Headphones With Convenience or Fidelity, Not Both This week Harmon Kardon is releasing a new line of headphones with five new models. After some listening, I have to say that one pair sounds - I don't know how else to put this - awful. One pair sounds pretty good, if you like heavy bass. The thing is, it's the same pair. I'll explain. One of the new models Harmon Kardon is introducing is the BT, an over-the-ear headset that transmits music wirelessly by Bluetooth. Harmon's press release said the BT models use "apt-X coding for excellent wireless sound - on par with premium wired headphones." Not only is it not on par with wired headphones, it's not on par with themselves when they are wired. I know this because one of the BTs features is the ability to skip the Bluetooth connection and instead connect the headphones to a source with an included cable. In Bluetooth mode, the bass was a boomy, wet thud, and the highest notes sometime had a static crackle, when not experiencing drop outs. I can't call the wired sound spectacular, but it is respectable and an enormous improvement over the wireless quality. If you like bass-heavy headphones, these might suffice when wired in. At a $250 list price, though, there are other headphones I'd call a better value. Headphone comfort is a very subjective - one man's snug is another man's vice grip - and the BTs were not a good fit for me. They pinned by ears to my skull making them uncomfortably hot pretty quickly. The earphones were easy to set up and have a built-in microphone so that you can use them for phone calls. So I suppose if your need for wireless convenience outweighs your need for fidelity, the Harmon Kardon BT headphones could be worth a look.