Audio speaker in the form of a skull.

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Learning headphones Lear Kaleido - in a kaleidoscope of sound

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Lear company in the past repeatedly pleased connoisseurs of high-quality sound with headphones, which perfectly combine price and quality, it is worth recalling at least their AE1d . Not alien to them were the experiments that resulted in the headphones of the surround sound NS-U1 . Recently I did not follow the company's innovations, but it's time to fix it, today we'll talk about the hybrid model Lear Kaleido.

If you judge "according to specifications", the headphones are quite typical: three radiators, dynamic for LF and pair of reinforcing bars for MF and HF, a specially calculated three-band electronic crossover and an acoustic filter LF so that all of this work together ... The main interest here is precisely , what did the headphones in Lear, as they know how to surprise with both sound and price. The latter, by the way, turned out to be quite affordable, the universal version costs about $ 216, custom dollars for 40 more, which is also quite affordable, if suddenly you decide to go on a "difficult road".

Specifications

  • Emitters: 7 mm dynamic + 2 × with balanced armature
  • Frequency range: 10 Hz - 20 kHz
  • Impedance: 10Ω @ 1 kHz
  • Sensitivity: 109 dB / mW
  • Cable: interchangeable, with MMCX connectors
  • Plug: 3.5 mm TRS

Packing and delivery kit

The box at Lear is standard enough, black cardboard, minimal polygraphy. Inside, of course, are headphones, a convenient "bank" made of plastic with a soft-touch effect for storage, a cable, four pairs of silicone tips of different sizes, a pair of foams and a cloth to care for Kaleido.

In general - without any excesses, but everything you need is there, and the complete "bank" is very convenient in everyday use.

Design and comfortable wearing

It is the appearance that is the main feature of Kaleido. The Lear rightly decided that they need to stand out, and made for this model very stylish face-plates, justifying the name of the model. Multicolored iridescent pieces of foil (that's where the old rain from the Christmas tree goes) gives the headphones an effective look, but they do not look like it.

In other respects Kaleido is a typical model: cases made of acrylic in the style of "universal variant of custom". The cases are made anatomically in shape, thanks to the correct angle of the sound guide and a fairly compact size they normally fit into the ears of almost any size. Sound insulation is just below the average for the form factor, but for terrestrial public transport and just noisy streets it will be enough.


If you suddenly do not like the basic version of the design, you will have plenty of options for customization (different colors of shells, unusual face-scenes), but you'll have to pay a little for it.

Naturally, Kaleido is equipped with a replacement wire. In this case, MMCX connectors are used, and here, perhaps, lies the main ergonomic drawback of this model. The fact is that the connectors used on the wire by default are large enough, and with a typical landing for breezing, the cable is too forward. Fortunately, the staff wire has areas with a memory effect, so if you bend them steeply, you can ensure a normal fixation of the wire. The wire itself is good in quality and durability, but it's tough enough, because of this there is a slight microphone effect, but it is almost completely eliminated by the breech-wearing.

In general, I would immediately order Kaleido additional wire softer, since now their choice is great, and prices are available.

Sound

The following equipment was used for listening.

Before listening to the headphones were warmed for 72 hours.

In terms of filing Kaleido a little apart from the sound of "typical hybrids" (accentuated bass + bright and detailed MF / HF), Lear decided to make them softer and more comfortable, getting a model for those who do not like harsh and aggressive midrange. Of course, this is accompanied by V-shaped frequency response with emphasis on LF and HF.

The bass in Kaleido is not the fastest, though not the slowest, it has a pleasant weight, but it does not smear and normally transmits texture. The bass has a decent (but not beyond) depth, the bent bit was sacrificed for the sake of massiveness, but without special kinks.

The middle, expected for V-shaped headphones, is reserved for second place, and sometimes it would be desirable to have a little more of its presence, but in most cases it still suffices. Naturally, this is not a model for fans of microcontrast, they play more at the macro level, although in most cases the resolution of the MF is sufficient. Thanks to V-shaped AFC, headphones do a good job of building an imaginary scene (and this despite accented low frequencies), the vocals are slightly moved forward against the background of instruments, which creates a separation effect. The width of the imaginary scene is somewhere average, but the dimensions of the instruments are transmitted reliably.

HF is slightly accented, they are bright and festive, but there is probably no surplus for my taste. For headphones, the headphones probably will not work, but for the rest of listeners the "top" here will be completely harmonious, despite some simplification of attenuation and separation of layers, the HF resolution is normal here and they cope with their balancing role of the bass component. In general, the upper half of the frequency response is characterized by a naturalness pleasant for this price category.

In this price category, I remember one model of the Dunu Falcon-C, they differ more detailed and dry sound, but their lower midrange sound more lightly. I will not do detailed comparisons this time, Kaleido - a fairly tasty model and paint comparisons in the spirit of "not at all like" I do not see much sense.

Compatibility

Headphones are very sensitive, with low impedance, so they can be used with simple sources like mobile phones and tablets. Since the model has a flavor feed, the top sources are clearly not needed, the main thing is that the background noise level should be lower, however, due to the nature of the feed, the noise is not accented.

Stylistically, of course, the model is best suited for styles that benefit from accented LF and effective HF, but, as always, the main criterion will be the subjective preferences of the listener. To the quality of the material, the model is fairly tolerant, somewhere by 5 points on a 10-point scale of "fault-finding".

Of course, a few tracks for an example

Marcus Miller - Blast. What can be common in jazz and headphones with delicious bass? Of course Marcus Miller! The famous jazz bassist, who worked with a string of stars from Herbie Hancock to Miles Davis, pleases and solo albums. Well, Kaleido helps him to reveal his work in full: the best low frequencies and the perfect volume of the rest of the range.

Sade - Smooth Operator. Forgive me, lovers of the unusual and new, but when I heard this remaster performed by Kaleido, I just could not resist, I think listening, anyone will understand why. For this in general, it is not necessary to have the IEM itself, but with them the result, of course, will be better. Smooth feed for Smooth Operator.

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean. You can treat the king of pop music in different ways, his life and work, but you can not take one from him - the most excellent, just the reference quality of the record. Although with the consideration of Quincy Jones, there could not be any other result. By the way, in fact, this track obviously does not turn out to be called primitive or boring, here there are beautiful backing vocals, and unusual solo parts of various instruments appearing and disappearing like patterns in a kaleidoscope ... In general, to the presentation of the heroes of this review, such music is very is suitable.

conclusions

Lear once again released a very unusual, but pleasantly sounding model for connoisseurs of a slightly relaxed filing, perfectly suitable for taste listening to many styles. Elegant design and comfortable body serve as additional bonuses of this model.

Buy Lear Kaleido

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