Ultimate Ears Builds a $1,350 Custom Earphone Pair

Wow. I thought the UE10, at $1,000, was expensive. The new Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors from Ultimate Ears, however, earn their price.

First off, they're aimed at pros and prosumers -- so they are good enough to be Bono's on-stage in-ear system, but there's no reason avid fans can't save their pennies and use them as the ultimate iPod earphones.

Like previous Ultimate Ears custom models, the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro requires a visit to the audiologist, who will fill your ears with goo that quickly dries and forms the basis for your custom mold. This goo mold gets sent to Ultimate Ears' headquarters in Irvine, Calif., where it's used to build your custom pair.

So why the price increase? Um, each ear-piece has six -- SIX -- drivers. In other words, there are six different speakers dividing up the entire frequency range, each one fine-tuned to accurately deliver what it's assigned to. Your iPod earbuds have one really lousy driver per ear.

The whole kit comes with a rugged
aluminum "roadie box," and the noise isolation provided by these babies
is far more effective than any active noise cancellation on the market.
If the noise isolation is too intense for you, you can pay another $50
(Why not? You already dropped $1,350!) for a more open, "ambient" version. The Ultimate Ears 18 Pro ships in February, so you have plenty of time to sell the LCD TV you bought for the Super Bowl and buy these with the refund.