Review: Kennerton Odin

Disclaimer: The Kennerton Odin was given to me at High End Munich last May when I met up with the Kennerton team. The unit doesn’t need to be returned but I have to apologize for publishing this review so late.

 

Kennerton

Kennerton – as a luxury brand of Fischer Audio – was founded by professionals with a single purpose – to provide its customers with high-end quality sound. Fischer Audio have been watching the evolution of the audio industry for a long time and noticed the decreasing amount of products that offer quality sound particularly the large number of fancy looking, low quality models made by famous brands. Fischer Audio is not willing to accept this. Their policy is that you pay for nothing more than the quality of sound.

“These headphones are designed by audiophiles for audiophiles.”

Fischer Audio engineers are making every effort to reveal the potential of each model and optimize every detail to find the best balance between price and quality – high quality sound at an affordable price is the fundamental principle of the company. Kennerton consists of only the best models which have incorporated the most advanced technology, highest quality materials and the best service.

Odin

The open design planar magnetic Odin is the Kennerton flagship headphone and it is available in two different finishes on the Kennerton site. One with Sapele wooden ear cups and the other with Zebrano wood. The version we have for review is the Sapele one, but visually I like the Zebrano one more. Both of these versions go for the same price, which is set at $2448 without extra options. On the UK site you can still find other wood versions, such as the Amaranth and Bog Oak. Kennerton started making the orthodynamic drivers from scratch but why did they choose the Planar Magnetic Technology? The answer is this:

In our eyes, we see the perfect headphone as a cross-breed of the dynamic and electrostatic technologies combined into one. Whereby taking the airy and extremely detailed sound of an electrostatic driver, and combining it with the power and impact of a dynamic transducers. This enables us to achieve a sound that’s both natural and engaging.

When we looked at the market to see what our competitors have been producing in the last couple of years, we were surprised to find that the most recent planar magnetic headphones all had the same design and thus also shared the same flaws. This indicated to us that the 35-year old planar magnetic technology hasn’t evolved with time.

We got to the drawing board and started to make our own drivers from scratch. One of our core goals was to minimize internal structure resonances and optimize sound wave patterns, in order to create a clear, low-distortion sound frequency. To achieve this, we created several patent-pending core innovations. Its magnetic structure is designed to eliminate both unwanted resonances, and unify magnetic field distribution over the total frequency range

The review continues on page two, after the click HERE or the jump below

Specifications & Features

The Odin drivers are solely designed and produced in Russia, which involves a facility that also works for the aerospace and military industries, which ensures the highest quality and durability of their headphones.

  • A new 80mm planar-magnetic driver, with every aspect of this technology being implemented, such as phase coherence, flat impedance and a low-mass diaphragm.
  • Multi-layer 10µm polyimide film diaphragm, tested to have the highest reliability and longevity in the most extreme environmental conditions.
  • FEM-Optimized Magnet System with 10 neodymium magnets arranged in symmetric push-pull configuration.
  • Unique semicircular bar magnets.
  • A semicircular form therefore has many advantages over the ordinary rectangular shaped bar magnets: It gives a more uniform magnetic field, greatly reduces internal resonances and produces an optimal sound.
  • Driver allows greater sensitivity, thanks to its powerful magnets and low-mass diaphragm. It can therefore be easily driven by portable devices.
  • We aim for reliability and durability, and so used simple but functional construction.
  • Aerospace grade aluminum and steel used.
  • Quality wooden earcup.
  • Complete absence of any plastic parts.

Numbers

Frequency response: 15 Hz – 50 Khz
Impedance: 40 Ohm ± 5%
Sensitivity: 104 dB / 1 mW
Driver size: 80 mm
Driver type: Planar magnetic
Diaphragm: Metallized polyimide @ 8 µm
Magnet System: Symmetric push-pull
Magnet material: NdFeB

Weight: 670 g (w/o cable)

The review continues on page two, after the click HERE or the jump below

4.4/5 - (54 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

11 Comments

  • Reply January 3, 2018

    dale thorn

    Is this made in Russia? I don’t remember seeing the origin in any of the 4 pages.

  • Reply January 10, 2018

    Alfy

    From Page 1 (at the top of the specs):
    “The Odin drivers are solely designed and produced in Russia, which involves a facility that also works for the aerospace and military industries, which ensures the highest quality and durability of their headphones.”

    • Reply January 10, 2018

      dale thorn

      My FA011 10th Anniversary headphone was entirely Russian, so I was asking why the lengthy review here did not even mention Russia.

      • Reply January 10, 2018

        Lieven

        But we did mention it ????

  • Reply January 13, 2018

    Barun C

    Imaging and highs are two areas modern day Planars can’t excel at regardless of price.

  • Reply February 4, 2018

    Julien

    Did you get the chance to try with a bakoon amp?
    Thanks

  • Reply July 4, 2018

    Ega

    How about odin with wa6se? Is it better than ha-1a mk2?

  • Reply July 21, 2018

    Ega

    Hi Lieven,
    Based on this article, I purchase HA-1A MK2 for My Odin. I use Mojo as DAC.
    But I don’t feel HA-1A MK2 really special for Odin. Would you share your setting for HA-1A MK2? Do you have replace any tube?

    Thanks ????

  • Reply October 5, 2018

    Ricky

    Hey Lieven thanks for the review and mentioning how you would like a vegan option for materials. I agree! Just FYI… Audeze cans are not Vegan as they use eggshell protein leather.

  • Reply October 31, 2019

    YW

    I owned the Odin for few months now. Love the sound but unfortunately it is too heavy and uncomfortable for long use. Three issues I have: 1. Too heavy 2. The rotating adjustment is limited and I can never find a comfortable fit. 3. The leather in the head band is too long, it actually almost reaching the band. I have to push the adjustment to the end to fit my small sized head (still not enough to fit me properly) . Too bad that Thror is also using the same arrangement (except it is lighter).

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