The Box & Accessories
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The Tror – as a flagship headphone – doesn’t disappoint when it comes to this and it comes delivered in the most beautiful wooden box. Unfortunately the Belgian customs department was a bit rough with it when they checked the box during the import process to address the correct value, and it arrived completely broken, in several pieces.
Normally Thror comes with a nice carrying bag, a special cable, the headphone’s documentation and a cleaning cloth. The Kennerton website also mentions you get a second pair of leather cushions which will make Thror sound as close as possible to the very much-loved sound of the Odin MK2 driver, but there was no trace of that in our box. In fact the pads on both the Odin and Thror look identical as far as I can see. But yeah, there are two different kind of pads: ECL-01 and ECL-02.
With Odin we also got a nice metal can – with a beautiful thick wooden top – which held the bees wax for the maintenance of the wooden cups, but there’s no trace of that with the Thror, so I’m not sure normal consumers will receive it.
So all-in-all a very pretty and complete package as it should be for a headphone of this level, but at the same time I am a bit disappointed not to find balanced cable.
Design
The design of both the Odin and Thror is unique and it’s very different from the Audeze, Hifiman and Mr. Speaker designs. The design is simple but it at the same time is special enough to remember when you first saw it. For me this was at Canjam Europe where I listened to it in combination with the Auris Audio HA2-SE.
The wood used by Kennerton is very pretty and there are no cracks at the mini-xlr connector like with some other brands. The Thror is available in four different versions: Bog Oak, Bubinga, Palisander (ours) and Zebrano. Of those the Zebrano really is my favorite: https://kennerton.com/shop/thror-zebrano/ . If you want something even more exotic, I recommend getting in touch with Kennerton directly as I have seen several gorgeous one of a kind designs on their Facebook page, such as the Karelian Birch.
The grill isn’t flat but it has a T(hror)-shaped wave structure, underneath there’s a layer of felt (same on the inside) so you can’t see the driver itself. The yokes have “Kennerton Audio Equipment” engraved in them and look classy. The double headband system with the cup positioning system is simple yet give the headphone a robust look.
The pads are nice and soft and comfy and go around the ear. The pads are not the biggest so listeners with bigger ears might feel the edges of the pads on the inner side a bit.
At first glance apart from the T-shaped grill, there’s no real difference between the Odin and Thror when it comes to their design. The differences are more regarding the comfort which we’ll get to in the next chapter.
All in all, the mix of the ear cups, yokes, adjusting system and headband make this a very cool and maybe a little robust looking headphone. I’m a fan.
Build Quality & Comfort
Just like the packaging, the headphone itself is very luxurious and worthy of the (new) TOTL title. The construction used by Kennerton actually is very simple but functional and durable, and that’s exactly what they’re going for as a company.
The Thror (like the Odin) is made out of natural materials and aerospace grade aluminum and steel is used, there is a complete absence of plastic parts. The natural materials are valuable wood and lamb skin. If you’re interested in how the wooden cups are constructed, you should check out the following link: https://kennerton.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=85
The ear cushions are handmade in-house from soft lambskin from a remote highland region in Northern Caucasus. Natural leather has a better damping effect than artificial leather, making the sound more clear and focused. While I have to admit that these sound and feel great, I would love to see a vegan option where no leather is used (Thumbs up for Audeze).
The Kennerton Odin weighs a mighty 670g without the cable connected to it, and that is very heavy. The new Thror however at 480g is much lighter and on your head the difference is even more feelable. That combined with the thicker stuffed headband make the Thror a lot more comfortable. I myself am used to listening to heavier headphones and I’m used to wearing a helmet so for me the weight is no issue but it might be so for you. Kennerton has made Thror as comfortable as possible however and to achieve a good level of comfort they’re using the Odin headband system which not only lets you set the height of the headband/drivers, but it also lets you angle the drivers/ear cups to get the best possible fit for your head. While Odin was heavy I personally didn’t have an issue with it, but Thror just is so much more comfortable. Thros actually also feels smaller on the “lowest” setting, making it fit better for mu head. A really nice and important upgrade from Kennerton in this regard.
With Odin I was pleasantly surprised so see the little felt pads that Kennerton placed on the inside of the yokes so that the wood of the cups can’t directly touch the metal of the yokes. As a result there still are no scratches on my Odin, yet this feature isn’t present on the higher end Thror. It’s a shame really but maybe Kennerton just forgot to install them on my unit.
The Kennerton Thror comes with 3 years of warranty.
The review continues on Page Three, after the click here
