I promised myself I was done with bluetooth earphones. I purchased way too many of them. And every time I tell myself, this is it, it isn’t. Every time I think sound has no more growth left, I’m proven wrong. Technics az80 was the very first pair of bluetooth earphone that I gave a perfect score to last year. They had no failures, not problems, and did exactly what they promised unlike every single other pair of bluetooth earphones that didn’t. While not a flaw, I wished they were smaller and had a better battery life. Enter the az100. I just got these in today and am so very happy to say that once again Technics have set the bar and will most like again gain my perfect award for 2025. The sound is better than it was, which was already amazing. The fit is smaller and the batter life is greater. I mean, I just can’t say enough how impressive this is to do things as great as this and yet still stay reasonable priced. We’ll done Technics.

I’ve figured out why I don’t like these Technics headphones. They’ve specifically engineered the drivers with ferrofluid surrounding the edges to eliminate harmonics, which they claim interfere with the sound. This results in an incredibly smooth sound signature, devoid of any imperfections. However, I prefer the imperfections that give music its character and realism. This overly smooth sound feels artificial, not in an electronic way, but in an analog sense. It lacks the subtle nuances and “grit” that I find engaging. Music, by its very nature, is imperfect. People and instruments have unique characteristics that contribute to the overall sound. The AZ100s artificially smooth out these nuances, making the music sound sterile and lifeless. When I listen to my go-to music (Disturbs the Sound of Silence, Blitzen Trappers Furr, Blue October X amount of words, Neil Young Live at Massey Hall, BT, VNV Nation), I’m not drawn into the music; instead, I’m hyper-aware of what’s missing. The soul of the music seems to be gone. While the AZ100s undoubtedly deliver a technically perfect sound, they’ve sacrificed the artistic expression of the music. I hope other audiophiles share my sentiment, and Technics considers removing the ferrofluid in future iterations. Personally, I’ll be purchasing a few spare pairs of the AZ80s and returning these. They have many excellent features, but the sound quality simply doesn’t suit my preferences.”