Kennerton Vali

The Vali was the first high-end dynamic headphone from the Russian brand Kennerton (luxury part of Fischer Audio) before they develop their own planar, the Odin. It apparently got discontinued in 2019, but it has to be confirmed. It uses the samy Tymphany drivers found on the Aurorus Borealis.

This headphone has supreme build quality and materials, with wood, leather and metal, but at the cost of heavy weight and not so great stock comfort. Clamping force is very high and the headband quite hard. It’s very easy to drive.

○ Release : 2016
○ Current status : Discontinued
○ Type : Over-ear / Open-back
○ Measured weight : 572g
○ Impedance : 32 Ohms
○ Sensitivity : 100 dB/mW
○ Average used price : $500-600 

Sound Impression
The Vali is a very interesting sounding headphone. I liked it for a lot of things. Balance is very warm and thick. Dynamics are excellent, this is what I call a punchy headphone.

Bass is pleasant, with a very solid slam around 50-80hz. More impact than 90% of open-back cans I’ve heard (but not ultra bassy like a Fostex TH-X00). Extension is good but lacks the very low rumble below 40hz. Midrange is thick with a moderate 1khz emphasis that did not really bother me. The upper-mids are a little recessed but the overall midrange has a unique tone, far from neutral but with a “wet” character and a reverberation effect.

Treble is a mixed bag. Recessed relatively to the bass and mids. Not too problematic. What’s more an issue is the lack of treble extension after 9-10 khz. It’s quite dead sounding and takes a way a lot of sparkle, air and impression of detail.

The Vali has a good soundstage with some depth but clarity is kind of annihilated by the lack of upper-treble. The HD600 sounds more open than the Vali, which is a lot to say considering it’s 1/3 the price of the Kennerton. I can see it being a decent value used around 400-500€ (harder to find in North America or Asia) if you are into warm tonalities.

Measurements & Resources

Superbestaudiofriends : https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/kennerton-vali-measurements-and-impressions.3381/