio’s HEDDphones, the first headphones to use an Air Motion Transformer as a driver. Elsewhere, breakthroughs in magnet technology have brought about renewed interest in planar magnetic headphones, thanks mainly to the efforts of Dr Drag Colich at Audeze. For a full explanation of how a planar magnetic driver works, go to www.soundonsound.com/reviews/audeze-lcd-x-el8 where you’ll find our detailed review of Audeze’s flagship LCD‑X.