PROS
- All-metal construction
- Comfortable to wear
- Amazing sound
- Wide soundstage
CONS
- Thin headband padding
- Cheap cable
- Ugly design
VERDICT
The sturdy construction is weakened by a handful of sub-par elements, such as the low-quality cable and thin headband padding. The design grew on us during our testing, but it, honestly, never really matched our own individual aesthetic preferences. We understand that this is something completely individual, and it doesn’t make the headphones any worse. Overall, if you can find these headphones on sale, go for it. If not, you might want to give it some thought first.
Built like a tank; that’s what comes to mind when one sees the California Headphone Co Silverado in their full glory. These beastly headphones feature a pair of 40mm large titanium drivers that promise to deliver amazing sound and an extra wide soundstage. Their design is likely to divide people into two groups: those who love the timeless aesthetics and those who find it ugly and crude.
Design and build quality
The all-metal construction in combination with real leather padding makes for an excellent first impression. Designers of these headphones probably took a lot of their inspiration from heavy-duty industrial machinery. The headband and the earcup rails resemble metal pipes, and the metallic finish looks like something you could find on a military vehicle or equipment.
Indeed, military communication equipment is actually closer to these headphones than most other competing models from other companies. The clamping force is almost identical to hearing protectors and airplane headphones. In other words, these headphones are probably the tightest consumer-grade headphones on the market. The generous padding is what saves the day and prevents you from feeling like your head is being squeezed in a vice. Still. You have to forget about being cuddled. Unfortunately, the same amount of padding wasn’t used on the headband as on the earpads. The weight of the headphones can get tiresome after a few hours of listening.
The use of real leather ensures that you won’t sweat nearly as much as is often the case with pleather. The leather can breathe and let in air to keep your ears relatively cold.
By far the most problematic area of these headphones is the cable. It’s thin, cheaply made, and feels very lightweight, especially when compared with the rest of the headphones.
Sound quality
We have found the whole frequency range to be well represented and work fine with all music genres. It takes some burn-in to get the titanium drivers going, but, once you get past the 24-hour mark, it’s a smooth going.
The bass feels very responsive and powerful, mids are placed slightly forward, and highs have enough detail in them to give you the impression that the California Headphone Co has some audiophile ambitions.
These headphones are also highly suitable for gaming, because of their excellent passive noise isolation and low amount of sound leakage. You can play at high volume settings without disturbing your roommate or being disturbed by what’s going on around you.
What’s in the box?
The headphones are shipped in a very nice pleather case, which you can later use for protection and storage. When you open the case, you will find the headphones themselves and the low-quality removable cable they ship with.
