[XGeneX88]

So I had a very fun, interesting night and made a few discoveries I'd love to share with anyone who could find this helpful. Turns out that to my surprise, my LSA Diamond actually had a pair of ECL02 ear pads on it, not an ECL01 like I had thought. Additionally, I took one of the ECL01 pads and used electrical tape to cover up the holes on the inside of the ear pad to try to re-create the sound of an ECL-03 ear pad. The results were incredibly interesting when I tried all 3 ear pads (ECL01, ECL02, and my home-made ECL03 taped pad).

Thror -
ECL01 - produced the worst sound of the three. Still AMAZING.. please don't get me wrong, but the bass was just weak on many tracks. Everything else about it was perfect and I would still call it an incredible "reference" sound. I just find these quite bass light with the ECL01 pad.
ECL02 - Definitely a step in the right direction. Better bass, slightly less air but also slightly less bright and a bit easier for my ears to digest the sound. Sounds more full, more satisfying. Bass is now "quite good" and sounds improved over ECL01 in my opinion.
ECL03 "Taped DIY" - Shocking good results. My ENDGAME headphone. I prefer this over everything else I"ve heard at any price point including Abyss 1266 Phi and Susvara. The bass is simply incredible... THUNDEROUS. There is real sub-bass rumble but it's also balanced and doesn't overwhelm the mid-range. The entire sound takes a much more "natural" signature and moves away from being "reference" or "linear" but incredibly satisfying and "natural". You get everything.. detail, resolution, deep impactful full bass, incredible sub-bass, luscious natural rich vocals, and crystal clear extended but non-fatiguing highs. Again.. this is my personal ENDGAME. If you own a Thror, I urge you to try this at home.. either use tape like I did or try an ECL-03 which should produce very similar results.

Wodan -
ECL01 - Surprisingly to me, this produced the best results. To me, the Wodan is a very "expressive" headphone.. it's all about an exciting sound full of detail, and clarity but with a sense of "balance". It has a bigger sound stage, air, and a very balanced, cohesive signature. I feel that is the "identity" for the Wodan.. crystal clear, resolving, exciting sound with air and sound stage (while maintaining balance). I found ECL01 was the only pad that really "maintained" this identity for this headphone.
ECL02 - This ear pad added bass, but also removed so much air and crystal clarity / detail that this headphone started to sound quite "ordinary" no longer standing apart to show case it's incredible features.
ECL03 "Taped DIY" - Provided an even more bassy but stuffy and almost "muted" sound. Did not enjoy.

LSA Diamond -
ECL01 - Produced worst results. The Diamond started to sound anemic of bass, "nasal sound" and you could just tell the sound was "wrong".
ECL02 - Produced my favorite results. Maintained good combination of bass, air, detail and excitement. Maintained the best version of its "identity" which I feel is a reference sound with tube-like smoothness and warmth. Very fun and complex sound.. extremely enjoyable to listen to.
ECL03 "Taped DIY" - Produced a very very good sound.. the best bass but also at the expense of some air and some detail in the mid-range. I actually quite enjoyed this one and kept going back and forth a few times to figure out how I felt. Ultimately, I prefer ECL02 because it provides better air and clarity /detail to the mid-range. I feel the ECL03 may sacrifice too much detail, and air in the mid-range resulting to more "ordinary" sounding vocals. If you're looking for a smoother sound though, the ECL03 or ECL03 Tape DIY will be your ticket to more bass and a smoother, easier sound.

Not sure how many folks will find this helpful but here it is. I had allot of fun testing this out and recommend trying the ECL01 electrical tape mod if you don't already have access to an ECL03 ear pad.

 

[eric65]

Thror -
ECL01 - produced the worst sound of the three. Still AMAZING.. please don't get me wrong, but the bass was just weak on many tracks. Everything else about it was perfect and I would still call it an incredible "reference" sound. I just find these quite bass light with the ECL01 pad.
ECL02 - Definitely a step in the right direction. Better bass, slightly less air but also slightly less bright and a bit easier for my ears to digest the sound. Sounds more full, more satisfying. Bass is now "quite good" and sounds improved over ECL01 in my opinion.
ECL03 "Taped DIY" - Shocking good results. My ENDGAME headphone. I prefer this over everything else I"ve heard at any price point including Abyss 1266 Phi and Susvara. The bass is simply incredible... THUNDEROUS. There is real sub-bass rumble but it's also balanced and doesn't overwhelm the mid-range. The entire sound takes a much more "natural" signature and moves away from being "reference" or "linear" but incredibly satisfying and "natural". You get everything.. detail, resolution, deep impactful full bass, incredible sub-bass, luscious natural rich vocals, and crystal clear extended but non-fatiguing highs. Again.. this is my personal ENDGAME. If you own a Thror, I urge you to try this at home.. either use tape like I did or try an ECL-03 which should produce very similar results.

Hi.

Very impressive: your description of the sound of your Thror with the ECL03 pads corresponds very exactly to what I hear with my Moondrop VENUS headphones and its bass (and bass dynamic) boosted by + 3 dB (between 30 and 70 Hz) by this artifice, using a very slightly breaking the seal of the VENUS pads, on their front, in the manner of an Abyss AB1266.
(Note : the VENUS behaves like an Abyss AB1266, but with much better timbres, by slightly unsealing the pads; the Thror, alas, doesn't share this trick of boosting bass by breaking the pad seal).

For info, I own the Thror (S/N THR001) (with its original ECL01 pads) and I can confirm that it is far behind the VENUS for a satisfactory reproduction of this drum track (below), with credible dynamics, without truncating the bass of the bass drum or the treble of the cymbals.

You'll find a few photos (in spoiler) (for those who aren't allergic to measurements) taken by the Russian measurement site (RAA), which usually likes Kennerton products, and also a measurement of the VENUS's FR in the bass when the pad seal is deliberately broken, to boost the VENUS's bass in the manner of an Abyss).

If the Thror, with the ECL03 pads, does as well as the VENUS (and its pads slightly unsealed on their front, as you can see in the spoiler, below), to listen brilliantly to the video below, then Bravo , because to date, I haven't found anything better as headphones than the VENUS to listen to this video.

Spoiler

Left : Moondrop VENUS Planar (driver 100 mm ; 2 um thick diaphragm) ; right : Kennerton Thror (S/N THR001) (driver 80 mm ; 10 um thick diaphragm).

Unseal the VENUS pads, by only a few mm, on their front side, as shown in the photo below, to :
- Increase the bass SPL of the VENUS by around +3 dB, between 30 and 70 Hz.
- Increase bass dynamics and the impact of a bass drum.
- Increase the spatial effect (volume of the soundstage).

A bit like a JPS Abyss AB1266

The VENUS makes this possible (not the THROR, alas)

See the FR below of the VENUS in the bass, pads sealed and unsealed by eyeglass temples on their front.

 

[XGeneX88]

@eric65 again.. I'm using an ECL01 pad with two small pieces of electrical tape on the inside of each pad to cover up the perforations (two clusters of small holes). It should perform very similar to an ECL03 ear pad but there might be some differences due to material used, and obviously my pad having regular foam vs the 03 using memory foam. Still I would expect the end result to be more "similar" than different if compared to a real ECL03 pad. If you have a little electrical tape laying around your home, cut small pieces and just tape over the little holes on the inside of the pads (I left the holes on the outer side of the pad alone since I don't believe it makes any further change.). You should notice a very dramatic change to the entire sound signature and I think you may prefer these over your Venus once you give it a go =). Would love to hear your impressions if you do end up trying it. For me, this is like a fun little Easter egg discovery.. extremely simple, easily reversible, and cheap mod that anyone can do with amazing results (in my opinion) for the Thror model.

 

[rlawry]

FYI, I also tried the electrical tape trick on the ECL-01 pads on my Rognir Planar phones. And yes, it did increase bass slightly but at the cost of spaciousness, so I removed the tape once I heard the results as I preferred the more spacious sound. It seems from the above post that this trick worked better on other Kennerton phones.

 

[Lickumms]

@eric65 again.. I'm using an ECL01 pad with two small pieces of electrical tape on the inside of each pad to cover up the perforations (two clusters of small holes). It should perform very similar to an ECL03 ear pad but there might be some differences due to material used, and obviously my pad having regular foam vs the 03 using memory foam. Still I would expect the end result to be more "similar" than different if compared to a real ECL03 pad. If you have a little electrical tape laying around your home, cut small pieces and just tape over the little holes on the inside of the pads (I left the holes on the outer side of the pad alone since I don't believe it makes any further change.). You should notice a very dramatic change to the entire sound signature and I think you may prefer these over your Venus once you give it a go =). Would love to hear your impressions if you do end up trying it. For me, this is like a fun little Easter egg discovery.. extremely simple, easily reversible, and cheap mod that anyone can do with amazing results (in my opinion) for the Thror model.

I will have to give that a try. I didn't like the MF ECL-03 on the Thror.

 

[XGeneX88]

I will have to give that a try. I didn't like the MF ECL-03 on the Thror.

Interesting. I wonder if the ecl01 non mf tape mod might sound better than 03mf? I’d love to actually hear your feedback on this if you wouldn’t mind helping me out and trying it on an ecl01 if you have one around.

FWIW I had my wife listen to it and she agreed it’s the best headphone overall she’s heard to date from everything I’ve owned (and I've owned probably almost everything out there at one point or another lol...)

 

[levap]

Today I attended Moscow Hi-End Show to get acquainted with Arkona, my first impressions were very positive. I listened it first a little on vinyl, then in more detail on digital system (Violectric DAC+amp). They react very sensitively to changes in source system. So, the impressions from the sound signature are extremely brief and subjective, have to try them in familiar system in order to get a more detailed impression; on unfamiliar hardware it is difficult to separate features of the system from the features of the headphones. The headphones are more neutral than Rognir and slightly darker compared to them, but the highs are detailed, without loss of resolution. The mids are more “analogue”. The bass is powerful and punchy. On the one hand, perhaps Arkona more "cohesive" than Rognir. On the other hand, on fast metal I didn’t notice any mess or significant drop in resolution. As a result - headphones of the highest level, worthy of close attention. And I plan to pay attention to them.

 

[XGeneX88]

Today I attended Moscow Hi-End Show to get acquainted with Arkona, my first impressions were very positive. I listened it first a little on vinyl, then in more detail on digital system (Violectric DAC+amp). They react very sensitively to changes in source system. So, the impressions from the sound signature are extremely brief and subjective, have to try them in familiar system in order to get a more detailed impression; on unfamiliar hardware it is difficult to separate features of the system from the features of the headphones. The headphones are more neutral than Rognir and slightly darker compared to them, but the highs are detailed, without loss of resolution. The mids are more “analogue”. The bass is powerful and punchy. On the one hand, perhaps Arkona more "cohesive" than Rognir. On the other hand, on fast metal I didn’t notice any mess or significant drop in resolution. As a result - headphones of the highest level, worthy of close attention. And I plan to pay attention to them.

Very nice! Did they by chance have a new open back model as well?

 

[levap]

Very nice! Did they by chance have a new open back model as well?

I also listened a bit new open-back headphones (I didn’t look at the name, not shure with right spelling - Vinneta). First try with velour ear pads. The sound signature is noticeably lighter than Arkona, but without losing punch in the low end. The mids are more open, clean and clear. HF is more pronounced. The sounstage is predictably wider. Then I tried it with leather pads (both are planned in stock shipping). Closer to Arkona signature. More body in sound and more cohesive. The highs are calmer, the mids have more body, the bass is more weighty and the soundstage feels a little more compact. Perhaps, on average, the sound with leather pads has a chance to be liked more, but if I were the owner of such ears, I would definitely use both pads, depending on favourite genres or mood.

 

[rlawry]

Does anyone know whether the Arkona is slated to replace the Rognir Planar and the Vinneta to replace one of the other open-back models, the Thror perhaps?

 

[XGeneX88]

Does anyone know whether the Arkona is slated to replace the Rognir Planar and the Vinneta to replace one of the other open-back models, the Thror perhaps?

I spoke with Pavel and asked this directly regarding the open back Thror. He said that Thror will continue to be the “flagship” open back for now. I am not sure about the Closee Back counterpart however.

 

[levap]

I spoke with Pavel and asked this directly regarding the open back Thror. He said that Thror will continue to be the “flagship” open back for now. I am not sure about the Closee Back counterpart however.

For now they understand, that Rognir is unique and do not plan to close Rognir with rerease of Arkona, leaving question "flagship" or not aside for Rognir vs Arkona.

 

[balvan]

Does anyone know whether the Arkona is slated to replace the Rognir Planar and the Vinneta to replace one of the other open-back models, the Thror perhaps?

I don't think that they are arranging such a lineup at Kennerton. It's not like Meze Empyrean > Meze Elite or LCD-2 > LCD-3 > LCD-4 > LCD5.
I think that they are releasing different models which offer a different experience without placing them as best and second best on so on.

In the world of headphone after a certain level I think its mostly about preference, there is on real objective best HPs or amp. It's also smart, because they can sell more this way. If someone had Audeze LCD-5, they would never go and get LCD-3, it would make no sense. But if someone owns the Thror or Rognir, they can still get the Heatland and it would make sense to him.

 

[MusicalDoc8]

I don't think that they are arranging such a lineup at Kennerton. It's not like Meze Empyrean > Meze Elite or LCD-2 > LCD-3 > LCD-4 > LCD5.
I think that the yare releasing different models which offer a different experience without placing them as best and second best on so on.

In the world of headphone after a certain level I think its mostly about preference, there is on real objective best HPs or amp. It's also smart, because they can sell more this way. If someone had Audeze LCD-5, they would never go and get LCD-3, it would make no sense. But if someone owns the Thror or Rognir, they can still get the Heatland and it would make sense to him.

I got the lcd5, but the different sauce of the heartland is simply a different taste, like eating steak or ribs

 

[fullbass]

I got the lcd5, but the different sauce of the heartland is simply a different taste, like eating steak or ribs

well, other than the taste difference, the lcd 5 is objectively a higher level than the heartland

awaiting fiery confirmation from sugbuy or whatever it is