Sendy Audio Peacock planar-magnetic headphones

I will fess up about some entirely wrong initial worries I had here regarding the name ‘Peacock’. I expected headphones made for a Regency dandy. As the rest of the range includes headphones called ‘Phoenix’ and ‘Robin’, my initial concerns about the Sendy Audio Peacock open-backed planar-magnetic headphones were just me being a bit bird-brained.

Naming them ‘Peacock’ means you should expect some finery, and Sendy Audio does just that. Its box is made of stiff card. Wood and anodized metal are everywhere, with goat leather cups and suspension headband wrapping. Lettters are etched into the wood of the earcup or marked with gold-on-black panels. The ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ channels are marked on the sides of the headband, picked out in huge lettering inside the earcup itself and engraved on the Hirose connectors on the supplied cable. This is reassuring as I’ve lost count of the number of headphones where such things are only revealed under almost microscopic scrutiny.

Terracotta chicken

A small, branded muslin bag inside the Sendy Audio travel case holds the supplied bi-colour copper braided cable and a set of adapters. This stiff, moulded tan leather case comes with a slightly too small carry handle and looks like you packed a terracotta chicken.

The gold-plated perforated metal grille is a second protective black layer, looking like a peacock’s tail. This grill protects the 88mm planar-magnetic dual-sided, double-magnet layout driver using proprietary material and a quad former layout. Sendy Audio claims a smooth and extended frequency response up to 40kHz.

There are some close similarities between products under the ‘Sviga’ brand and those known as ‘Sendy Audio’. In some markets, the parent company Sviga chooses to brand the products as ‘Sviga’ and ‘Sendy Audio’ in others. You’re getting two reviews for the price of one!

Get comfortable

First things first, the Sendy Audio Peacock is comfortable. Those ear cups are cool and allow for long, perspiration-free listening sessions. Articulated earcups and the suspension headband also make the Peacock feel relatively light on your head, especially given its 578g weight.

You never feel ‘pinched’ by a tight headphone band, but it might be too light a clamp for those with small heads. As a result, ear cups can move on your ears when leaning forward or back, but I prefer that to the ‘wandering headband’ effect.

The cable picks your choice of electronics… in a good way. Sendy Audio is making a statement about using the Peacock with lower-power amplifiers by using 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced connector as standard and including adaptors for 4-pin XLR and 6.35mm stereo jack. Ideally used in balanced operation, Sendy’s Peacock must be driven well to show what it can do.

U-shaped Peacock

The sound of the Sendy Audio Peacock has a mild U-shaped nature. It has a full and rich bass with just a hint of sub-bass enhancement, treble detail, and a subtle, relaxed midrange. This contrasts with the forward sound of many headphones in the same class. This isn’t a scooped-out sound; the midrange is detailed and articulate and very warm and inviting, making a particularly insightful but not pressured rendition of ‘Here’s the Tender Coming’ from the album of the same name by The Unthanks [Rabble Rouser]. This is sung with great precision and rhythm. An innate sadness in Becky and Rachel Unthank’s voices comes through perfectly.

These are songs of the wives, mothers and daughters seeing the coming of the press gang. These laments seem dull or focused on the players, not the music. The Peacock gets this perfectly right. It has a tonal balance that brings out the sorrow of hundreds of years of press gangs. Not everyone is going to like this tonal balance. Some will prefer stark neutrality over the Peacock’s more euphonic approach. It is hugely fun to sit and listen through these headphones all the same.

Space and scale

Staying with The Unthanks, this sparse recording is often just the two voices and reverb. Sendy’s Peacock has space and scale, which are surprisingly un-headphone-like. Images appear in front of your head with no sense of lateralisation, and excellent stage width and depth.

Moving over to ZZ Top’s Tres Hombres [London] and Hickox and Davis playing Vaughan Williams London Symphony [Chandos], the same pattern emerges; sonorous, deep bass, soaring treble, great imaging and an effortless, if mildly recessed, midrange. The ZZ Top track shows how good the Sendy Audio Peacock’s dynamic range is for a planar-magnetic headphone system. The sheer energy of the best dynamic drivers is lacking (although it wins in the bass). And a handful of planar magnetic designs can match or even exceed the Peacock’s performance. That balance is a very attractive one.

Sendy Audio’s Peacock is ‘Attractive’ in sound and looks. The sound has detail, good bass and a fine soundstage. Its performance is attractive and fun too. This makes the Peacock ideal for long listening sessions.

Technical specifications

• Type Over ear, open-backed planar-magnetic headphones
• Transducer diameter 88mm
• Frequency response 20Hz-40kHz
• Sensitivity 103dB ±3dB
• Impedance 50Ω ±15%
• Cable length 2m
• Connectors 4.4mm balanced, adaptors for 6.35mm jack, 4pin XLR
• Weight 578g
• Price £1,499

Manufacturer

Sendy Audio

www.sendyaudio.com

UK dealer

Eden Audio

www.edenaudio.uk

+44(0)7864 727394

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