Review: Kennerton Audio Jimo – K10’s stuffy, bassy, little brother

Disclaimer: Kennerton Audio supplied Jimo for the purposes of this review. I paid nothing for it. They go for 335$ USD. You can find out all about it here: Kennerton Audio Jimo.

Specification

Driver Unit: Twin Moving Coil driver unit – 10 mm & 6 mm
Frequency Response: 10 Hz – 20000 Hz
Sensitivity: 98 dB
Impedance: 32 Ohm at 1 kHz
Maximum Input Power: 98 mW
Cord length: 1.25 m

Before I get into the body of this take down, er, review, let me pick a single nit from Kennerton’s marketing literature. How can a 6mm driver and a 10mm driver be twins? If twins at all, one thing’s sure: the two are not identical. Playmates, maybe. They share a tiny bit of real estate. They even do a great job of it. Respectful accomplices, perhaps. Siblings? Possibly. At most they are fraternal twins, but that is way stretching it.

Kennerton: Pish poo on the use of twin to describe two obviously different drivers.

Build and presentation

I’d love to refer to my review of Algiz, but I can’t. Jimo’s got a different coloured case, ear pieces that fit tidily into their niches, and way less hair anywhere. It also comes with some weird clips (that I forgot to shoot). Also, Jimo is way better tooled than Algiz. And despite being cheaper, it looks more expensive.

For sure, its paint job is better: its edges less notched, and its metal finish far better than Algiz, which looked like it had been drug over a gravel car park. Even its typography isn’t as sloppy. It’s still a basic screen job, but it is done tastefully and its text is centred.

Left and right channels are distinguished by coloured crescents, one in red, one in blue. Because they house accomplice drivers, each side is large, and aft of the sound tube, the body is a bit fat. Still it’s a tasteful design. And it’s one you’ve seen before.

Jimo’s cable is stronger than Laguz’s, but less robust than Algiz’s. It is thin, black, shiny, and prone to microphonic noise. There’s no neck cinch. To keep noise down, I thread it through my shirt.

But stranger than anything, its coaxial connection is incompatible with Kennerton’s other earphones. Yep, even Algiz’s stupid connector doesn’t work with Jimo. And with the possible exception of Sleek Audio’s coaxial fulcrum, to my knowledge there is no cable out there you can use with it. The reason I say ‘maybe’ is that my Sleek cables disintegrated long ago. Let’s put this incompatibility into perspective: Algiz and Jimo using different cables is worse than my Suzuki Every’s key-turn, which goes the opposite way than my wife’s Suzuki Alto. Same car company, completely different, and non-standard interface. That’s stupid. It’s also just a key turn. Jimo’s and Algiz’s cable incompatibility is the most ridiculous design move I’ve ever seen.

It’s a train wreck that forces Kennerton customers to purchase only Kennerton’s sub-par cables when theirs breaks. That is, if Kennerton even sell back ups. That is, if they’ve not already had enough of Jimo’s microphonics, and are ready to sneak Jimo into the bin.

If Kennerton were a truly world-class earphone maker with world-class cables and a penchant for proprietary prisons, I’d just give them the bird. But they’re not, and virtually all makers, from top to bottom, use cables that can easily be swapped between brands. I have this feeling that Kennerton’s factory changed halfway through. That factory was like: “Sorry, you take this cable or you don’t get your earphone.”

Kennerton were like: “Um…”

And voila! Jimo.

Fit

Very thankfully, Jimo fits better than does Algiz, and just a bit worse than does Laguz. It’s a big body with some sharp edges that preclude you from just jamming them into your ears. Still, with the right tips (I suggest ortofon), popping them in is quick and easy. And breathing port aside, Jimo isolates well enough to allow you to keep your player’s volume low even on the train. The cable isn’t too long; you can wear it up, or down just as easy. But down is more secure, and isolates a wee bit better.

The breathing port makes noise when there’s wind, but as you know, that is par for the course.

Sound and more after the jump or the click HERE: