[eric65]

Kennerton has v281 in office as one of reference sources

Indeed.

The Violectric V590 also seems to be a good amp to pair with the Kennerton Thekk.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kennerton-thekk.24155/reviews

and I also imagine it should work well with those other two Kennerton headphones.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ken...hror-discussion.732814/page-258#post-16003980

 

[Malevolent]

I've compared the Gjallarhorn GH50 with the Audeze LCD-XC, the Klipsch Heritage HP-3, and the ZMF Vérité Closed here.

To be frank, the bass performance of the Gjallarhorn has exceeded my expectations. It rivals the AH-D9200 and the Vérité Closed for sheer quality; moreover, it has slightly greater impact, so it's quite a treat for fans of bass-heavy headphones.

If this is what Kennerton can do with their closed-back headphones, I'm eagerly awaiting their next closed flagship!

 

[eric65]

Hi all.

Pierre Paya the importer of Kennerton products in France disappointed me a lot with his peremptory, expeditious and definitive criticism of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition Headphones, following the listening of only two titles of music with these headphones.

links: https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7550#p7550 and https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7555#p7555

I ask myself the question of :

Headphones well adjusted? (with sufficient clamping) to balance the sound (to obtain a good low/medium balance in particular).
Headphones (possibly) defective ?

And then what he describes with the JM Edition compared to the standard version hardly seems believable to me, and calls into question the perception of other listeners, starting with the guys from Kennerton who found the modification interesting.

So who's right?

 

[eric65]

Otherwise, a question to ask Kennerton: how can the French buy a Kennerton Gjallarhorn JM Edition headphone or a Kennerton Wodan headphone or a Kennerton M12 Studio, or a Kennerton JORD, since these four headphones do not appear in the sales catalog from the French importer: https://www.casques-headphones.com/portefeuille/Kennerton-c49575661
Apparently these four headphones do not interest Pierre Paya, the French importer from Kennerton in France.

 

[arielext]

Order directly from Kennerton?

 

[eric65]

Order directly from Kennerton?

I don't think this is possible if the importer of Kennerton products in France has an exclusivity clause for the French market.

 

[arielext]

I don't think this is possible if the importer of Kennerton products in France has an exclusivity clause for the French market.

Sorry, didn't know that was the case. Indeed only Kennerton knows the answer then.

 

[frost15]

Hi all.

Pierre Paya the importer of Kennerton products in France disappointed me a lot with his peremptory, expeditious and definitive criticism of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition Headphones, following the listening of only two titles of music with these headphones.

links: https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7550#p7550 and https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7555#p7555

I ask myself the question of :

Headphones well adjusted? (with sufficient clamping) to balance the sound (to obtain a good low/medium balance in particular).
Headphones (possibly) defective ?

And then what he describes with the JM Edition compared to the standard version hardly seems believable to me, and calls into question the perception of other listeners, starting with the guys from Kennerton who found the modification interesting.

So who's right?

Thank you for posting this information. I have actually watched some Pierre's YouTube videos and he seems a well educated listener, so something in this seems off... First, did he bend the metal band for a good, optimal clamp? It completely affects the way the JM horns sound, specially when it comes to the bass. Someone should ask him. In the end perception is everything and may vary from person to person but from what I'm hearing I can't understand such an absolute rebuttal of the JM horns.

 

[EternityInParis]

Hi all.

Pierre Paya the importer of Kennerton products in France disappointed me a lot with his peremptory, expeditious and definitive criticism of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition Headphones, following the listening of only two titles of music with these headphones.

links: https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7550#p7550 and https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7555#p7555

I ask myself the question of :

Headphones well adjusted? (with sufficient clamping) to balance the sound (to obtain a good low/medium balance in particular).
Headphones (possibly) defective ?

And then what he describes with the JM Edition compared to the standard version hardly seems believable to me, and calls into question the perception of other listeners, starting with the guys from Kennerton who found the modification interesting.

So who's right?

I just listened to the two songs he tested (Muddy Waters/Daphne) and the recordings are not engaging/dynamic. Very simple folk songs, very vanilla and straight-forward. The problem is not the JM Edition, it is Paya's source material that he listens to.

These songs would sound the same on even lower end headphones because they are not complex recordings with many details or dynamics. It is strange to complain about a lack of bass when these songs don't have low end as their strong point. I do not believe he listens to any rock, metal or electronic music. I'm taking a guess he listens to only folk, classical, orchestral, blues or any laid-back cafe/lounge style of music.

I don't think he bothered to bend the headband to get a good seal either if he didn't bother to listen to more than two songs before calling it quits. You want to bend the headband so that when you lay it on a table the pads are touching each other.

But the most shocking thing I saw in his review was this quote...

" Frankly, buy an HD660s and you will have as well for 500 € ... Him at least, he gives for our money."

Low end, sound stage and dynamics can not be compared on these two headphones. Sennheiser HD 660s is nowhere near Magni, let alone Gjallarhorn JM edition.

It is like saying "I did not enjoy this Porsche when I drove it on the highway at 60mph with cruise control on, so you might as well go buy a Ford Fusion because you will be getting the same acceleration and saving money."

I guarantee you a Christopher Nolan/Hans Zimmer film score does not sound the same on HD 660s vs. Gjallarhorn JM Edition.

 

[frost15]

I just listened to the two songs he tested (Muddy Waters/Daphne) and the recordings are not engaging/dynamic. Very simple folk songs, very vanilla and straight-forward. The problem is not the JM Edition, it is Paya's source material that he listens to.

These songs would sound the same on even lower end headphones because they are not complex recordings with many details or dynamics. It is strange to complain about a lack of bass when these songs don't have low end as their strong point. I do not believe he listens to any rock, metal or electronic music. I'm taking a guess he listens to only folk, classical, orchestral, blues or any laid-back cafe/lounge style of music.

I don't think he bothered to bend the headband to get a good seal either if he didn't bother to listen to more than two songs before calling it quits. You want to bend the headband so that when you lay it on a table the pads are touching each other.

I have not listened to his source material, but I was listening to Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue when I read his comments and I just had to laugh in disbelief. Again, perception is everything, but I'm gonna bet that he did not bend the metal band too... He has to be missing something.
Edit: By the way, I also found his Sennheiser 660 comment hilarious and a complete overreaction haha. Precisely those are headphones I've listened to in the past and they are nowhere near the JM horns in so many aspects I wouldn't know even where to start. Truth be told tough, for their price they are very good, even though I prefer the Shure 1540SRH in that range.

 

[SnakeRoberts01]

Hi all.

Pierre Paya the importer of Kennerton products in France disappointed me a lot with his peremptory, expeditious and definitive criticism of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition Headphones, following the listening of only two titles of music with these headphones.

links: https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7550#p7550 and https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7555#p7555

I ask myself the question of :

Headphones well adjusted? (with sufficient clamping) to balance the sound (to obtain a good low/medium balance in particular).
Headphones (possibly) defective ?

And then what he describes with the JM Edition compared to the standard version hardly seems believable to me, and calls into question the perception of other listeners, starting with the guys from Kennerton who found the modification interesting.

So who's right?

I think Pierre was having a bad listening day. We've all had those right? Probably had an argument with his girlfriend...maybe his mother inlaw is staying...

 

[Malevolent]

Hi all.

Pierre Paya the importer of Kennerton products in France disappointed me a lot with his peremptory, expeditious and definitive criticism of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition Headphones, following the listening of only two titles of music with these headphones.

links: https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7550#p7550 and https://musique-o-casque.com/viewtopic.php?p=7555#p7555

I ask myself the question of :

Headphones well adjusted? (with sufficient clamping) to balance the sound (to obtain a good low/medium balance in particular).
Headphones (possibly) defective ?

And then what he describes with the JM Edition compared to the standard version hardly seems believable to me, and calls into question the perception of other listeners, starting with the guys from Kennerton who found the modification interesting.

So who's right?

If the JM edition is a (slightly) refined version of the GH50, I doubt that anyone could ever experience that extreme a reaction. I (greatly) enjoy the GH50 for its inherent capabilities, but I certainly wouldn't say "no" to a tweaked version that includes a more defined treble presentation.

His impressions are very negative; you'd think that he was listening to a bargain-bin $10 headphone. Weird.

 

[arielext]

When I got my Gjallarhorns I was thoroughly unimpressed as well, then again my pair had malformed membranes due to transport ...

 

[eric65]

Hello again to all.

Like all of you, I am very surprised, and not to say disappointed, by the very negative review, and in my opinion a little fast, even expeditious, that the French importer of Kennerton headphones, Pierre Paya, has just made on the JM Edition version of the Kennerton Gjallarhorn.

First of all, and you pointed it out, a bad implementation of this Kennerton Gjallarhorn headphones (bad adjustment), especially the JM Edition version which has a little less bass level than the standard version, can ruin the listening of the Gjallarhorn if a perfect seal of the pads is not ensured, with sufficient pressure which justifies, sometimes, and even more often for normal to small heads, tightening the clamping force of the headphones by bending the metal arms of the headband inwards, as indicated in the last review of this headphones.
A lack of pad sealing and/or insufficient clamping force, resulting in a drastic drop in the bass level (and the dynamics of the headphones), as well as a clear imbalance in the tonal balance with a medium taking over the bass.

On another side, and this has unfortunately already happened at least once to one of the members of this forum, one cannot totally exclude a defect of the tested earphones that would have badly withstood air transport (with drivers completely crushed by a pressure difference).

That said, starting from the hypothesis of a good implementation of this headphones, on the one hand, and the absence of defect of this headphones (possible) on the other hand, I still note some inconsistencies in the test of the Gjallarhorn JM Edition made by Pierre...

According to Pierre's evaluations, as much the unmodified Gjallarhorn GH 50 would be excellent, as much the modified version would be execrable and ruined by these modifications, to the point of preferring to this last version a Sennheiser HD660S headphones...
All this, for a question of "high efficiency" of the Gjallarhorn headphones which would not support any modification of the headphones according to a hypothesis put forward by Pierre.

What is curious in this story of "high efficiency" sacralized by Pierre, is that the Kennerton Thekk, which Pierre qualifies as the best headphones ever produced by Kennerton, has a much lower efficiency than the two Kennerton Gjallarhorn headphones (standard and JM Edition), and that the Magni V3 (which Pierre appreciates much less than the Gjallarhorn GH 50) has the same efficiency as the Gjallarhorn ...

So, double standards, as they say in France, concerning the evaluation of these different headphones?

This evaluation seems to me to be quite arbitrary.

Otherwise, if this "underestimation" of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition were to be confirmed by Pierre, it would be a shame that the French cannot have access to this headphones, at least in a visible way in the catalog of the french importer of the Kennerton brand (where neither the headphones nor the price of the Kennerton Wodan, the JORD and the M12 Studio appear in this catalog, by the way ...).

So, will there be the possibility for French people to buy directly from Kennerton (on the internantional website) the Kennerton products that are not imported in France (and/or that do not appear on the importer's website)?
This is the question I ask Kennerton on this forum.

 

[frost15]

Hello again to all.

Like all of you, I am very surprised, and not to say disappointed, by the very negative review, and in my opinion a little fast, even expeditious, that the French importer of Kennerton headphones, Pierre Paya, has just made on the JM Edition version of the Kennerton Gjallarhorn.

First of all, and you pointed it out, a bad implementation of this Kennerton Gjallarhorn headphones (bad adjustment), especially the JM Edition version which has a little less bass level than the standard version, can ruin the listening of the Gjallarhorn if a perfect seal of the pads is not ensured, with sufficient pressure which justifies, sometimes, and even more often for normal to small heads, tightening the clamping force of the headphones by bending the metal arms of the headband inwards, as indicated in the last review of this headphones.
A lack of pad sealing and/or insufficient clamping force, resulting in a drastic drop in the bass level (and the dynamics of the headphones), as well as a clear imbalance in the tonal balance with a medium taking over the bass.

On another side, and this has unfortunately already happened at least once to one of the members of this forum, one cannot totally exclude a defect of the tested earphones that would have badly withstood air transport (with drivers completely crushed by a pressure difference).

That said, starting from the hypothesis of a good implementation of this headphones, on the one hand, and the absence of defect of this headphones (possible) on the other hand, I still note some inconsistencies in the test of the Gjallarhorn JM Edition made by Pierre...

According to Pierre's evaluations, as much the unmodified Gjallarhorn GH 50 would be excellent, as much the modified version would be execrable and ruined by these modifications, to the point of preferring to this last version a Sennheiser HD660S headphones...
All this, for a question of "high efficiency" of the Gjallarhorn headphones which would not support any modification of the headphones according to a hypothesis put forward by Pierre.

What is curious in this story of "high efficiency" sacralized by Pierre, is that the Kennerton Thekk, which Pierre qualifies as the best headphones ever produced by Kennerton, has a much lower efficiency than the two Kennerton Gjallarhorn headphones (standard and JM Edition), and that the Magni V3 (which Pierre appreciates much less than the Gjallarhorn GH 50) has the same efficiency as the Gjallarhorn ...

So, double standards, as they say in France, concerning the evaluation of these different headphones?

This evaluation seems to me to be quite arbitrary.

Otherwise, if this "underestimation" of the Kennerton Gajallarhorn JM Edition were to be confirmed by Pierre, it would be a shame that the French cannot have access to this headphones, at least in a visible way in the catalog of the french importer of the Kennerton brand (where neither the headphones nor the price of the Kennerton Wodan, the JORD and the M12 Studio appear in this catalog, by the way ...).

So, will there be the possibility for French people to buy directly from Kennerton (on the internantional website) the Kennerton products that are not imported in France (and/or that do not appear on the importer's website)?
This is the question I ask Kennerton on this forum.

I have another hypothesis: Pierre liked the JM horns so much he decided to be the sole owner in all France and therefore roasted them in his forums so nobody has the slightest interest in them . On a serious note I think he did not bend the metal band. In his review /comparison of the unmodified Gjallarhorn and the Magni he did not do it, and I think both headphones benefit as well of a correct clamp. That or he did get a defective pair, who knows... I'm here enjoying Cathedral's Carnival Bizarre