Kennerton Magister Closed Back Headphones

Sound quality: vocals are distinctly forward...slightly bright...which adds some sparkle...may offer fatigue during prolonged listening.

Fitment: readily adjustable headband; will accomodate/fit a large head (I have a 7 7/8 hat size); L & R metal side armature can be modified (bent) to reduce clamp force (individual preference); cups are large/roomy...stiff/firm...will likely wear or become more pliable over time.

Build: durable/flexible; can twist the headband without restraint
Design: beautiful wood cups (lightweight); detailed stitched leather on headband & earcups

Note: these sound unlike anything in my HP stable (HD 6XX, AEON Flow Open, Momentum HD2); similar to listening to room speakers (open lush soundstage); seem to play outside of your head (if that makes sense?)

Scaling: These love power...no distortion when pushed by any of my amps (see list below)...& there seems to be a direct correlation between the dynamic output & power (these scale up remarkably—punchy); but don’t have to be turned up loudly to be heard (full bodied at normal listening levels).

HP Amps:
Mojo/Poly
Gilmore Lite Mk2
WA8 Eclipse (heavenly match)

Hey Everyone!

I got the opportunity to review the Kennerton Magister headphones, on which Kennerton gave me a discount.
Xxxxxxtra large thanks to Kennerton at this point!
So as you already know now, this review is about the Magister headphones by Kennerton.
First of, Kennerton is the russian premium partner of Fischer Audio, based in scandinavia.
The name Kennerton actually comes from the german "Kenner" and "Ton" which means "Expert" and "Sound".
I can confirm this since i'm german
Putting it the other way around (TonKenner) would actually be better but doesn't sound as good in english.
 
The Magister is their mid tier, limited edition (350 pieces), premium headphone based on Fischer Audios FA-003TiW but it got
upgraded quite a bit. Other than this they also have the Vali and Odin. Odin being their top tier planar magnetic headphone.
Magister however is an dynamic headphone.

It features the following specs:
Frequency Response 10-26.000 hz
Impedance 64 Ohms
Sensitivity 101 dB
42mm driver size with Titanium coating
Weight 384 gramms
 
 

PACKAGING
I received a small package from Kennerton which i imagined to be much larger.
They wrapped the main headphone packaging in a layer of bubble wrap and that's it.
After that though, you get this really cool and oldschool looking box. It kinda reminds me of
Bioshock for some reason o.o
 
Anyways, in the box you get:
1. The fabric carrying case with the headphones,
2. An extra pair of cushions made out of velour
3. Two cables, the thick one (premium) and the long, wibbley one
4. A certificate of warranty (3 years)
5. A manual
6. A CD with some russian jazz music
and i additionally received a personal message from the CEO,
thanking me for purchasing a Kennerton product. All self written. Nice touch indeed!
 

Overall the packaging and contents was pretty good! They didn't come as wrapped as my
Hifimans but still not many possibilities of damaging during shipping. I'd give it an 10/10,
not much to improve!
 

BUILD QUALITY
 
Now let's just move on to the looks and build quality.
The finish of these headphones is VERY beautiful. One of the most beautiful headphones i've seen.
It features wooden cups made out of over 2000 year old bog oak wood. On the box it actually says
2090+/-50years and that is no joke, they are actually that old. Pretty cool to know this but they say
it also changes the sound and signature because over the time the wood was burried in swamps it became really strong
and hard, that's why it is called "iron wood" sometimes.
They also have a really complex pyramid design inside the cup, consisting of 41 Pyramids and some rings on the outside.
The process of making a cup like this takes multiple days (+2000 years to get the wood ) and is completely described
in the manual, if you are more interested. Most of the headphone is handmade but the complex cup design is mostly CNC machined.
The cups also have a Kennerton Stamp on them, which is made of metal and gives the headphones an even more
premium feel.
 

So that was the first thing that sets them apart from the FA-003TiW, but it surely wasn't the last thing.
The ear cushins as well as the headband are made out of real lambskin leather and you can actually smell that at first.
As you saw earlier, they supply you with an additional pair of velour pads, which is pretty cool and gives you even more value.
The next thing is the cable. You get one "normal" and quite long cable which i haven't used yet.
But you also get this really thick premium cable, both with a 6,3mm adapter. It is detachable from the headphones
with two 3.5mm connectors. The cable itself is nice but it's a little too thick and can't bend as good. It is also really
noticable when it rubs against your clothing (especailly zippers!) because of the poor sleeving above the splitter to the two 3.5mm connectors.
Other than that it's a pretty solid cable and it fits perfectly inside the cup and won't fall off.
I also heard people say the thick cable can't hold the 6.3mm adapter but that isn't true, but sadly it's not screw on like the other cable.
 
I found it a little sad that the ear cups themselves can not swivel in any direction, they are just centered stiff.
It's not like you want to fold the headphone for better travelling but it's still nice to have for comfort.
The mounting in general looks pretty identical to Beyerdynamics mounting and it can even fit alien heads as well as
smaller heads. You can feel a nice and satisfying clicking noise when adjusting the cans.
The left and right indicators are located on the cup mounting and look really sweet and shiny in silver.
This makes the headphones look a little bit modern in their overall oldschool design. I really like that approach.
There are pretty much no imperfections in the stitching. The cups are perfect and the mounting is perfect aswell.
Overall for build quality and looks I would give these headphones a 10/10!
 

COMFORT
 
In pretty much every review i've read about them, people complained about the really tight fit of the cans.
I was expecting similar to my HE400i which i like a lot and it's also said about that they are very tight.
But the Kennerton really squeezes your head compared to the Hifiman! It is unreal how strong they are.
The good thing is, you can always stretch too tight headphones but you can't really tighten too loose headphones,
so i appreciate that. They still didn't have to make it THAT strong.
After first putting them on you feel a little squeezed but after some time my head started to hurt because of the headband.
I felt that the weight of the headphones mainly centered on the mid of my head. So after a short time you start to feel it,
which made me quite sad. As for now my favorite headband design comes with the HE400i. The weight distribution is perfect and
even after hours you can't feel them although they are quite heavy.
Because of the fact that i was really unimpressed with the comfort i decided to buy an additional headband for the
Magister. This looks absolutely terrible and completely destroys the look of the headphones.
But the good thing? Now they are comfy as hell! After some time they don't squeez as much anymore either and with the new
ugly headband you can wear them for hours! I'm still looking for a different padding because this is really ugly
right now but comfort is my first priority.
 
Condluding: comfort is probably the biggest weakness of these headphones out of the box, which is giving them only a 5/10.
Though with the "mod" they are quite comfortable and wearable shooting them up over the standard DT880 imho.
They are still a little tight.
A small comparison to my other cans:
HE400i: a solid 10/10, no compromises
Magister: 5/10
"mod" Magister: still a little tight 9/10
DT880: pretty good but not perfect 8.5/10
K7XX: "Meh" but because they are much lighter, a 7.5/10
 

SOUND QUALITY
 
First of my testing equipment:
Mp3's aswell as WAV's from my Computer
Over USB to my
O2 Amp/Dac Combo at 2.5x gain
With the premium cable and a 6.35mm adapter.

In terms of sound quality it was rather different than what i was used too.
You can debate that topic quite a bit but Kennerton recommends a 50hour burn in before the headphones can life up to their full potential.
Can you actually hear a difference? This and much more in the next episode of... NO, no we do it now!
So of course i tried them before the burn in and they sounded quite muffled with a lot of, let's call it, "background base". I had the feeling
there was this constant brumming which was quite uncomfortable for me. This had me thinking i made a bad purchasing decision after all that glorious design
and build quality but i gave them a chance because well, i spent a couple hundred bucks on them!
But not only the background base had me worrying but also weren't they that clear and punchy like i wanted them to be.
They were honestly just not good sounding. Not bad, but certainly not good.
So i gave them 15hours with some charts music and all kind of stuff i listen too.
Quite surprisingly they sounded a lot better with a lot less background base. Additionally i then noticed that the actual base increased in clarity and female vocals
just sounded plain awesome! On that level of sound i felt okay about my purchase but my HE-400i still had a big edge over them.
Of course they are both very different cans and i know that!
So i thought to myself okay, Kennerton recommends 50hours and even 15-20 makes them sound a lot better. So i fired up that Amp and gave them another night or two.
The result was amazing. Honestly. With all other cans i own i didn't notice any burn in and even couldn't believe that that would ever change anything.
With these Headphones it changes pretty much everything but the cool design and quality.
The annoying and headaching background base was gone completely, the actual base is now punchy and 'fast' responding.
Female vocals stayed the same or even improved a little more over the previous 15h burn in.
Now that we got that out of the way and can confirm a noticeable burn in on these headphones i can move on to a deeper analysis of the sound quality.
 
Lows and Base 9/10
The base, as desribed earlier, is quite present still even without that background base. I think a main reason that the base in nicely impacting is the closed design.
And that was what i was seeking with buying closed cans. They are not destroying your ears like overkill subwoovers in your neighbors sons VW Golf that he thinks are cool but they are there.
I don't think (although i haven't personally tested) they can mess with TH-900 or something in terms of base but i like it.
Other low frequency sounds are also clear and differenciated.
 
Mids 9/10
I'm not that kind of guy who knows a lot about the audiophile terms about headphones and for some reason i can talk about lows and highs much better than mids. But here we go.
Since we can call male aswell as some female vocals into the mid or higher mid department i can comment about that.
Earlier i described female vocals as awesome and they are clear and powerfull. I love it when can hear the slight cracking in the voice as if they whisper directly into your ear.
Male vocals are also nice but that's not nearly as noticeable as female vocals.
But instruments, especially an arcustic guitar, maaaan i like that! The Magister do that justice like no other. Same story as with the females imho.
If the song and recordings are good you notice and appreciate it immediately.
 
Highs 8/10
Highs are also pretty good and meet my taste very well. They are not harsh in any way but rather destinct and clear when they appear. I'm not a "high-head" if that's even a thing and
i prefer a warm sound with smooth highs, which is what the Magister deliver.
They probably have better highs than my HE400i which highs i really really like but the Magister might even be better for me because they are a bit more distinct!
 
Leak 10/10
I'm usually headphone-listening alone and for myself so i can't discuss leakage from an outside standpoint but when putting them over my knee the sound is really pretty much gone.
Leakage is almost none, which is good but also useless for at-home-headphones, which i recommend them for!
However when you just take them of and they are not on a knee or head, you can hear a lot! They are little speakers that way.
 
Isolation 10/10
The isolation is phenomenal! No really, it blocks out soo much outside noise, i love it! This was actually one of my greatest purchasing reasons as i heard about that before.
I have a mechanical brown keyboard which is pretty loud when you bottom out the keys and that noise is almost completely gone when putting the headphone
on and it is gone when you fire up some music. Exactly what i wanted but more for my roomm8 than for my keyboard. Both works fine though!
 
Soundstage 10/10
The soundstage is a pretty strong point of the Magister! You get a real great "roomy" feeling when music is running.
Instruments can be located easily and it just feels like you are in this giant room or even more like a big cave. At first this was
kinda annoying to me but with some burn in and a little getting used to i became really faszinated by it.
The Kennerton really puts my dt880, 400i and k7xx to shame when it comes to soundstage.
Also this is very usefull when it comes to gaming, which i'll come to later again.
 

Amplification 10/10
This 64 Ohm headphone really does not need much amplification.
Using my o2 combo at 2.5x gain it is more than happy with like 10% volume, around half as much as for the hifiman.
And it scales like crazy, every tiny bit after comfortable listening volume starts to hurt. You could easily use this headphone to destroy your ears so please be carefull and start on a low level!
I haven't tried these with my phone or anything yet but that should not be a problem whatsoever. I would still recommend a decent amp though, alot of people also recommend
a tube amp but i don't have one to test that out unfortunately. It would probably further increase smoothness and warmness so that's a plus!
 
Gaming 10/10
Gaming probably doesn't really come to mind at first when talking about $900 headphones but we had the music experience already and for me personally, gaming plays a huge role in my life.
Mostly i'm playing cs:go so that's what i'm focussing on.
Some people say that the soundstage in cs itself isn't really great but i think different. It is very important to have a good pair of cans to locate the enemies and not get knifed in the back.
The Magister do a great job with that. You can easily hear footsteps and therefore locate enemies more easily. The soundstage of the headphones allows for a pretty good localization.
You can determine if the enemie is near or further away, behind a wall and from where he is shooting from.
I would certainly not recommend these headphones if your only purpose is gaming but they are very good at that too.
 
 
PRICE TO PERFORMANCE
 
Naturally i'd say they aren't that good of a value at a pretty large $899 price tag. Out of the box they are uncomfortable and just
plain don't sound very good.
After giving them a few hours and modding them comfortable for $15 though, their value goes up rapidly!
So later i'd still not say they are worth that much, keeping in mind they are based on $199 FA-003Ti's.
But with the Magister you get a really premium feeling and rare headphone so for a real enthusiast i'd say they are
worth it.
For me personally, i got them on a discount so for me they value at a great 10/10, for everyone else i'd go down to
a 8/10 probably, depending if you like the signature or not.
 
 

CONCLUSION
 
So after an ~3000 word story about the Kennerton Magister, let's come to and end and conclude everything i just said.
The Magister are indeed a really nice pair of headphones. You have to give them some time to fully appreciate their sound
but the design can be appreciated as soon as you take it out of the box. Again, one of the most beautiful headphones i've seen (before i "ugly-modded" them)

With all the points adding up from above we got ourselves:
Packaging and contents - 10/10
Build Quality - 10/10
Comfort - 5/10 (9/10)
Sound Quality - 9.5/10
Value - 8/10
In total I would give these beautiful and good sounding headphones a 8.5/10 or a 9.5/10 after "ugly-modding" them
because the comfort is pulling them down pretty massively.
I would actually go as far as saying they are my favorite headphone right now. I still like the HE400i and in a very
quite environment they can shine even better but i don't have a quiete einvironment all the time
so the Magister are the better allrounders.

Thank you everyone for hanging in with me and for reading, hope you enjoyed and maybe even
consider the Kennerton Magister!
- Flo

In summary, I like the Magister. I think it’s a good addition to my small collection of headphones and I honestly find the bogwood appealing—quite unique compared to other headphones out there. Most importantly, I do like its sound quality. In my opinion, it shines with vocals, especially compared to my Beyerdynamic T1.
 
Background
 
This is my first time to review an audio product. As you’ll read below, it’s part of the deal when I purchased my Kennerton Magister. Thought I start with some background of myself to put more context to this review.
 
I am relatively new to high-end audio. My very first “expensive” audio gear was the Shure SE530 back in 2010—and I thought that was the pinnacle of what hi-fi sounds like. It wasn’t until 2014 that I decided I needed a headphone for use at home—since the Shure IEMs wasn’t very comfortable. Went to the store set on a buying a Shure headphones (given I’ve been happy with that brand) till I saw a promotion on Beyerdynamics. I never heard of that brand before (I know now that Beyer is a popular brand among audio enthusiasts)—and since I didn’t want the hassle of going back to the store again, I used my phone to read though some reviews and jumped on the T1. Little did I know that I needed an amp and DAC and so the expensive purchase became even more expensive! However, the T1 made me realize that the Shure was good, but wasn’t great. That said, the T1 was just too big for travel—and I doubt it would work well on planes given the background noise. And so my next purchase was also an impulse one when I saw another promotion at a different store for a CIEM. The deal felt too good to pass for me and ended up buying an Heir 10.A—again, a brand I’ve never before.
 
I bet you’ve probably realized by now how new I am in this space. Additionally,  how I tend to buy on impulse (easily influenced by good deals)—and I guess I’ve been lucky so far as I’ve been very happy with my Beyer T1 and my Heir 10.A. I’ve read a lot more since then so I hope I am more “educated” this this regard, but nevertheless nothing beats experience.
 
Anyway, I was hoping I was done with my audio purchases—unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, I stumbled on a deal for Kennerton Magister. As part of that deal, however, I do have to write this review. (It would have been great if I got the unit for free, but alas, it was only a discount off the retail price).
 
One additional caveat to this review beyond what’s already implied above. Since I have limited equipment, I’ll be doing more of an impression and a comparison to my T1. I know it’s not really apples to apples—one being open/semi-open, the other being closed. As such, some of my comments may be a result of that difference as opposed to some unique the Magister has to offer. Nonetheless, I still hope this would be helpful for people considering buying a closed headphones—or someone who has a T1 like me. Another difference between the T1 and Magister is the price. The SRP of T1 is about 50% higher than Magister. Interestingly though, I was able to get my brand new T1 for about 750USD in Singapore, whereas beyond the “review promotion”, the Magister will set you back about 900USD. I’ve also seen the T1 go on promotion on Amazon for around the price of Magister. With this, I would argue that the price is now similar and this is an important point to consider in terms of comparing what they offer.
 
Kennerton Magister
 
I won’t bother going into much detail here of what the Magister is. I guess most of the information is already in their website (http://kennerton.com/products/magister.html). One thing I’ll highlight though is the 2000 yr-old bogwood probably being the key selling point. It definitely looks nice.
 

 
Size wise, the Magister is big—especially compared with the T1 which I thought was already pretty big.
 

 

The construction of the headphones is also very good and gives the impression of durability. Compared to the T1 though, it doesn’t feel luxurious. The T1’s bands are softer whereas the Magister’s, well, feels tougher.
 

 

The Magister is provided with a 2 meter replaceable cable. I’ve actually read others commenting how thick the wires are, so I thought I do a comparison.
 

 
The cables shown from left are (1) Heir Magnus 1, (2) Spare cable with screw in adaptor Kennerton generously provided but don’t think it is part of the standard package, (3) Magister cable—mine didn’t come with a plug adaptor, (4) T1 cable. I wouldn’t say the standard Magister cable (#3 above) is too thick especially compared with the T1. I actually think it looks and feels nice and of good quality, though probably on the stiffer side. (The Kennerton spare cable and the T1 are definitely more flexible.)
 
Interestingly, the cable was 2 meters long. The website states it to be 3 meters… I think 2 meter is just fine though especially if you plan to carry it (for example with a portable DAP even just around the house).
 


It is unfortunate though that it only looks and feels that way. My cable started acting up after a few uses (and I wasn’t even disconnecting/reconnecting the cables!). The left audio breaks when I move or wobble the cable. I’m hoping this is not indicative of the overall quality/durability of Kennerton’s product—after all, even the best brands do have DOA from the to time. It does come with a 3 year warranty.
 
Looking at the cable more closely, it seems that the culprit is the internal plastic molding didn’t fully covered the connection. As a result, wobbling the cable caused the metal to lose contact. I took a peak further inside saw where this likely occurs… and also wondered why they didn’t solder it.
 


Anyway, good that they gave me a spare cable so I was able to continue listening and enjoying my headphones. And in case you’re wondering, no, they didn’t give me a spare in anticipation that the main cable would be defective—or at least I hope so! I actually asked if I could get a slimmer cable as I’ve read the default cable is way too think.
 
After writing to Kennerton to inquire where I could have the wires replaced, they kindly offered to send me replacements—and not one, but two. I think it was a very good gesture from them. The new cables also came in a very nice container box. I received the package in my office and got a few people complimenting the item. The cover is wood. The container itself is made of cardboard. Would have been nicer if the container were more durable to complement that of the cover. That would really encourage the reuse of the container for other stuff… but perhaps it’s just me and it was never intended to be reused.
 


 
 
Sound quality
 
The Magister requires some burn-in time before it shows its potential. In fact, I was initially disappointed when I first got it before I remembered to do some burn-in. It didn’t take a lot. Possibly 1-2 hrs listening for a week did the trick.
 
For the most part, I used my existing set up. TEAC UD-501 as my DAC and Schiit Valhalla 2 as my amp. One difference though is how I would listen to the Magister and T1 is the gain level. I used low gain with the Magister with its 64 ohms impedance and high for the T1 with its 600 ohms and higher power requirements. One good thing about the Magister is that it’s much easier to drive. My Fiio X3II is able to drive it well at low gain and with volume set at around 70 / 120.
 
After the burn-in period, I’d say that I do like the sound. In fact, there were a couple of songs that I thought sounded OK with my T1. Listening with the Magister, however, the song was quite enjoyable. I think vocals is where it really shines. One such song is Adele’s Someone Like You. With the Magister, her presence is stronger. I also think that there’s more separation between the piano and her voice with the Magister versus the T1.
 
Another song where I thought this is the case is Ed Sheeran’s I See Fire. His voice also exudes a stronger presence with the Magister. One aspect that I also noticed listening to this song with the Magister is the perception that I’m listening in a large room. Perhaps I am sensing a slight echo? I’m guessing this is probably because of the difference between a closed versus an open headphone. The room effect comes out pretty nicely and likely creates that feeling of the stronger presence. I won’t be surprised if a lot of this nicety is a result of the interior shape of the wood. From what I understand, it has a unique step shape and even the bottom portion have pyramid carvings. This is how they show it on their website.
 

 
 
In Spanish Harlem, the T1 and Magister sounded somewhat different from each other. Perhaps the echo on the vocals is enhanced a bit—but in a nice way— on the Magister. While both sounded good, I think I prefer the Magister on this.
 
There are, however, music where I strongly prefer the T1 over the Magister. Listening to The Magnificent Seven by Erich Kunzel Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, the T1 has a more balanced feel and the much wider sound stage is simply better. The T1 makes me focus on the violin with the trumpets being less emphasized. The Magister, on the other hand, makes me hear the trumpets more and to in some instances, the violin is relegated to the background. The superiority of the sound stage of T1 is also evident in Jennifer Warnes’ Way Down Deep. Here, I felt that the drums in both T1 and Magister’s sounded good. However, there’s a shaker instrument in the intro section where in the T1, I can sense more spatial movement while it’s being shaken. With the Magister, I can sense that it’s towards the far right, but that’s about it.
 
Comfort
 
Overall, I find the Magister comfortable. That said, the T1 is definitely much more comfortable. In fact, I can see how some people might find the Magister uncomfortable, particularly with the strong clasp. It’s actually quite evident in the side-by-side photos with the T1 I’ve included above. You’ll notice that the T1 doesn’t close all the way in normal resting position—whereas the Magister is fully closed. To give you a sense of how strong the clasp is, if I were to extend the bands all the way for both the T1 and the Magister, the T1 would slip whereas the Magister would stay in place. In other words, the T1 is held in place by both the band (resting on the top of my head) as well as the light clasp on both ears. The Magister, on the other hand, can be supported entirely by the strong clasp. When wearing it, I also have to exert some effort to open it. Doesn’t bother me. But had my head been slightly bigger, I’ll have to exert even more effort and the clasp would be even stronger—and that I can imagine would not be comfortable at all.
 
The Magister uses leather pads, whereas the T1 has velour. Comfort wise, the T1 wins. However, I can imagine the Magister being more durable. Good thing both are easily replaceable.
 

 
 
Packaging
 
I don’t know whether a lot of people here would pay attention to this aspect: packaging. I find it a bit disappointing that it feels like Kennerton skimped on this. Comparing the outer packaging, the T1 feels more premium—especially given the street price being similar.
 

 

 
Looking inside, again, the T1 with its aluminum box feels and looks more luxurious than Kennerton’s. The Kennerton fabric feels a bit cheap—though the leather handle and branding somewhat compensates, but not fully. Having said that, I have to say it is more functional. The fact that it is a bag makes it usable to practical around—that is, if you would want to actually use it outside given its size. Good thing is you don’t need a large amp to drive it, unlike the T1. I probably would have preferred Kennerton providing a full leather bag—or ballistic nylon. Understandably, it would increase the cost and one could argue that any incremental cost would be better spent on improving the headphones rather than the container.


 

 

 
 

 
 
Conclusion
 
As shared in the summary, I liked the Magister. I think it really sounds good with vocals, especially compared to my Beyerdynamic T1. As to whether I recommend it, I guess I don’t have much comparison to other closed headphones to give a credible recommendation. Admittedly, I don’t think I would recommend this over the T1—then again, either can I recommend the T1 over this. They just sound different so much so that I plan to keep both and hope to continue enjoying both for the foreseeable future.

 
UPDATE 6/30/2015
 
Yesterday I received a message from Kennerton on Head-Fi thanking me for the review. They believe that customs must have opened the package and damaged the cup, and offered to send me a replacement cup in the mail. I definitely appreciate them being proactive about reaching out to contact me about this and rectify the problem.
 
Intro & Disclaimer
 
Some while back I first saw the Kennerton Magister as a possible option on Massdrop, and I was instantly interested. I really do have a thing for closed-back headphones, and the only information I could find on this pair was extremely positive, placing it at or above the level of the Fostex TH900. So, I went ahead and cast my vote and proceeded to forget about it.
 
It was a couple months later that Kennerton offered a promotion here on Head-Fi to buy the Magister at a discounted price in exchange for writing a review. I jumped on the chance, and here we are!
 
For those of you who don't know, Kennerton is the "upscale" brand for products by Fischer Audio. The Kennerton Magister is actually based on the Fischer FA-003 Ti. From what I understand, the differences include the wood cups, higher quality cable, real lambskin leather for the pads, and a driver revision.
 
Ordering Experience
 
I wanted to put in a bit about the ordering experience just because it ended up being a little convoluted. Kennerton/Fischer is based out of Russia, so while everyone was courteous and gracious, I feel like there was a bit of a language barrier at times.
 
After initially contacting Kennerton through the forums here and getting a very quick response, I hadn't heard anything for a few days so I messaged back. I was then given the contact email for the person who would take my order, a lady named Alla. She instructed me to send the payment via PayPal to a mail.com account, which to be honest kind of concerned me. I replied back and asked if I could have an invoice, as I had been hoping to use PayPal Credit (initially because I was waiting on a check, but at this point as an extra level of security for myself). She replied that she could send me an invoice and just needed my address to do so. At this point I breathed a sigh of relief, which dissipated a bit after I received a PDF invoice in the next email. After I clarified that I would like a PayPal invoice, she said she would see if it was possible and sent it to me shortly after.
 
Overall, all of this turned out fine, but it was just a little odd. Alla and the other people involved were very accommodating. I do think most of the issue was due to the language barrier, or it could be that these processes are a little different in Russia. Shipping did take a couple weeks, and I began to hope pretty quickly that there was no reason I would have to send the headphones back.
 
Design & Comfort
 
The cups are made of ancient bog oak, which as I understand is basically semi-fossilized wood that has been in a peat bog for a long time, in this case over 2000 years. Two things here: First, it's kind of cool owning something that is literally older than the holy grail. Second, it really is beautiful. The finish is very minimal; a friend who works with wood for a living noted that it might only be a coat of linseed oil, and the aesthetic definitely works. Unfortunately, my particular pair does have an imperfection on one cup.
 

 
From what I understand this kind of flaw is not uncommon in bog oak and can be caused by the forming process. It also doesn't seem to affect the sound. Still, it is unfortunate to see something like this in such a high end product, especially when a lot of the luxury quality comes from the cups itself. However, as this was an aesthetic problem (and possibly even within Kennerton's QA tolerance) I didn't want to go through the trouble of sending them all the way back to Russia. (UPDATE: As mentioned above, Kennerton contacted me proactively and offered to send me a new cup free of charge. Definitely get some solid customer service points for that!)
 
Upon taking them out of the box, I was immediately surprised by how light in weight these are. I believe the bog oak must be fairly light (or fairly thin), because in spite of the large wood cups, the Kennerton weighs barely more than my Ultrasone Signature Pros.
 
One thing I don't particularly like is the cable. It seems to be high quality and has plenty of length, but the coating reminds me of those big "snake" cables they use for professional A/V setups. In addition it's rather thick and there are some microphonics if the upper part of the cable rubs your shirt. Honestly it's not really a big issue, but I am glad it's easily replaceable. It does have a nice 1/8" termination and includes a screw-on 1/4" adapter.
 
Out of the box, clamp is somewhat high, but if you stretch out the headband comfort is very good. The pads fully enclose your ears and have enough thickness for long listening sessions. Having real leather is definitely a nice touch. The headband could use a little more cushion for my preference, but it's thin enough to buy a cheap aftermarket pilot pad, so I wouldn't consider it a major issue.
 
Sound
 
Sound impressions are from my personal setup, a Mousai MSD192 DAC and a Purity Audio K.I.C.A.S. Caliente headphone amp. I also want to point out that I let the Magister burn in on pink noise for about 20 hours due to my experience with titanium drivers. It definitely improved the sound from out of the box, particularly the first 5 hours. It could be that more burn in would improve the sound further, but I think 20 hours is a fair amount of time to spend.
 
Okay... I'm really kind of divided here. Let's touch on the good stuff first.
 
Soundstage and imaging are phenomenal, and I would say THE major strength of the Magister. I had the chance to directly compare them to the ZMF Omni prototype, Fostex TH600, and my own Ultrasone Sig Pros, and the Kennerton was not beaten by any of them. I won't say it was unequivocally "better" than these, but it certainly held its own and then some.
 
Bass is nice and punchy. My amp definitely contributes to this, but the bass was perfectly acceptable on other setups as well. Highs are a little hot for my taste, but detail is extremely high. I don't generally pay attention to cymbals in recordings, but percussion in general is very noticeable. For example, I just heard a tambourine right now in a recording that I've listened to for years and never noticed. These seem to be quite neutral for better or worse. I like to listen to my music fairly loud, but with this pair I find I have to turn it down or I get fatigued.
 
There is something about the overall tonality of these headphones that just doesn't seem right to me. This is especially prevalent in the mids when listening to male vocals and electric guitar, but seems to be present in the overall sound signature. It could actually well be related to the open nature of the sound, as I feel a distinct lack of weight and texture that I'm used to in my other closed headphones. There's a lot of attack and detail, but that's about it. It actually reminds me of the aspects of the HD 800 that I don't particularly like.
 
It could be that a darker setup with a tube amp would help the Magister quite a bit. But my concern here is that while my setup is fairly detail oriented, it definitely isn't particularly bright.
 
Isolation is excellent. I think it might even be better than my Sig Pros, which is high praise indeed. Sensitivity is also fairly high, and it uses the same volume range as the Sig Pros on my amp. When music isn't playing, there's a very pleasant blackness in the silence.
 
Actually, just as a quick experiment, I turned down the volume knob, and I definitely prefer these on lower volumes. The tonality doesn't sound off anymore, and the mids are fine. It's not really either exciting or relaxing, but just clear. I think this may be the ideal way to listen to these.
 
Conclusion
 
The Kennerton Magister definitely isn't for me, and it's likely that my pair will be going up on the classifieds soon. If you're looking to be immersed in the music, I don't think this is where you want to end up. Compared to other high end closed headphones, they don't have the visceral, impactful, engaging quality that I love.
 
That being said, I can understand how some people would like these. They're extremely open and neutral while still having excellent isolation. If you prefer the sound of open headphones but have a situation that won't allow for sound leakage, these definitely might hold some appeal for you.
 
In terms of price and the value proposition, I think it really depends on which perspective you hold. If you really can't stand the "closed headphone" sound but need the isolation, I could definitely see you paying MSRP for these. On the other hand, I couldn't really put a value on them as for my personal taste there are a lot of better alternatives at or below this price range.

Ok here goes my review. Been listening to these for the last 10 hours or so.
 
Box Opening:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
The outer paper box is alright looking, nothing special really. But the carrying case is a nice touch The envelops with the seals are a nice touch.
 
Onto the construction of the headphones. Everything looks very solid & hand crafted throughout. Everything feels solid and tight, and the headband is nice and clicky, not too loose not too tight. The pads with the lambskin leather, foam & stitching is a bit uneven but you can see that its literally hand crafted and some care went in to making them.
 
The thick cable is pretty serious looking. heavy and weighting. (However as i'll come to find out later, these are actually faulty). It's very nice that they gave a thinner cable as well. (Turns out i needed these, otherwise i would have been a very unhappy camper). Also to note the included 1/4 adapter doesn’t fit the thicker cable. 
 
The cups are beaautiful. The ironwood (another name for bogwood. which i think sounds far nicer) even nicer in person. Very happy with the way these look =)
 
overall nice presentation~
 
 
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Comfort:
at first: wearing them: very stout clamping force. will have to wait to see if it can be loosened up
 
After about 15 minutes; form fits very well and clamping force no longer becomes a problem
 
 
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Testing Gear:
Wyre4Sound µDAC HD > Kenwood KR770 as preamp > MIT AVT3 RCA cables > Asgard 1
 
with tube amp:
W4S µDAC HD > KR770 > Indeed G2 w/ Phillips 7308 CCa tubes
 
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Preface: The heavy cables were faulty..they sounded nice…when it worked. the contacts for the right channel would go in and out. Kinda unacceptable for a $900 retail pair of headphones. Luckily the longer cable sounded fine and didn’t have contact issues. Notes below are of when it was working. had to keep my head very still...
 
Initial Listening: (no burn in) - with heavy cables
 
    - Very nice, clean, nice instrument separation / resolution & clarity. soundstage is ok considering that it’s a closed back. voices & mids seem pretty crisp, if not a bit thin. bass is very impactful, tight and clear. highs are pushed back a little but not muddled. Overall a pretty balanced sound. 
    - Negatives so far seems to be the soundstage is a bit on the small side, mids are a little clinical sounding, clear but not very musical. (initially i had thought this was a burn in issue. but it's probably due to the faulty cable)
 
    - positives seems to be the overall clarity& instrument separation, even with the small soundstage (it doesn’t sound congested at all. Bass is VERY nice. very tight, clear and impactful. Might be the best bass i’ve heard from a closed back so far in terms of the quality. 
 
 
Listening: no burn in - light longer cables
    - Seems like with lighter thinner longer cables the mids are much nicer, livelier, fuller, and soundstage is a little bigger. The earlier thoughts on the mids lacking may have to do with the faulty cable.
    - with these cables working, everything seems to be much more opened up, & forward sounding. upon further listening. Vocals are much nicer now. Clear, crisp, yet musical. there was probably phasing issues because of the loose / bad contacts in the heavy cables. Still sounds like there can be improvements though. 
 
 
Initial overall impressions
- Very impressive clarity / balance / separation. Especially the bass! Does phenomenal with modern recordings. Hearing some micro details i’ve not heard previously! Very excellent with modern hiphop / R&B
 
 
Further Listening: Burned in, light cable (heavy cables not functioning correctly..) @ around the 6 hour mark
- Bass response has improved (even more articulate, more mass, slightly more impact). drums are also sounding more and more realistic (accurate sounding timber)
- some micro detail sparkles are more refined as well. The timber of pianos & guitars are very very nice now
- However now the mids sound slightly recessed with the bass / lower mids elevated. Female vocals especially. I mean they’re still very clear & musical, but theres a bit of a a “veil” now. I’m hoping the mids will improve with longer burn in and become more engaging.
- Overall the biggest thing to note is how fast and nice the decay is, especially in the bass, but really all across the board. Which is how everything sounds clear without anything being sharp or sibilant
 
 
**at this point i realized that although everything was articulate it needed some organicness / color to make the music come to life. I then proceeded to put in my tube amp . (Indeed G2 + Phillips 7308 CCa)   Oh man. Now everything has come to life~! The mids are now very much alive! 
 
 
 
 
Synesthesia Notes (You can choose to ignore this as i may sound like a crazy person…)
- The sound signature of these headphones would like a very nice beautiful polished marble statue. Not ivory nor ebony, but something in between. It’s like a human statue with decorative carvings, where the edges are thin but not razor sharp, very clear and distinct features with a flowly but solid cape / cloth. Its almost lifelike, all the little details are there and very clear, never smeared, but yet still chiseled in stone. 
 
- As a comparison, i hear the LCD 2s as creamy chocolaty with some caramel in its textures, DT880 as airy fine silver strings that flow
 
— As mentioned earlier. When pairing this with a Solid state it was like a marble statue. With a tube amp its like the statue just came to life~ Where there was stone & cool there is now flesh & color & warmth. I highly recommend pairing this with a tube amp.
 
 
 
 
Genres- does well with modern pop / hiphop / R&B / EDM recordings
    **These sound AMAZING with hip hop. Bass is VERY VERY NICE. Blows the Denon D2000 (lawton modded) out of the water. From my memory, better than the TH900s too. The bass is tight, impactful, articulate, but not thin, it actually has plenty of mass without being boomy. 
    ** Another note, this is spectacular with EDM because of the bass mass & fast articulation with minimal decay. Makes for a very clean & full listening
 
Unlike most bashed phones, these have very clear instrument separation, lots of micro detail and the vocals are crisp, fast and musical. The balance just sound “right” with modern recordings.
 
 
Overall Thoughts @ 10 hour mark
These are VERY nice headphones to have. Best closed back headphones i have heard. hands down. Amazing articulation, fast decay, everything is nice polished for all of the frequencies. Everything sounds clear without being overly airy / thin / bright / sharp. Not too dark or warm either. Everything has mass but isn’t bloated. It’s just right. With standard amp these are awesome for EDM / Hiphop / R&B & modern recordings in general. But still good for other genres (rock, blues etc..) 
 
My only beef with it is that its kind of neutral to a fault, a bit “lifeless” when paired with a solid state amp. (this may be because of my personal preference for warmer, lusher, more liquid sounds). The solution though is to pair it with a nice tube amp and it’s Pure Bliss~ Every thing comes to life! 
 
Minus the small issue i have with one of cables (the heavy one) being faulty, this pair is definitely worth the price at MSRP. 
 
Highly recommended!