[John Massaria]

Love the color contrast with the green leaves on the background.

So you prefer the full leather earpads over the ones with the suede ring? Is it because of the different foam used in these earpads? Does the suede ring affect the sound in any way?

The suede ring is more comfortable vs all leather but it’s the insides that make the difference in sound - the pads I prefer is the full size all soft gel memory foam which sound best for me - these are not the standard pad which you get with the Magni or GH50 you need to ask for it when ordering - its called the full size Magni/ GH50 memory foam Kennerton pad but if I could have it all it would be that memory foam pad with the suede rings too but I haven’t tried that combo yet- I’ve tried everything else including low profile pads which is my least favorite- bottom line memory foam full size sound best for me (sorry if I repeated myself - I’m typing on my phone)

pictured below is the non memory full size suede ring all leather else where pad (dark gray near black)- if Kennerton can offer this in all gel memory foam and I can buy it I would think this would be best comfort and best sound but until then I prefer all memory foam all leather full size

 

[rlawry]

Here is my report on the Mark 2 mods of my Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50 JM Edition phones performed by John Massaria.

After a hiccup on shipping I received these phones where the fabric inside the phones had been replaced by some type of fiberglass mesh whose extruded mesh component surfaces were of a fractal configuration. This fractal mesh was designed using computer modeling to provide a different diffraction pattern of the soundwaves and hopefully result in a more spacious sound than that resulting from the stock Kennerton fabric pads. John also added some type of nonmetallic disc in front of the graphene driver and some stiffer and denser earcup pads. He also bent the headband so as to provide a tighter clamp to my head. Finally, he removed the stuffing from one of the two bass ports located on the outside of the headphones.

A few others on this Kennerton thread have reported good results of JM's mods so I took a chance on improving the sound of my phones, which I am told are reversible, BTW. Just as a disclaimer before I delve into the results, while the phones were off for modification I did add some High Fidelity Cable magnetic adapters and plug-in power conditioners in my headphone system, the resultant greatly improved sound easily being discernable through my backup 1More Triple-Driver Over-Ear Headphones. I stream high-rez files from Qobuz through my laptop computer and out through a USB cable to a SMSL SU-8 v2 DAC and then to my tubed Quicksilver headphone amp to my phones through a Forza Audioworks UPOCC copper cable.

So on to the results. All I can say is......................Holy Squatsauce, Batman!!!! I listened to the Bruce Katz Band Transformation, an old amazing Audioquest recording, as well as some Cars tunes and Weather Report's Birdland. Everything was as advertised, a more spacious, immediate, dynamic sound and it wasn't subtle. The sound was BIG AND VIVID. So the birds in Birdland were not sparrows and hummingbirds, they were Ostriches and Emus. When I first started listening to headphones again (I have an original pair of Stanton Dynaphase 60 phones I bought in 1975) my experience with phones was that the sound was mostly inside your head between the ears. As I started making improvements the sound expanded outward so that there were 3 distinct blobs of sound: inside the head and around each ear but somewhat discontinuous. With the GH50 JME Mark 2 that soundfield is now completely and continuously around my head with improved width, height, and depth. But again, the midrange immediacy was massive, highs had that sound of brass ringing instead of sounding generically like cans of spray mist being actuated, and bass was titanic like movie theatre (or cinematic) bass. However, as compared to the overly bassy type of sound to which we have all become conditioned, the bass not only had weight and dynamics, but the other type of bass not often found: extension, speed, and pitch definition. I do feel the phones have enough bass. Midrange is full and has immediacy and body, sounding tactile and dynamic. It is easy to hear how instruments and voices are played and they stand out in the mix; you can focus on each instrument in the recording.

If this is the sound of headphones in the future, I am really enthused. I urge anyone who has Gjallarhorns to strongly consider sending their phones to John for an essential upgrade at a very reasonable price and turnaround time. This is one of the biggest changes in sound I have experienced in 50 years of audio, akin to the improvements wrought by adding High Fidelity Cables or a major component upgrade, this not being faint praise. If you can't afford the upgrades, get a second job at Domino's where the side benefits are pretty good also.

Perhaps, also, Kennerton should consider these mods as part of a JME2 version and make it a standard product.

I cannot wait to hear how the phones sound with increased break-in.

 

[John Massaria]

Thanks for the kind words - I humbly want to add this way forward could change all headphones in the future but they will have to catch up and learn how to adapt this idea - but for now I know the gh50 mk2 brought its design to the brink of what is possible and betters any closed back even at three times the price (yes I’m am saying that)

 

[Alien HP]

Here is my report on the Mark 2 mods of my Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50 JM Edition phones performed by John Massaria.

After a hiccup on shipping I received these phones where the fabric inside the phones had been replaced by some type of fiberglass mesh whose extruded mesh component surfaces were of a fractal configuration. This fractal mesh was designed using computer modeling to provide a different diffraction pattern of the soundwaves and hopefully result in a more spacious sound than that resulting from the stock Kennerton fabric pads. John also added some type of nonmetallic disc in front of the graphene driver and some stiffer and denser earcup pads. He also bent the headband so as to provide a tighter clamp to my head. Finally, he removed the stuffing from one of the two bass ports located on the outside of the headphones.

A few others on this Kennerton thread have reported good results of JM's mods so I took a chance on improving the sound of my phones, which I am told are reversible, BTW. Just as a disclaimer before I delve into the results, while the phones were off for modification I did add some High Fidelity Cable magnetic adapters and plug-in power conditioners in my headphone system, the resultant greatly improved sound easily being discernable through my backup 1More Triple-Driver Over-Ear Headphones. I stream high-rez files from Qobuz through my laptop computer and out through a USB cable to a SMSL SU-8 v2 DAC and then to my tubed Quicksilver headphone amp to my phones through a Forza Audioworks UPOCC copper cable.

So on to the results. All I can say is......................Holy Squatsauce, Batman!!!! I listened to the Bruce Katz Band Transformation, an old amazing Audioquest recording, as well as some Cars tunes and Weather Report's Birdland. Everything was as advertised, a more spacious, immediate, dynamic sound and it wasn't subtle. The sound was BIG AND VIVID. So the birds in Birdland were not sparrows and hummingbirds, they were Ostriches and Emus. When I first started listening to headphones again (I have an original pair of Stanton Dynaphase 60 phones I bought in 1975) my experience with phones was that the sound was mostly inside your head between the ears. As I started making improvements the sound expanded outward so that there were 3 distinct blobs of sound: inside the head and around each ear but somewhat discontinuous. With the GH50 JME Mark 2 that soundfield is now completely and continuously around my head with improved width, height, and depth. But again, the midrange immediacy was massive, highs had that sound of brass ringing instead of sounding generically like cans of spray mist being actuated, and bass was titanic like movie theatre (or cinematic) bass. However, as compared to the overly bassy type of sound to which we have all become conditioned, the bass not only had weight and dynamics, but the other type of bass not often found: extension, speed, and pitch definition. I do feel the phones have enough bass. Midrange is full and has immediacy and body, sounding tactile and dynamic. It is easy to hear how instruments and voices are played and they stand out in the mix; you can focus on each instrument in the recording.

If this is the sound of headphones in the future, I am really enthused. I urge anyone who has Gjallarhorns to strongly consider sending their phones to John for an essential upgrade at a very reasonable price and turnaround time. This is one of the biggest changes in sound I have experienced in 50 years of audio, akin to the improvements wrought by adding High Fidelity Cables or a major component upgrade, this not being faint praise. If you can't afford the upgrades, get a second job at Domino's where the side benefits are pretty good also.

Perhaps, also, Kennerton should consider these mods as part of a JME2 version and make it a standard product.

I cannot wait to hear how the phones sound with increased break-in.

Thanks for sharing. From what I understand, your impressions are based on your memories of the original sound. But it would be nice to compare the modified version with the original one side by side. Also, as you said you didn't have the headband bent before. So I wonder which modifications contributed more to the sound improvements, the tighter clamp or MK2 stuff.

 

[John Massaria]

I agree that's why I have like five pairs of GH50s- but then again I am very biased since the mods are mine... but the end users of Mk2s so far all claim same precise bass- spacious wide out of head sound stage and placement and the even handed frequencies in mid to upper range- a clarity heard in all ranges especially female vocals and high hats - I have been working on this mod for more than half the year- and for me its as good as the theory/practice of sound reproduction can go in a closed back (I used my experience of being around recording studios nearly half my life and sound design and production I have done and a hint of my OCD to the mix) I literality read a half dozen papers on the theory of fractal sound and applied it - I also imagined the inside of a headphone to being insde a huge room and me being a tiny person inside that room- I applied fractal diffraction, diffusion and subtle sound absorption to slow down some frequency "heat"and wave patterns - all mostly made of hard non muting materials such as the fractal fiber glass and of course that dime sized resonator which is non magnetic and reflects some sound back )

 

[wazzupi]

I'd love to sub for the news of a possible Rognir mod later in the future @John Massaria

 

[duranxv]

I'd love to sub for the news of a possible Rognir mod later in the future @John Massaria

Same!

 

[rlawry]

Thanks for sharing. From what I understand, your impressions are based on your memories of the original sound. But it would be nice to compare the modified version with the original one side by side. Also, as you said you didn't have the headband bent before. So I wonder which modifications contributed more to the sound improvements, the tighter clamp or MK2 stuff.

I bent my headband before but not as much as John bent it as I was afraid of damaging the headband. So yes, some things changed during the time my headphone was sent for mods including the addition of High Fidelity Cables products. And my memory is so bad now that I can hide my own Easter eggs. But it doesn't take much memory to hear the major changes for the better that certainly can largely be accounted for by the Mark 2 mods. I have never heard headphones sound like this including at shows.

 

[Alien HP]

High Fidelity Cables products

They should be renamed to High Price Cables

 

[eugene2]

I bent my headband before but not as much as John bent it as I was afraid of damaging the headband. So yes, some things changed during the time my headphone was sent for mods including the addition of High Fidelity Cables products. And my memory is so bad now that I can hide my own Easter eggs. But it doesn't take much memory to hear the major changes for the better that certainly can largely be accounted for by the Mark 2 mods. I have never heard headphones sound like this including at shows.

I agree, I have listened to a lot of headphones and these are different. They do things that other headphones simply do not do. My buddy that has the Sennheiser’s also has the Audeze LCD 3 a heavy hp, with some silver cables he made, nice hp, we both concurred, though a different design, the Gjallarhorn Mk2 was just better, based on a brief listen to both.
I’ve been traveling a lot so a lot of my listening has been through ripped flac cds on my QPR2 and Roon on my Onkyo player. They power the headphones very well, sub bass is insane and the most unbelievable part is it doesn’t bleed into the mids. Vocal Texture is perfect for me, especially when listening to Matt Bianco, Diana Krall and others.
They are unbelievable on my home rig, which is the Flux Labs FA 22 into an unbelievable Dac M2Tech Young III with Van Der Graaf II power supply. Wiring is a mix of Verastarr silver and copper wiring with a host of Nordost QRT power conditioning. The Mk2 mod allows me to hear into the mix, it slams hard and the image is well delineated. I just ordered some new headphone cables mainly for length and to go balanced. When I get back home I’m going to compare them to the LSA Diamond.
Also there is an Audio store near me that has a headphone table with a lot of the big boy headphones from Focal, Sennheiser and others. They also have the Chord Dac and upsampler, next week I’ll stop in to do some comparing, should be interesting …

 

[521282]

Just a quick shout of appreciation to the folk at Kennerton.

I have recently noticed that no matter what I did, one ear kept touching the driver grill and fabric. After inspection, I could see that the pad was visibly different from the other. I got in touch with Kennerton as the headphones were not more than 3 months old.. They got back to me pretty much the same day to advise it was public holidays and that they would respond once back. On Monday I received another email saying they had looked at the pictures and offered a resolution to the problem, 5 days later I am sitting in cold old Scotland with an extremely comfortable pair of Magnis which also seem to have improved in sound as well.. Thanks again to an extremely professional and speedy company.

 

[wazzupi]

These will be heavy bass tuned I can’t wait !

 

[John Massaria]

These will be heavy bass tuned I can’t wait !

O M G

 

[wazzupi]

O M G

"bass drops" - Skrillex Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

 

[Nostoi]

"bass drops" - Skrillex Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites

Lovely, congrats! When do they arrive? Would love to hear comparison of bass vs non-bass tuning...