Hello everyone.
The following is my audiophile path that led me, as my last main headphone, to the Kennerton Thekk headphones, a fairly open planar headphone with good sensitivity, 100 dB/1mW (42 Ohm).
My appreciation of these headphones may of course differ from yours for a matter of taste and color, as well as ear sensitivity.
I also wanted to correlate these listening impressions to the frequency response of these headphones normalized according to the target curve proposed by the critic Crinacle, which corresponds more or less to my ear sensitivity.
This target curve is discussed here :
https://boizoff.com/?p=948 (note: use google translate).
My musical tastes are very eclectic: Classical music, Jazz, pop/rock, Folk, Reggae, symphonic Metal.
However, I attach great importance to the reproduction of the piano (left and right hand), and human voices, especially female voices.
I like warm, deep, warm, but not muffled sounds; I like bass, provided it is not excessive, sufficiently precise and fast, giving rhythm to the music.
I don't like thin, etheral or unbalanced sounds with an excess of treble or high medium that tend to twist my ears.
I like sounds that are at the same time sufficiently nuanced and precise to separate the timbres of two voices singing on the same note, but also sufficiently dynamic and fast enough to give rhythm and life to the music.
First headphones listened to, the
Sennheiser HD-600 on the headphone jack of an Onkyo integrated amplifier.
Its relatively balanced; but the bass is imprecise and distorted at high power, and the high-midrange at 3000 Hz is too emphasized, and (for my ear) tiring to hear for listening to the electric guitar, too emphasized. The sound is quite grainy. It's a good mid-fi headphone (in my ear).
Second headphones listened to, a
Stax SR-007 mk2 on a Stax SRM-727-II amplifier.
Electrostatic headphones of great finesse and fluidity compared to the Sennheiser HD-600, with a warm sound, but the bass is poorly controlled with the Stax amplifier; not dynamic enough (they are soft). In addition, there is a dullness in the upper-midrange and treble distorting the female voices, which are dull and lacking in presence; at the same time there is a flicker of the over-treble (above 10 Khz) making the listening quite special, very scintillating in the treble.
Third headphones listened to, a
Stax SR-009 on a Stax SRM-727-II amplifier.
Electrostatic headphones of great finesse and fluidity compared to the Sennheiser HD-600, with a very defined sound, fast, better held in the bass than that of the Stax SR-007 mk2 (and also descending lower), but there is a accent of this SR-009 headset in the upper medium (at 1.5 Khz) with projecting female voices making them hard to listen to at high level of SPL listening. In addition, even if the highs are very fine, they are too present for my ears: this headphone is too bright. Finally, with this amplification, I find it boring, because it lends itself more to sound analysis than to relaxed listening. It is a headphones for analysis, and not for fun, more than anything else.
Fourth headphones listened to, an
Audeze LCD-3F on an Audiovalve RKV2 amplifier.
Very warm open planar headphones, with lush mids, very pleasant to hear, but the upper timbres of the female voices in the treble (and the right hand of the piano) are truncated, and smothered. This headphone lacks quite clearly of high medium and low treble, while having a peak in the treble at 6 KHz.
Fifth headphones listened to, an
Kennerton Odin mk1 (then mk2) on an Audiovalve RKV2 amplifier.
Open planar headphones a little less warm than the LCD-3F, with very pleasant to hear, quite lush mids (but a little less lush than the Audeze LCD-3), with more precise, dynamic, fast and textured bass than those of the Audeze LCD-3 (and LCD-X), but less extended in the sub-bass, and with high-midds a little more present than that of the Audeze LCD-3 (and X), but which lacks a bit on female voices (and the right hand of the piano, perfectible); the treble, more present than that of Audeze LCD3 (and X) is quite irregular, more grainy than that of Thror, and even more of Thekk (much fine).
Sixth headphones listened to, a
Kennerton Thror on a Viva 2A3 amplifier.
Open planar headphones much less warm than the Odin mk2, much lighter (in weight) (200 g less), straighter, more rigorous, more precise, faster, more open and ventilated than the Odin mk2, with mediums less luxuriant, more "high perched", with an accent at 3 KHz; treble more set back (than the Odin mk2), but finer (less grainy); medium bass (and dynamic) a little behind the Odin mk2, but the sub-bass are more present. The bass is faster, textured and defined than that of the Odin mk2; the power handling is also superior.
Seventh listened to, a
Kennerton Thekk on a Viva 2A3 amplifier.
Open planar headphones warmer and more attractive than the Thror, even lighter (in weight), with more bass level and body for stringed instruments; voice even more accurate and natural than that of the Thror, with more body and devoid of this accent at 3 Khz, distorting a little the voices with the Thror; headphones still (a little more) open and airy than the Thror: bass as fast and with the same slam as the Thror; treble a little finer than that of the Thror.
Eighth headphones listened to (in demonstration), a
Sennheiser HE-1 (with its own tube preamplifier).
Open-ended electrostatic headphone that fixes most of the faults of the Stax SR-009, to my ears (Note: the Stax SR-009 is too bright, too ethereal, with too thin sound, and with an unpleasant accent in the upper-midrange at 1.5 KHz)).
Well, the HE-1 brought both the fluidity, speed and transparency of the Stax 009, but in it brings body in stringed instruments and vocals, which doesn't sound thin and ethereal, and with a level of bass very satisfaying ; on classical music, these are exceptional headphones ; the best headphones ever heard.
Ninth headphones listened to, a
Sennheiser HD-800 (stock) on an Audiovalve Luminare amplifier (OTL amp).
Open electrodynamic headphones, which with my ears have a wide and extended peak in the treble (5 to 8 KHz, centered on 6 KHz), and a relative lack of bass making it very uncomfortable to listen (to my ears) regardless of the level of SPL listening: low (lack of bass) or high (too much treble).
Tenth headphones listened to (in demonstration), a
Meze Empyrean on a Viva 2A3 amplifier.
Open planar headphones very rich in bass and low medium bringing a lot of body to stringed instruments; but compared directly to other headsets, like the Focal Utopia, the Susvara (also in demonstration), and even the Thror, the sound seems less precise and lacks clarity in the highs.
Eleventh headphone listened to, a
Myspère 3.2 (in demonstration, in a very quiet room) on a high-end transistor amplifier (but whose name I forgot), and in comparison with my Thror.
I didn't like these headphones for sound that lacked substance and body, and bass: thin and shiny sound in the upper midrange, even though remarkably airy and open.
A curiosity.
