Introduction

Altiat is an Indian company that perhaps not many have heard of. I became aware of the brand a few years ago, and also knew it was a sister outfit of Kaldas Research, both of which were founded by a single person who is a bigger audiophile than most people I know. Aumkar’s personal YouTube channel hasn’t been updated in years, and yet a quick scroll of all the headphones he’s personally purchased and discussed over the years will confirm my previous statement. The funniest part about this is that Kaldas is an R&D company and Altiat is a manufacturing company, with the latter offering services including CNC milling, laser cutting, 3D printing to others. Yet I’d say the two brands have made a name for themselves in the personal audio space for reasonably priced, high build quality headphones—the RR1 Conquest e-stat from Kaldas Research, and the CAL.1H dynamic driver headphones from Altiat. I had the pleasure of meeting Aumkar, in addition to other staff from both brands, at CanJam London earlier this year where they were also showcasing an upcoming closed-back e-stat which has still got me very excited, and then I tried the CAL.1H. One thing led to another and I left the show with my own purchased unit of these headphones—at a show discount, but still a change from the norm where I usually get review samples sent in.

You see, both Altiat and Kaldas Research are tiny outfits that can’t really afford to send out many review samples. At the same time, having tried out the headphones and being impressed by the complete transparency of everyone involved, I knew these would work as a nice gift to a family member after I was done reviewing them. The CAL.1H (short for Caliber 1H) is, in Altiat’s own words on the product page, “not trying to break new grounds” and is just “an honest take on Electrodynamic transmission.” The brand does not shy away from the part where it’s buying drivers from someone else and using its manufacturing prowess to put out a high build quality set of open-back headphones in a variety of chassis materials and finishes. In particular, expect to see a lot of aluminium in different colors—although there is a wood option too. The CAL.1H is an open-back dynamic driver set, and I have the UK-exclusive “Mystique Edition” here which is sold by Audio Concierge, for those interested. Color/material/overall mass aside, this sample should be otherwise very representative of the sound you can expect from any CAL.1H model, so let’s begin this review with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

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