INTRODUCTION / A FEW WORDS
You guys must have guessed till now that I only find the spare time to write anything down (due to heavy work schedule that is ...) when it matters to me a lot.
well this time I was litteraly speachless ,i was awed right from the first audition up to the point where I gave up on the burn in procedure of the monitors cause really could not see how this set could gain any advantadge from that procedure during time....
it was simply one of those times that I could not make the descision to take those monitors out of my ears …......
i simply reached that state of
NIRVANA.And believe me if I could grade them with a 6 star grade I would . No question about that.........If you re seaking for the answer to that just keep reading.....
But keep in mind that there are already
5 reviews here before this one that praises the 10th even more than this one here.....
so that couldnt be a coincidence could it ?
I want to make clear at this point that the 10th was purchased a month ago from Penon's original site and in any case you ll be interested here's a link for your convinience :
10th Anniversary
SPECIFICATIONS
Driver: 2 Electrostatic+ 2 balanced armature + 2 Dynamic driver
4-way crossover, 3 tube channel
Impedance: 9ohm±10%
Sensitivity: 110dB
Frequency response: 15Hz-70kHz
Connector: 2Pin 0.78mm
PACKAGE - ACCESSORIES - FIT
Package is pretty awesome here (and that has become a tradition many years now for all PENON monitors BUT there is also a nice addittion of a leather case here which makes me at least a very happy person...
3D printed shell, medical grade resin material is what Penon uses here for these monitors and in terms of comfort is really a unique experience.....that's what my ears keep telling me at least.......
Faceplates of the shells are trully adorable in deep blue and red mixture with the
PENON /
AUDIO lego on them (one on the left and the other on the right faceplate)
as for accessories goes, yοu get three sets of silicone tips in 3 sizes, , a cleaning brush for the monitor's nozzle and a stylish cloth clipper
The 10th comes with CS819 famous Penon cable and 2-pin connection plug, ending in a termination of your choise balanced 4.4/2.5 or single ended.
Fit wise, in my case at least fits like a glove to my extra large ear cavities and having tried several tips (symbio,azla sedna,sony hybrids,Final Audio E tips e.t.c.) in order to find the
ABSOLUTE BEST ISOLATION quickly ended up using some azla sednafit transparent ones cause those provided the comfort i was searching for as well as amazing fit and superb isolation .At this point i would strongly suggest everybody to use wide bore tips in order to take advantadge of the 10th's tremendous stage and stereo image abilities in full bloom...........
Nevertheless ......the included silicone tips are pretty amazing as well ,maintaning the warm tonallity and the original sound character of this jewel.
As it is pictured above there are two open vents upon the shells establishing that the air moves effortlessly between the drivers contributing thus way to a dynamic & fatique free sound performance.
SOUND PROFILE / STAGE / IMAGE ABILITIES
Gear used for the purpose of this review : iBASSO DX 160 & DX170 / Shanling M3X / HIBY R5 GEN II
Now to the point.....
The 10TH are to my ears a W sound signature set of monitors with a clear emphasis on the lows / highs and midrange as well..
What stroked me the most (straight out of the box) was the superb balance across the FR due to that one the10th is the
ONE & ONLY monitor that forced me revisit & re-evaluate the WHOLE ****ING LIBRARY...
One by one.... 3000 plus tracks.......cause each one of them gets to occupy more space, providing a different more open head stage during listening..
7 years on this hobby never this occurred before
Owning twice it's price monitors that is.....
Being 100 percent honest here... Never before..
Trying to find the answer why that's happening i suspect partially due to 10th's unique abilities to stay coherent and stable even at the highest volumes..... And without the slightest hint of congestion at all !!!!!!!!
At this price range its not easy at all to find another monitor with such a tremendous sound stage , with such a tremendous stereo image and layering abilities.Resolution across the FR is top notch and can easily blow your mind
There is a unique 3 dimentional sense of surrounding cyclotic sound up to the point you wont realise where the sound is coming from.......
Imaging is superb too there,you can easily pin point each and every instrument of the stage and its exact potition there.
Detail retrieval pretty fine despite of the fact that 10th's main target is to loose your self inside the music forgetting anything else around you.. Musicality is the name of the game with this one ....Nevertheless all the details are still there , but not in your face leaving room for airyness and vocals to shine.
Another unique thing about this set is that once you turn up the volume there is no way back but only keep increasing the volume all the way up to the end .........The sound remains coherent even at the loudest volume .Constinstency even under extreme high pitched volume is the main characteristic of this earphone
. It is the absolute definition of a superbly balanced sound exceeding anyone's expectations....
Have to mention at this point that this set is so very easy to drive with pretty much anything as a source but despite that fact it also scales pretty amazing with better sources(daps-amps.) The better the source.. the better the whole experience gets...for example paired with Hiby R5 Gen II (A class amp mode) ends in an even more dynamic presentation of sound with faster attacks and even more natural decays ....so do not be afraid to turn up the volume......it just gets better and better....a complete sonic experience .
10th Anniversary edition IEM Official graph
Besides the obvious bass elevation (guessing somewhere between 5 to 8 dbs at the lowest sub bass region) there is also a dip around 6 to 8 Khz to help the vocals come front smoothly with lushness/spaciouness and to provide any harsh or metallic/artificial feeling on the lower trebles
Other than that from 20Hz to 500Hz according to this FR graph there's a very smooth transition from mid bass region to the lower midrange which is the true case here and always according to my hearing ability there's no bass bleed to the lower mids/midrange which comes front crystal clear and lush as well.......
BASS
1 million dollar question follows : how can any bass response be so precise,tight,agile,vigorous and vast,enormous at the same time ? I wonder my self how can this be even possible..believe it or not this is the case here with this set of monitors. Never oveshadowing,never overwhelming the midrange but leaving the air to flow flawlessly those two small 6mm “chrystaline plated biofilm” DDs are responsible for all those aformentioned things above.......showcasing brilliant texture and attacks it's s impactfull as an earthquake,and precise as a spirit level.................
Never bleeds into the mids area ,never oveshadowing the rest of the spectrum and capable of producing goose bumps in any track upon it is called for...Transients are fast,decays are too perfect to be true and the bass timbre has a unique analogue feeling in terms of representation of the recordings........from 20 to 250 Hz everything is vibrant, alive and kicking. Sub bass frequencies in particular are more than noticeable making a big time difference there providing the appropriate rumble and vibration when and each time are called for duty.....
A perfect example of that tremendous and well controlled bass / sub bass would be the following track :
Demen - Ambur
This one could easily be a lost 4AD records jewel but it isnt...............The lower/lowest frequencies here do create the whole ambience and all the info between 250 and 20 Hz are responsible for the magic atmosphere along with the cymbal crushes at the higher registries and the addition of angelic female vocals.....And the 10th gets to be just perfect for this one as those DDs pushes effortlesly the air between the instruments leaving room at the same time for the female vocals to shine
speaking of 4ADs older treasure songs.......... this might be just perfect for the
10ths :
Dead Can Dance - Dawn of the iconoclast
it is beyond description this reproduction using the
10ths .....There s an most admirable absolute balance regading the majority of the physical instruments here ( Bass Trombone, Tuba ,military snare,Timbani,trompet,violas and violins all together work as an entity flawing in perfect harmony along with Gerrad's most precious vocals producing this way a most unique rare moment in time and place.
A trully unique experience
MIDRANGE
It would be highly unfair to judge and grade this set from its tremendous bass abilities so guess what......mids have nothing to fear from that bass ,nothing at all,because mids are the main star of the show here showcasing the tuning craftmanship of Penon's most exquisite House Sound ,natural and lush,vibrant and spacious ,not to front ,not to back,somewhere in the middle of the stage ,not being shouty ,not being particularly laidback, but finding the correct spot and place in the scene . The timbre of both male and female vocals feels extremely natural and real to life. Silky smooth buttery spaciousness would be the most precise definition of the vocals and in all cases they are represented with passion and intimacy providing a unique feeling of engangementwith the appropriate note weight and presence for both male and female vocalists .But the absolute victory for this set is the amount of air rendered and the illusion that provides to the listener that every tiny element and cue from the recording floats inside/outside your head in perfect place and harmony
Listening to Divine Comedy's "A lady of a certain age" is such a treat on these babys..... all the strings of the orchestra sound so natural there without the slightest hing of artificiallity or harshness,the timbre of Hanon's voice is so humanly warm and correct and blends tremendously well with the rest of the instruments
Divine Comedy - A lady of a certain age
As for vocal lovers i strongly suggest to listen to the next one :
Autumn's Grey Solace - Absent the body
This is the romantic aspect of the
10th's representing in the best possible aspect their majestic midrange which is lush .spacious ,dream like.....the female singer in this song extends here angelic voice up to the highest possible and the result using this set listening is beyond anyone's imagination. the wideness of the scene here is remarkable the electric quitars and bass quitars portaying such an intensity and cohesiveness with remarkable reverb and decay rarely to be found in any reproduction its so damned electrifying the whole experience with the
10ths ,and all the magic happens in that addictive midrange where all instruments works together as a unity bringing us a whole different universe of sound.
HIGHS / BRILLIANCE
Easily the most natural and airy ESTs I have personally heard in any monitor in my small experience and always till now .imagine this one like a projection of your hearing ability …...a repair of your hearing loss towards the higher registries , avoiding in every genre artificial or metallic sounding.......
cymbals,hi-hats,violins,strings everything here sounds natural and sweet
Absolutelly zero sibilance or hotness.
so smooth,so velvet, Unbelievable amount of microdetails to sounds and instrument lines due to this successfull implementation. A Knowles BA and Sonion ESTs along with the masterclass tuning brought by the masters at Penon
two particular tracks showcasing those ESTs strengh ,coherence and admirable microdetail retrieval follows right after :
36 - Minerva
"minerva" coming from
36 is a modern ambient masterpiece mostly worked on higher registries and manages to create such a strong sense of atmosphere using Ableton Live that can really travel you away from this planet...............in this case the way 10th easily handles both lower and higher frequencies so effortlesly and smoothly that results in a unique mesmerising experience.............the stage using this set of monitors takes off our small solar system to discover the rest of our galaxy........everything feels like floating away and beyond our dimentions into ethereal realm...............
Glass Moon - Leland Whitty
Leland , produced an absolutely beautiful solo record last year and in this particular track every physical instrument like double bass is a real treat with the 10ths....The sound gets immediatelly addictive just right from the begging of the song takes you in, absorbs your mind.. right from the very first seconds.......,double bass,flutes,drums,Rhodes etc.... showcasing an utterly natural timbre,true to the original recording, i suppose you ll be 100% surprised of how close to real life this track sounds in terms of correct and natural sound reproduction .but particularly when it comes to strings it just feels like you re in the concert hall or the studio recording session,your choise..........
DIRECT COMPARISONS
VS DUNU EST112
EST112 from
DUNU is a tribrid monitor with a 13.5 mm DD Driver with Dual-Sided Beryllium Coating ,one Custom Knowles BA tweeter and 2 Sonion EST supertweeters
I loved those straight out of the box ,for their vast wide soundstage,their polished sound,their clarity,their unbelievable detail retrieval.BUT as far as bass goes (strangely enough having a large 13.5 woofer) is way too polite if you compare it directly with a monitor like the 10th.The impact is missing, the sub bass kick lacks of energy, something that
PENON AUDIO is a really a specialist at.Though
EST112΄s treble is really something else (propably the most airy treble i personally had ever heard utill the
10th arrived) it lacks some energy ,weight,or body i would say.On the contrary this is not the case with the
10ths where the body and sparkle goes hand by hand with the sub bass providing authority and definition to every single note.....
As far as resolution goes i believe the
10th has slightly the upper hand overt the
EST112 in big orchestras and symphonic tracks. apart from that
EST112 is really a pain in the ass as far as fit goes (using azla sedna tips was the only way for these really heavy monitors to stay tight on my ears) while the 10th obtains superb fit and comfort way beyond competition.................
vs ISN EST50
EST 50s was to me love Love at first audition if it wasn't for the 10th to invade in my life it would still be my all time favorite monitor.
ISN AUDIO is a true master as far
BASS goes and in this case their flagship
EST50s is the perfect proof of what happens when a group of proffesional engineers who happens to love bass frequencies a little more than the rest of the spectrum........... are doing their best effort to bring such a miracle as the EST50s.Here the midrange is taken care by a SONION BA driver which make the mids so ,so ,so, beautifull and sweet ,p to the point where you simply forget how marvelous the bass sounds ,and the upper treble uses 2 Sonion ESTs micro tweeters so this results in a perfect natural representation of the higher regions.but here comes the 10ths tremendous ABSOLUTE BALANCE with a bass full of authority that does not overshadows the midrange under any circurmstances which unfortunatelly is not the case with
EST50s but thats reallity am afraid so .....you win something/you lose something else.....i do love those two almost the same ,just a hint more the
10ths i being the more natural and spacious sounding one.Both are amazing earphones at their price and both worth every single dollar.
vs UM MEXT
MEXT is a warm and bass friendly monitor with a
HUGE FUN SIGNATURE closer to
ISN EST50 than
PENON 10th
MEXT is indeed a perfect all rounder, ideal for bass lovers obtaining a huge soundstage,top tier resolution ,fantastic mids and fascinating treble response.
nevertheless i have to admit that I was quite surprised during this comparison cause instantly upon first listen the
10ths felted immediately more spacious and wide open sounding with a tremendous sense of a head stage i personally never had to the luck to hear before.........
In terms of airy/spaciousness feeling though this is quite subjective I would say those two are completely on par with the
10ths being just a touch more advance in terms of clarity and stage
in terms of timbre / note weight bot are natural and realistic with remarkable note weight while the MEXT is clearly the warmer one with a much warmer/darker more of an obscure tonality all that in the cost of total clarity something that the
10th has clearly the upper hand
Due to this reason the MEXT has a noticeable depth in the scene which helps a lot to create a superb 3D hollographic soundstage.
...... in the other hand the
10ths being more airy, provides a more open feeling to the listener (in the midrange) leaving room for the vocals to breathe and make room for clarity to prevail across the entire FR there....
The
MEXT is more of an organic/analoque sounding monitor thus more thick / dark sounding while the 10ths is by far more wide in terms of stage and airy one
vs Oriolus Szalayi
The
Szalayi is a most capable tribrid monitor relatively new in the market ,obtaining a 14mm Planar Diaphragm Driver along with a High-Performance Balanced Armature Driver & a 10mm Dynamic Driver.
The
Szalayi says : " Do you really want to mess around with the
ABSOLUTE GOD OF BASS ?? "
The
10th answers : "
well......maybe i would so....."
at this point take under consideration that the
SZAs (Szalayi that is) are adressed mainly to BassHead territory because its really a dramatic , tremendous , vast Bass experience more like the
EST50s from
ISN AUDIO
.............and its a tough competition out there as well.............i like both the 10ths & SZAs in them in terms of bass reproduction both are my cup of tea actually
BUT stage wise i have to give the open feeling and air to the 10ths while the depth of the scene to SZAs which really obtain a remarkable depth due to their tuning actually and their driver implementation. Both sound natural with excellent timbre in about everything but in terms of tonallity i would go with the 10th its simply more close to what i find as correct and true.
FINAL WORDS / CLOSURE
From my side at least i cannot reccomend enough
PENON 10th. I really believe this time
PENON audio engineers really surpassed themselves making this fabulous set of monitors.
BUT they should be remarkably proud of it as this set is supposed to bethe landmark for
PENON's 10th anniversary in audio manufacturing business
It is an absolute
TOTL, regardless of their price there....able to faithfully reproduce any kind of recording or music genre effortlessly ,and the main point is that the
10th has nothing to envy from much higher priced monitors coming from well established companies , or monitors using more sophisticated implementations.
All this for barely
499 bucks.....
Engagement is the name of the game here, and those
10ths definitely deliver that. it's one of the most engaging and addictive as well monitors I have ever listened to. If musicality and absolute balance goes hand by hand in your prefferences then you re getting
one hell of a deal here ..................................
Thanks for reading this much.............