Collection: $200 – $500

At $200–$500 you're buying end-game gear for most listeners: multi-driver IEMs with mature crossover design, planar headphones that need — and reward — proper amplification, dedicated players, and desktop stacks that will serve a system for years.

This is also where matching starts to matter. A demanding planar with an underpowered source will sound worse than a cheaper, easier setup. Buy the amplification alongside the headphone, not a year later.