Kennerton at Audio46

Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH 50 JM Edition Closed-Back Over-Ear Headphones

WIRED HEADPHONE

Closed-Back

over-ear

studio/professional

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SKU: GH50 JM Light

$1,299.00 Sale

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Click to add headphone stand
Made with Premium Wood and Aluminum
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Product Details

Audio46's Opinion

If you want an open back soundstage from a closed back headphone, that’s a kind of ridiculous request, isn't it? Well, somehow, Kennerton manages to pull it off. The GH50 may have one of the widest soundstages on a closed back model, and other Kennerton closed backs share a similar width. The GH50 is extremely airy, allowing for a much more surround sound feel than a closed back is typically thought to be capable of. The sound never feels to be pushing up against the headphone’s walls, it always has extra room to breathe. The same goes for the depth, which never seems to lack the space to accommodate and bring to life even the most atypical and extreme compositions.


Our Full Review

↓ Details provided by Kennerton
(Specifications and appearance of this product are subject to change without notice)

AUDIO46 NOTE: The original edition of the GH 50 has been discontinued. The JM Edition is the only edition of the GH 50 available now.


GJALLARHORN JM Edition

HORN-TYPE HEADPHONES with HIGH PERFORMING GRAPHENE MEMBRANES

“When the sound completely captures you”

Kennerton Gjallarhorn – the first in the world horn-loaded headphones!

Horn-type headphones have musicality, integrity of perception, overall harmony, natural sound, and the ability to completely capture the listener.

Note: Due to the specific nature of every piece of wood each pair of wood cups can not correspond precisely to the photo on the website.

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JM Edition is an acoustic modification of Gjallarhorn headphones, which was tuned by one of the first owners of Gjallarhorns.

We considered it quite worth to be a separate model and now we are offering you the official Kennerton workshop version of it.

The main differences touched the bullhorn form and change of phase inverter. It did significantly change the accent of the sound of the headphones without dropping any quality at all.

We named the model after the author, JM Edition.

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The most important advantage of horn headphones is the ability to develop good sound pressure and give excellent dynamics from the first milliwatts with minimal distortions.

Horn Headphones reproduce the most subtle musical nuances and most fully and accurately convey the emotions of performers.

The horn in the headphones creates a full presence effect, gives outstanding micro-macro dynamics and a wide directional pattern in the horizontal plane.

High and medium frequencies played through a horn have a completely different energy and transparency. Low frequencies, reproduced through a horn, have a natural fullness and power.

HIGH PERFORMING GRAPHENE MEMBRANES

It all started with the development of a new high-tech material called “Graphene”.

Graphene – if to explain in simple terms, is a two-dimensional sheet of carbon that is only one atom thick. Its physical properties are truly unique:

  • It is 300 times stronger than steel
  • It has no internal resistance
  • It is incredibly light

As currently the production of pure graphene membrane is very hard and time-consuming and can cost a fortune, we decided to create a hybrid of mylar and powdered graphene applied by thermal method. Thus, we were able to significantly improve the characteristics of the classic dynamic driver, such as the strength of the membrane, its rigidity and the absorption of parasitic resonances. This high-tech membrane required the corresponding uncompromising “engine”. Therefore, we have equipped the speaker with an ultra-light aluminum voice coil (CCAW), covered with a very thin layer of copper to increase its conductivity. And the coil is set in action by a powerful magnet made of NdFeB alloy, which in size and power of the magnetic field exceeds 3-4 times the magnets of similar speakers from competitors. All these engineering solutions gave the speaker a high dynamic range, stunning detailing of sound, and very low distortion, and brought the sound quality of the speaker close to the representatives of the planar-magnetic technology.

Over the past year, we have created several promising headphone prototypes based on these developments, and one of them was even released for one of our partner's projects. But it was only through long research and experimentation that we were able to get the concept of sound, which we have been pursuing for a long time and which fits most fully into the framework of Kennerton products.

Our new driver is a compression type system, i.e., its membrane has an extremely soft suspension and additionally relies on the elasticity of the air volume of the acoustic chamber, represented by the earphone cup.

This is done in order to lower the resonant frequency of the dynamics, and accordingly the depth of reproduced low frequencies. This feature makes the speaker extremely responsive to any slightest change in acoustic design, its volume and filling. In addition, the membrane “warms up” (it enters the nominal mode of operation, gets rid of internal stresses, gets softer in places of suspension bending) for quite a long time – at least 72 hours of work according to the results of our tests. And for a complete “warm-up” it usually takes up to a week of the total time the headphones should work. All this made our engineers work very hard, but everyone who could listen to the headphones sound finally was amazed by the great result.

We were able to achieve high compatibility both with hi-end systems and with low-end devices, while maintaining a consistently high level of sound, limited by the capabilities of the source, rather than the headphones themselves.

For Kennerton Gjallarhorn, we use a steel headband with a minimum of moving parts, which means maximum reliability. Headphone cups made of precious wood are not only beautiful and just pleasant to touch, but also bring warm and natural notes to the sound of the headphones, eliminating the intrusive “plastic” overtones of competitors’ models. Lightweight design, self-adapting to the user’s head and genuine leather ear cushions provide the highest comfort for long-time listening.

HIGH QUALITY 2 METERS OFC CABLE

WITH 3.5 MM RHODIUM PLATED CONNECTORS AND GOLD PLATED 6.3 TRS CONNECTOR.

Ear cushions are hand-made from soft lambskin from a remote highland region in Northern Caucasus. All spares are genuine Kennerton products and match the quality and craftsmanship that embodies Kennerton.

LAMBSKIN LEATHER CUSHIONS

Soft ear cushions for maximum comfort. The design places driver at optimum distance from ear, improves soundstage/imaging, and musical coherence.

Kennerton Gjallarhorn is a new level in its segment – classic design solutions with the spirit of “old school”, the best natural materials and modern high technologies make this model an outstanding one to be highly appreciated both by audiophiles and professional audio industry.

The kit includes a comfortable eco-leather case for a safe storing and carrying the headphones.

Specifications:

Driver

Graphene Membrane

Driver Unit

50 mm

Frequency Response

10-50000 Hz

Sensitivity

116 dB

Impedance

33 Ohm

Maximum Input Power

250 mW

Cord length

High quality 2 meters length detachable cable made from OFC wires is terminated with high quality gold plated 6.3 mm TRS connector

Material

Gjallarhorn JM Edition Dusk, Gjallarhorn JM Edition Light

Weight

406 g (w/o cable)

Product Reviews

Customer Reviews
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Filter Reviews:
JH
03/30/2022
Jesse H.
Canada

Such a great value for the money

The original Gjallarhorn's were ok... but the JM Edition are just something special... they punch WAY above their price bracket

MJ
08/02/2021
Michael J.
United States

Incredible wide, clean, accurate sound!

You do NEED to break them in, I recommend at least 100 hours, then the sound gets honestly remarkable. Definitely at the VERY TOP of their price range and much higher. The accuracy of every voice and instrument is amazingly detailed. ALSO, bend the metal headband in, as it is stated in the John Masseria review and the following review, the sound gets remarkably better and better: https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kennerton-gjallarhorn-gh50-jm-edition-2nd-generation-horn-graphine-closed-back.24769/

RL
07/17/2021
Roger L.
United States

Kennerton Gjallarhorn GH50 JM Edition Headphones

The headphones arrived quickly and safely. They come in a leather pouch reminiscent of a lunch pail (if you are a male) or alternatively, a purse. I have to admit that I had not heard these headphones prior to making a purchase but I was looking to upgrade from a couple of pairs I own that run about $250 and liked what I read about the Gjalllarhorns on a few Head-Fi forums, so I took a chance and bought them. I also have heard no other headphones in this price range aside from a pair of Audeze LCD-2s that I owned a number of years ago. Accordingly with those disclaimers, these headphones are most certainly the best I have heard by a wide margin on appropriately good streaming music files on Qobuz and using a dedicated hybrid tube headphone amplifier. To me, a closed-back pair are of paramount importance due to wanting the privacy in my home, but they sound nothing like the other closed-back headhphones I have heard, having a much larger soundstage and more palpable images. I chose the JM Edition as I wanted a more neutral-sounding headphone that served as a relief from all others I have heard that are too bass-oriented IMO. These have a wealth of speed and detail that is there if it exists in the recording, and is not present if the recording is detail-challenged, especially with low-resolution recordings on Youtube for instance. I haven't heard the regular MH50 phones but from frequency response curves the regular has a +4 db shelf in the bass, something I don't think these cans need as there is plenty of the 5 tools of bass: weight, extension, speed, pitch definition, and dynamics. Overall, dynamics are great and the midrange is vivid and immediate. Treble is not accentuated except on those recordings that emphasize it. So if you get the impression that these phones are ruthlessly revealing of all that came before it, I would do nothing to dispel that notion. I have other, lesser, phones that gloss over those details and make everything smooth and undynamic, so if you want this type of sound I would say look elsewhere from the Gjallarhorns. However, if you want to hear exactly what is on a recording but still want a musical experience, I would highly consider hearing these as part of your headphone journey.

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