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Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Review

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 33 26.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 64 50.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 27 21.4%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 2 1.6%

  • Total voters
    126

amirm

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This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Gold Planar GL2000 headphone. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs about US $600.
Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Review.jpg

The GL2000 feels rather luxurious and sturdy in hand and attractive to look at. The sample I received has solid leather pads. I understand there is also a perforated one. The pads are very soft and make wearing the 550 gram headphone comfortable to wear. That softness though gave fair bit of variations between the cups in the measurements at higher frequencies.

Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Measurements
Let's start with our usual frequency response measurements:

Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Frequency Response Measurement.png


As noted, very little of the response matches our target. I expect the tonality to lack bass, air and spatial qualities. The latter two due to short fall between 1.5 and 5 kHz. Development of equalization filter by eye can be challenging due to odd shape and number of variations:

Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone relative Frequency Response Measurement.png


I was impressed by how low the distortion was all the way up to 114 dBSPL:
Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Relative THD Distortion Response Measurement.png


Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone THD Distortion Response Measurement.png


In theory then we should be able to boost what we want without fear of distortion. Practice though was different as you will read in the listening section.

Group delay is messy likely due to resonances and internal reflections:
Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Group Delay Response Measurement.png


As expected from a Planar Magnetic design, impedance is flat:
Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Impedance Response Measurement.png


I was pleasantly surprised by high sensitivity which should make it easier to drive with many sources/headphone amplifiers:

Most sensitive headphone review 2023.png


Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Listening Tests and Equalization
Compared to my reference headphone, the sound was dull and unexciting. There was little bass. Female vocals were pushed way in the back. Essentially everything that I associate with "hi fi" sound was missing. So out came filters:
Gold Planar GL2000 Headphone Equalization EQ.png


I initially did not have the high pass filter. Sadly with sub-bass heavy tracks, the headphone started to crackle forcing me to roll off the extreme low frequencies. What was there was now substantially better than stock tuning though with satisfying bass and dynamics. There was plenty of "air" now and spatial qualities were nice (B+). I could happily listen to the GL2000s with EQ. Turning off the EQ was dramatic, making the sound like the difference between CD and AM radio!

Conclusions
The GL2000 headphone lands in the story of "we will build it and EQ will come!" Cleary no target existed as far as tonality with so much deficiency in the response of the headphone, holding it back from producing enjoyable music. Fortunately most of that could be fixed with Equalization, sans very low bass. I have no explanation for why this aspect was not revealed in measurements. Perhaps I have bass at even higher level than 114 dBSPL! :D

I can't recommend the Gold Planar GL2000 as is. With EQ however, it becomes a good headphone with nice comfort and look/feel.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Appreciate any donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 

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  • Gold Planar GL2000 Frequency Response.zip
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solderdude

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With 110dB/V this is not the most sensitive planar headphone but 60ohm is a bit easier on most gear than < 16ohm.
To reach 120dB one needs 3V = 150mW so a 300mW in 32ohm source is required, certainly if one wants to EQ to Harman.
The Dekoni 'nuggets' on the headband are not standard... for those that are wondering what those 'pads' are all about.
 

Lunafag

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Oval earpads often don't seal properly at the bottom, perhaps the crackling was caused by that?
 

FreaK

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You're late with the review! :D I sold mine on summer last year, and bought a DCA+Drop Aeon Closed X instead, just because it was measured here (not that exact version, but close enough), and proven to be quite good. The GL2000 was more comfortable though, but i don't regret it :) i also EQ'd both, the former based on Oratory's EQ, but i thrust yours more.
 

ReluctantGT

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You're late with the review! :D I sold mine on summer last year, and bought a DCA+Drop Aeon Closed X instead, just because it was measured here (not that exact version, but close enough), and proven to be quite good. The GL2000 was more comfortable though, but i don't regret it :) i also EQ'd both, the former based on Oratory's EQ, but i thrust yours more.
I did the same thing! Except, I didn't sell my GL2000 (they're the ones in this review). I actually find the Aeon X more comfortable! The headband shape of the GL2000 doesn't match my pointy head, thus the "nuggets". Looking forward to trying them again using Amir's filters. Thanks for the review @amirm!
 

_thelaughingman

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With perforated hybrid pads it sounds very good for me.And I don't like leather pads too.
Crinacle measured these with hybrid perforated pads and the attenuation of bass and compliance to curve looks a bit different. Should be good to hear with EQ.
 
Last edited:

dfuller

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I initially did not have the high pass filter. Sadly with sub-bass heavy tracks, the headphone started to crackle forcing me to roll off the extreme low frequencies
Interesting, as this completely doesn't appear on the distortion charts. Wonder what's going on?
 

dfuller

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See the comment from @flipflop above
Yeah, but the Focal Clears did show distortion going through the roof like you'd expect from a dynamic driver reaching its excursion limits.
 

flipflop

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Yeah, but the Focal Clears did show distortion going through the roof like you'd expect from a dynamic driver reaching its excursion limits.
It's 42 dB below fundamental at worst and dominated by H2.
Rising THD in the bass is a common trait in headphones, but it's very rarely accompanied by crackling or other noises.
 

CoryGillmore

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It'd be interesting for you to do a quick listening test first and jot down some impressions, then do your measurements then do another listening test at the end to see how seeing the measurements affect how you perceive the sound (or if they do affect it), because I'm pretty sure it does affect it, right?

I guess what I'm wondering is: could you discern these FR deficiencies without first seeing them on paper or graph?
 

solderdude

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Robbo99999

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It's an IMD issue, not a THD one.
We don't know that for sure, do we. Would IMD really show as crackling, I don't know? I agree that the distortion graphs of this headphone are very good, and you wouldn't expect Amir to have experienced crackling during heavy bass playback. I don't know what the explanation for his experience would be, but we can't be sure it's IMD, can we?
 

Robbo99999

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My overall thoughts on this headphone. Measures at quick glance very similar to the one measured by Oratory. I don't really like the high-grained high Q disruptions above 2kHz. I don't particularly like the large shortfall between 6-9kHz which could be a tricky area to boost up with EQ. The range from 20Hz-5000Hz looks easy to EQ though, and distortion is low, which is impressive & useful when boosting the various areas. The mentioned issue Amir had with crackling of loudly played deep bass is a bit concerning, especially as it's not reflected in the distortion measurements. Overall, seems like a bit of a gamble for $600. Not terrible, not great, maybe not quite ok, lol!
 
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