Final Audio has released the DX10000CL as one of its most ambitious closed-back headphones yet. With its high-end build, advanced driver design, and premium price, it arrives with plenty of expectations. A headphone like this needs to offer more than just a luxurious look; it has to deliver the kind of sound and comfort that can stand out in the flagship audiophile space. After spending time with the DX10000CL, here’s how it performs.
What You Get
- DX10000CL closed-back audiophile headphones
- 4.4mm premium silver cable
- 4-pin XLR premium silver cable
- 4-pin XLR to 6.3mm adapter
Look & Feel
When you see that $8,499/$8,999 price tag, you might think that the DX10000CL has an incredibly lavish design. It’s really the inside that inflates that number, but in terms of appearance, the DX10000CL is still a nice-looking headphone. This is especially true if you got the collector’s edition, which is packaged with the right kind of exuberance that you’d expect from this price tag. In terms of build, the DX10000CL is similar to the other newer headphones in its product line. The main difference here is that the DX10000CL collector’s edition has a gold rim, the easiest way to invoke luxury. If that’s not enough for you, the DX1000CL makes up for it with its long-term value and practicality. Its 12-point through-bolt construction allows for long-term serviceability.
What sticks out to me more is the Ultrasuede ear pads that take up a ton of the ear cups’ real estate and make them look huge. Bigger ear pads don’t always mean maximum comfort, but the DX10000CL puts that into practice. Wearing the DX10000CL is like putting two couch cushions on your head, and they feel great. The pads are incredibly soft, and the headband helps relieve any pressure that might build up.
Design
The Final DX10000 CL is built around a newly developed 40mm True Diamond diaphragm dynamic driver, housed inside a precision-machined aluminum-magnesium alloy closed-back chassis designed for rigidity, airtightness, and controlled resonance. Its driver system includes a diamond dome with a steep-profile structure, polyurethane surround, lightweight polyimide bobbin-integrated voice coil, free-floating lead wire design, N55 neodymium magnet, aluminum shorting ring, and internal damping to reduce distortion and manage rear-wave reflections.
Soundstage
While its ultra-premium price might set some high standards for this soundstage, the DX10000CL is still a closed-back headphone. It still has its limitations, but it’s easy not to think about them when listening to its expansive sound presentation. The DX1000CL has fantastic depth, folding sounds over each other with grace, allowing layers of instruments to feature a front-to-back display in the stereo field. It’s not exactly holographic, but the imaging feels cavernous, with a massive scale depending on how you drive it. Tallness and height all add to this immense scale, with the DX10000CL offering a great sense of headspace for a closed-back headphone.
The channel expansion from left to right is where the soundstage sets its barriers, but the width still does what it needs to do to enhance the scope of these headphones. Spatially, the DX10000CL is highly immersive, filling in blank space, but still keeping everything organized. It has a real, live appearance to it, positioning instruments at a slight distance, but you’re in the front row and right in the sweet spot. Everything is nailed down and right there in front of you, whether you want to assess it critically or just enjoy hearing how the sound comes together.
Low End
I found the bass of the DX10000CL to be very engaging, even though it doesn’t punch very hard. It’s clear that the DX10000CL leans towards the darker end of the frequency spectrum, but its tone is still very natural and full. The timbre is organic, grounding the DX10000CL’s bass in a sonic realism rather than a forceful impact or cumbersome warmth. Instead, the bass is more like an expanded reference, filling in frequency content with tons of weight but reserving its slam for a more controlled response.
You never get the sense that the bass is holding anything back. Its tuning is consistently structured and succinct, responding dynamically to a mix. Even with its tightness, the DX10000CL still has that scale in its bass, allowing bass drops to feel energetic without overextending. Sub-bass frequencies are lifted, giving the lows good depth and weight. The bass never sounds dry, and if you can get past some of its tonal rawness, I think the DX10000CL can show its prowess in the low end.
Mids
If the lows were meticulously structured, the midrange is where you get the DX10000CL’s tonal power. The tuning here is even fuller and meatier than the lows, taking on a more forward staging that leaves nothing in the background. Everything is pushed right up front for a very intimate presentation, making the instrumental clarity even more vivid. Sustaining instruments like orchestral strings are highly resolving, hyper-individualized, and clean. Tracks that are busy and complex are granted plenty of room by the midrange, even if their display is surprisingly linear.
You never get a sense of distance or angle in recorded instruments, but that never works against the DX10000CL’s distinct midrange clarity. This is especially apparent in how the DX10000CL presents vocals. They’re incredibly commanding here, taking front and center stage with incredible clarity and detail. They can be quite a lot sometimes, being so aggressively forward that they’re hard not to focus on if you’re trying to critically assess other sound elements. However, for pure enjoyment, they’re hard not to be impressed by, as they are so richly expressive.
Highs
The treble has the perfect amount of extension and control to convey satisfying high-end detail. Certain sound elements, like high piano keys, can be quite cutting, resonating with a small amount of brightness that makes a just noticeable difference in treble tonality. It’s never shrieking, but the highs have a consistent ring to them that you can definitely feel. Like the bass, realism is the treble’s main concern, and as a result, the high frequencies can feel pretty raw. Sometimes they can even feel a bit peaky depending on the track, but I never felt them to be fatiguing. Their texture was consistently engaging to me, as the highs display a combination of brightness and air.
Summary
The Final DX10000CL is not a headphone built for casual curiosity. Its price places it firmly in statement flagship territory, and that alone will make it a niche product for most listeners. However, for those looking for a closed-back audiophile headphone with serious technical ambition, the DX10000CL delivers a sound that feels expansive, immersive, and richly detailed. Its bass is full and natural without becoming overly aggressive, its midrange is bold and expressive, and its treble adds enough brightness and air to keep the presentation engaging. Combined with its plush Ultrasuede comfort, premium cable options, and long-term serviceable build, the DX10000CL feels like a headphone designed for listeners who want luxury, realism, and refinement in one package. It may not escape every limitation of a closed-back design, but it pushes those boundaries far enough to make a strong impression.
The Final Audio DX10000CL will be available soon at Audio46.
