A Mystical Cable Creature!

PROS: Kunpeng – premium-quality cable with custom hardware, very supple and comfortable even considering 20 AWG gauge wires, enhances mid-bass punch and mids clarity and resolution, makes the sound tighter and faster, has a very black background thanks to improved shielding, premium accessories including a bespoke leather case and cable organizer, and bonus free matching interconnect cable.

Quentin – premium-quality build with custom hardware, supple and durable, lifts sub-bass rumble and mid-bass punch, brings mids more forward with enhanced clarity and resolution, improves imaging of the mids/vocals.

CONS: price (Kunpeng), sound improvement varies depending on pair-up synergy.

The product was provided to me free of charge for review purposes in exchange for my honest opinion.

Manufacturer website:  HanSound Audio.  Available for sale from authorized retailers like Musicteck.

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Preamble.

I’m aware that some people are skeptical about cable’s contribution to the audio chain.  It’s not my intent to start an argument here.  Instead, I would like to share what I hear during my testing.  Perhaps, I can’t fully explain why there is a change in sound, but I do hear it and don’t find it to be a placebo effect, especially in blind testing of various cables with IEMs.  What makes sense is that a metal wire is a material with physical properties of resistivity, conductivity, and purity, acting as a filter between your source and earphones.  Variations of these physical properties could affect the conductivity of an analog signal, resulting in a sound change, from a subtle to a more noticeable level.  Also, the sound change introduced by a specific cable is not universal because it will depend on the design of earphones and their synergy with a source.

Intro.

While I’m familiar with the HanSound Audio brand, it has been many years since I tested and reviewed their cables.  The company was founded in 2012 when they started working on cable designs, but only in 2017 did they adopt the HanSound Audio name.  Around that time, I was introduced to their cables by Music Sanctuary in SGP, but haven’t heard much about HanSound in the last 3 years since Music Sanctuary went out of business.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Musicteck adding their cables to its catalog, and glad I got a chance to test them after the recent CanJam NYC show.

There are too many cable companies nowadays, but not everybody designs their wires from the ground up like HanSound, and instead some are buying wires off-the-shelf.  HanSound is involved in every step of the wire design and cable assembly, and even though they don’t manufacture their wires, they enforce a high level of quality control and closely monitor the manufacturing processes to ensure they exceed their requirements.

Originally, I received the HanSound Audio Kunpeng flagship cable to test and decide if I want to review it.  After spending a few weeks with it and starting to work on the review, I was also curious about their “entry” level Quentin copper cable, which I added as a Bonus to the Kunpeng review.  Here is what I found.

Unboxing.

The unboxing experience of Kunpeng is premium not only by any cable standards, but also by IEM standards too.  The storage box with a magnetic cover has a unique “Kunpeng” artwork and swirling graphics, and once you lift the cover, you are greeted with four small boxes set in foam cutouts, each one with similar graphics and artwork of the corresponding accessory inside.

One of the bigger boxes includes a bespoke magnetic leather storage case with a cable itself and a narrow leather cable tie strap.  Another smaller box includes a bespoke matching leather organizer wrap to keep the cable secure.  You will also find a small box with sets of modular connectors, including mmcx and P-ear, since 2pin was already attached to the cable.  The last box contains a cool gift pen with a multi-selection of red/black/blue pen colors and a retractable 0.5mm pencil.

The biggest surprise was to find a matching interconnect cable included in the box with a pen.  We are talking about a short interconnect cable which uses the same premium wires as Kunpeng and the same two custom 4.4mm BAL plugs.  I didn’t expect to see a matching quality interconnect included free with a cable.

After posting my review, I was made aware that HanSound decided to make their interconnect cable longer, about twice as long as the original short IC cable.  So, I was told that the orders from Musicteck will come with a new, longer interconnect cable.

Design.

Kunpeng cable uses three different conductor materials in different sizes, including Pure Silver, Gold-Silver alloy, and Palladium-Plated Silver, in a star-twisted structure.  According to HanSound, these conductors are independently insulated for positive and negative polarities using DuPont Hytrel high-performance thermoplastic elastic coverings, filled with vibration-dampening cotton fibers, and assembled with a high-polymer thin film.  Then, to ensure the blacker, quieter background, they also implemented a special dual-layer shielding structure, which includes a grounded graphene braided mesh and silver-plated-copper braided mesh.  The outermost layer has a metal-gray and ocean blue color, covered with ultra-soft, medical-grade PVC, keeping the cable relatively soft and non-microphonic.

Combined, they form a wire of 20 AWG gauge thickness, with 2 separate wires twisted and going down to a 4.4mm balanced custom HanSound plug housing, and up to a matching Y-split with a retractable chin-slider and a compact interchangeable modular connector.  The metal plug and Y-split have a very unique custom design with matte black and copper-orange parts, including the retractable chin-slider in the same copper/orange color finish.  The connector housing is conveniently marked with a red ring on the right side.  The housing itself comes apart as you unscrew it to remove either 2pin, mmcx, or P-ear tips, no tools required.  Once screwed back, the tips stay securely attached, but you need to be careful when dealing with 2pin tips, making sure to align it before tightening the housing since it turns freely.

Page 2 – Pair-ups and Comparisons.
Page 3 – Quentin Comparisons and Conclusion w/Sound Analysis.