Meze Audio has turned one of its most acclaimed headphones into a series of one-off art objects. The Meze Audio POET Jazz Special Edition consists of just eleven pairs of the company’s open-back POET headphone, each individually hand-painted and named after a distinct emotional state of jazz. No two pairs are alike, and once a pair finds an owner, Meze says it will never be reproduced, replicated, or reissued. Full details are available on Meze Audio’s official POET Jazz Special Edition page.
The base POET is already a standout in Meze’s lineup, built around the same Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array MZ6 planar-magnetic driver technology found in the company’s flagship ELITE model. It pairs an open-back, circumaural design with detachable magnetic ear pads and a premium hand-braided copper cable, delivering what Meze describes as lush, airy vocals and precise bass impact with natural tonality and a subtle touch of sparkle. The standard POET previously earned an EISA Award for best premium headphones, underscoring the strength of the platform this special edition builds on.
Eleven Pairs, Eleven Moods of the Meze Audio POET Jazz Special Edition
What sets the Meze Audio POET Jazz Special Edition apart is the artistic layer added on top of that engineering. Only the cups, bracket, and slider receive the hand-painted treatment, creating a deliberate contrast between the POET’s industrial precision and the unpredictability of live brushwork. Each of the eleven pairs carries its own name and mood: Blue Note, Swing State, Bebop Static, Midnight Session, First Take, Brass and Smoke, Free Form, Low End, Offbeat, Afterglow, and Encore. Meze describes each painted surface as built like a live performance, with a starting point but no fully predictable outcome. The brand frames the project less as a cosmetic variant and more as a genuine collaboration between its engineering team and the artist behind the brushwork, treating each cup as a small, finished painting rather than a decorative pattern applied after the fact.
Each pair in the Meze Audio POET Jazz Special Edition is priced at $2,399, a premium over the standard POET’s $2,000 price tag that reflects the hand-finishing and one-of-a-kind nature of the series. As of this writing, only three pairs remain available for purchase directly from Meze: Swing State, Brass and Smoke, and Encore, with the rest already sold. Once the final pair is claimed, Meze has confirmed the series will close permanently, with no plans for a second run or reissue in any form.
Specifications Carried Over From the Standard POET
Beneath the paint, the Meze Audio POET Jazz Special Edition shares its technical foundation with the standard model. The MZ6 driver measures 92 x 63 mm with an ovoid geometry, a frequency range of 4 Hz to 96 kHz, 55 ohm impedance, and a sensitivity of 101 dB SPL/mW at 1 kHz. Total harmonic distortion is rated below 0.05%, and the headphone weighs 405 grams. Each unit ships with a 2.5-meter braided Furukawa PCUHD copper cable terminated in a 6.3mm jack, a PU leather cable pouch, and a high-strength ABS plastic carrying case with foam inserts.
Because the series closes the moment the last pair sells, the Meze Audio POET Jazz Special Edition functions less as a conventional limited run and more as a collection of individual collectible objects, each sitting at the intersection of high-end audio engineering and visual art. For collectors who already appreciate the POET’s sound signature, the Jazz Special Edition offers a rare chance to own both a genuinely distinctive listening experience and a one-of-a-kind piece of hand-painted design.
