Kennerton Audio Equipment Gjallarhorn JM Edition Wenge
The Gjallarhorn JM Edition turns closed-back listening into a boldly cinematic experience, pairing authoritative, textured bass with an exceptionally expansive soundstage. The Honest Audiophile also highlights its immersive depth, cohesive imaging and hour-friendly comfort. Its 50 mm graphene-coated driver delivers an engaging, full-bodied presentation that particularly rewards warmer or tube-driven systems.
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Nicely Roasted
Sound Quality
83/100
Comfort Fit
90/100
Build Quality
88/100
Features Usability
85/100
Value for Money
85/100
Pros
Exceptionally extended, controlled bass combines powerful impact, crisp texture and convincing tone without overwhelming the mix.
Remarkably wide, immersive soundstage for a closed-back design, with strong depth, layering and cohesive imaging.
Comfortable for hours, with large earcups, a light-feeling fit and premium leather-and-spring-steel construction.
Cons
Recessed central mids can make guitars, piano and core vocals sound thin or distant.
Elevated upper mids and peaky lower treble can introduce sibilance, intensity and listening fatigue; warmer sources or tube amplification help temper the balance.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 83/100
This is a vivid, highly spatial closed-back presentation with exceptionally authoritative bass and an unusually expansive stage. Its principal trade-off is an uneven, forward mid/treble balance that can turn aggressive and fatiguing on some material.
Bass
95/100
The reviewer calls the bass “crazy good,” praising its extension, thump, texture, crispness, tonal realism and authority. It is described as controlled and properly tuned rather than dominant, with only slight occasional bleed into the mids.
Midrange
78/100
Lower mids have welcome body, but the central midrange is described as recessed, thin and distant. Elevated upper mids add presence but can introduce sibilance, harshness and fatigue.
Treble
80/100
Treble has good extension and contributes to the headphone's broad presentation. However, the lower and central treble are described as peaky, intense and potentially aggressive.
Resolution Detail
75/100
The review does not directly assess low-level detail retrieval, separation or transparency in depth. Its comments on crisp bass and coherent imaging suggest clarity, but there is not enough direct evidence to make a stronger claim.
Soundstage Imaging
96/100
The soundstage receives emphatic praise: the reviewer says it is wider and more expansive than expected from a closed-back headphone. Depth, layering, cohesive image movement and immersion are also singled out as major strengths.
Dynamics
75/100
The review highlights bass authority, power and impact, which suggests convincing low-end punch. It says little directly about transient speed, macro swings or fine dynamic nuance across the full frequency range.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Comfort Fit
90/100
The reviewer finds the Gjallarhorn comfortable enough for hours of listening without problems. Despite its 406 g weight, the large earcups are said to accommodate virtually any ear shape and the fit is described as light and accommodating.
Build Quality
88/100
The construction is described as very well built, with a spring-steel headband, leather suspension strap, lambskin leather and leather-clad closed-back cups. The review speaks positively about materials and execution, though it does not address long-term durability.
Features Usability
85/100
A detachable two-metre OFC cable is included, and the headphone's high sensitivity and low impedance are reported to make it fairly easy to drive. The reviewer also finds it works well with tube amplification and warmer-sounding sources.
Value for Money
85/100
At $1,230, it sits in a competitive premium closed-back segment. The review does not directly weigh its price against competing models or make a clear value judgment.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
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Specifications
- Driver
- Graphene-coated multilayered composite
- 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
- Weight
- 406 g ( w/o cable)
- Wood
- Wenge
Manufacturer's Description — Kennerton Audio Equipment
“When the sound completely captures you”
Kennerton Gjallarhorn – the first in the world horn-loaded headphones!
Horn-type headphones are musicality, integrity of perception, overall harmony, natural sound and the ability to completely capture the listener.
JM Edition is an acoustic modification of Gjallarhorn headphones, which was made by John Massaria, 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.
You can read in depth about the modifiacion from the first hand, from the author himself.
The main differences touched the bullhorn form and change of phase inverter. It did significantly changed 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 a 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.
Horn-type headphones are musicality, integrity of perception, overall harmony, natural sound and the ability to completely capture the listener.
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 is exceeding 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, 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 partners 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.
Verified Dealers
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Authorized dealers for Kennerton Audio Equipment Gjallarhorn JM Edition Wenge
- Audio 46 — online and in-store — New York, New York, United States (website)
- Audio essence — online and in-store — Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (website)
- Audio Magic - EU — online and in-store — Wola, Województwo mazowieckie, Poland (website)
- Audio Sanctuary — in-store — London, England, United Kingdom (website)
- CASQUES HEADPHONES — in-store — Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (website)
- Igloo Audio — online and in-store — Royal Tunbridge Wells, England, United Kingdom (website)
- Knox Audio — in-store — New South Wales, Australia (website)
- MD Sound — online and in-store — Weyersfeld, Bayern, Germany (website)
- Patefon — online and in-store — Basmanny District, Moscow, Russia (website)
- Unilet Sound & Vision — online and in-store — London, England, United Kingdom (website)