The Aune AR5000 came out of nowhere a couple of months ago, and has already had many people talking non-stop about it. Aune did quite a few things right with this launch, especially with first impressions where the AR5000 looks and feels like a far more expensive set of headphones. It also nails the comfort aspect out of the box, and offers enough ear cup swivel/rotation on top of headband sizing to easily accommodate the vast majority of people. The warm, relaxed tuning also helps when you try these out at shows or a retail location, it makes for a good first 15–20 minutes of listening, and you will be tempted to purchase them given the $299 price point seems more than reasonable. It certainly merits a recommendation as a result, especially with the sound presentation working well for specific music genres, with the fairly natural timbre helping. But it's not a perfect set, and I dare say the longer you listen to it the more likely that you will understand the strengths and weaknesses it has. Not including a storage/carry case, for example.

It's tough to relate to headphones from smaller brands that the vast majority of readers may never have the opportunity to try out. As such, I can see some people trying to get an impression from demo recordings or simply from frequency response measurements. While I don't believe the former is really useful, the latter can be slightly misleading at times. The Aune AR5000, on paper, looks like a very well tuned set. What you don't realize is that the sub-bass extension comes from the drivers being damped, and this hurts the mid-bass by contrast. The AR5000 feels more blunted here than I'd like, even compared to other sets doing something similar. This, combined with the more relaxed tonality in the treble, means the AR5000 can go from an exciting and engaging sound to a subdued one depending on the music genre/song, as well as how you individually perceive these headphones. I can only suggest you read more reviews, especially from those who generally agree with you on headphones and music, to get a better idea of how the AR5000 will work for you.

While the AR5000 headphones are the primary subject of this review, I do want to give a shout-out to the Aune S17 Pro headphone amplifier too. It's more expensive at $699, and yet happens to be one of the most affordable amplifiers that is able to do what it can. It is absolutely overkill for most people reading this review, especially if you primarily use IEMs and easy-to-drive headphones. The S17 Pro has so much power that it may even be hard to get a useful volume control range in this situation, and this is even beyond the part where you can get a far more affordable source instead. What the S17 Pro excels at is offering pure Class-A power, and up to 7.5 W/channel at that! I was quite happy with the smooth and engaging sound out of notoriously demanding headphones too. The AR5000 sounds better out of it than it does out of a more neutral typical Class D amplifier too, especially for male vocals that have more body to them now. It's also not a perfect product, especially with the thermal issues that may or may not actually do something tangible to the sound—more on this on page four for those interested. The takeaway I get here is Aune is on to something with its new products but needs to do a better job in understand how to balance what it thinks is good for the customers vs. what the customers actually care about or want. Both the AR5000 and the S17 Pro are certainly impressive in their own right, but I am more excited to see what comes next from Aune with the experience gained so far.