Headphones for the Marshall Amp Lover

The Marshall Major headphones weren't actually created by legendary guitar amp designer Jim Marshall, but any musician or sound engineer or even a rock fan with a love of that amplifier's sound is going to have a soft spot for these. Swedish manfacturer Zounds (who also make UrbanEars headphones) have created a design that evokes the actual amp and deliver really good sound for the price.

That list price is $120 online ($10 more with mic/controller on the cord) but they're easily available for less than $100 and I've seen them priced as low at $75 online. They're a good buy at $100 but a great deal at $75.

Of course, the real attraction here is the design: the coiled cable that evokes a guitar cord, the gold finish on the plug that goes into your phone or music player.

The vinyl grain copies the texture of vinyl that covers a real Marshall amp head.

The speakers themselves are covered with a cloth pattern that evokes the covering on an amp cabinet.

The iconic Marshall logo is displayed on the outside of each earpiece.

Their sound is absolutely competitive with other headphones in their price range and the controls work. The Majors are on-ear headphones and they also come with a 1/4" adapter to use with a stereo receiver. This isn't one of those embarrassing logo licensing deals: the engineers at Zound hit their price point but still honor the name they get to stick on their product.

This is either going to strike a chord with you or it won't. I've been using a Marshall iPhone case all year and I've lost count of the number of people who've asked me how to get one. Unfortunately, those are sold out now. Zound also makes some highly-reviewed Bluetooth speakers that look like actual amp heads; those look amazing. People who love Marshall won't be disappointed in the Marshall Majors and these would make a great gift for the guitar player in your life.