Kennerton Audio Laguz – A Better Rune

Fit

For me, Laguz fits better than does Algiz. It is slimmer, and easier to insert (totally not what she said), and its cable is less energetic and microphonic. It’s a cheap cable, to be sure, that stretches when you pull it (that’s what she said). It won’t garrotte a pig, but it feels better under, or over, a shirt (I’m not sure what she said there). Oh yeah, and it’s got this barber pole thing going that makes me think of leeks. I like that.

The same ear pieces: somewhat tough, somewhat abrasive, and furred over by Laguz’s horrible box, don’t fasten well in my ears. But Laguz has got a proper flange, which both holds onto better earpieces from Spinfit and Ortofon, and which metes out better in-ear purchase and comfortable fit. There’s no comparison: Laguz is better in the ear. The 110$ earphone fits better, and largely is finished better, than the 449$ earphone.

Sound

Kennerton definitely have a house sound. Like Algiz, Laguz is powerful, vocal thick, and smooth.  Male vocals jump forward and spread leftwise and rightwise. Female vocals spread less far, but pack a lot of sound pressure. That said, neither is super clear. Laguz hones in and dredges up every bit of deep audio cue in the vocal band, making her, him, and them richer than I am used to. For a number of genres, I could get used to it. It’s a bit distracting in trance.

Highs and high mids are pretty smeary, swishing in and out and swishing away what, through typically mid-centric and V-shaped earphones, clearly are electronic chimes, horns, cymbals, etc. Uncontrolled, but pretty hefty, high mids can, after a long listening session, bother. They’re not overly tiring, just a bit hot. But not hot like you think I mean: not peaky like an ER4, and certainly not as reachy as a CK10. Just bothered.

As with Algiz, bass is Laguz’s best band. It is thick, smooth, controlled, and fun. It’s not that detailed, and it does the surround everything else thing I was on about in my review of Algiz. But it doesn’t smear or swish like its upper mids can, and it’s pretty fast. It also doesn’t bottom out upper bass bands, which is great for 1990s hip hop. Resonance is cleanly metallic and low frequency sound stage is wide if not deep.

The differences between Algiz and Laguz aren’t huge. Algiz has clearer lows and slightly cleaner mids. Highs are sort of a wash. The other thing is that I couldn’t get Algiz to fit well. Laguz is a cinch. It hurts less in the ear, and while not quite as articulate, is, in my opinion, an more thematically consistent earphone.

If you like dark, but inexplicably brightish sound, Laguz isn’t a bad option.

End Words

Earphones have been getting more and more expensive. Crazy enthusiasts might even consider 110$ almost chump change. The thing is that Shure’s SE215 costs the same as Laguz. And, it is better made, nicer to look at, and not hammered together by coked up douches from the under city. Laguz, like Algiz, is hampered by a ‘who cares?’ factory. It is otherwise a pretty nice earphone. It sounds all right, looks pretty cool, and isn’t priced out of the stratosphere. As a concept, there’s a lot going for it.

But in order for Kennerton to be taken seriously as a brand, they have to realise that their factory is cheating them out of good designs, and that in turn, Kennerton are cheating customers out of a wad of cash.

4.3/5 - (15 votes)
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Back before he became the main photographer for bunches of audio magazines and stuff, Nathan was fiddling with pretty cool audio gear all day long at TouchMyApps. He loves Depeche Mode, trance, colonial hip-hop, and raisins. Sometimes, he gets to listening. Sometimes, he gets to shooting. Usually he's got a smile on his face. Always, he's got a whisky in his prehensile grip.

2 Comments

  • Reply October 8, 2015

    derSchallhoerer

    nathan has struke again. love it. also loved the “that’s what she said”
    remarks 😀 the reference to the SE215 is good. Because honestly, why
    would you go for a company like Kennerton (that obviously does not
    really care for their production value) when you can get
    “Shure-Quality”.

    And does Tips shure (see what i did there) as hell look nasty.

    • Reply November 2, 2015

      ohm image

      Bingo. And, yes, I see what you did there.

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