Penon Turbo: All About the Versatility and BASS!

Pros

• Good accessories inclusion
• Surprisingly small and comfortable shell for a 6BA IEM
• Effective, versatile and well implemented tuning switches and profiles
• Surprisingly easy to drive
• Fun, high quality, woofer-like bass 
• Fairly clean and open lower midrange with some warmth
• Smooth, engaging upper midrange 
• Smooth treble presentation with decent sparkle
• Well extended and airy treble 
• Decent note weight 
• Impressive imaging and layering 

Cons

• Bass could use a bit more definition 
• Turbo mode is somewhat niche and genre dependent 
• Recessed lower midrange due to bass tuck
• Not the most natural timbre 
• Average soundstage
• Price 

Disclaimer

• Huge thanks to Penon for providing the opportunity for me to review the Penon Turbo through a discount on the Turbo. I really do appreciate it. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own, and are not influenced in any way. 
• Please take this review with only a grain of salt, as everyone's hearing, fit, and gears may differ, so our experience may be different.

Price(MSRP)

• $549.00

Source(s)

• Surprisingly easy to drive, even the budget oriented JM6 Pro is sufficient to power it easily with the volume being lower than 50%. 
• Source used:
• Topping DX1 (preferred)
• Truthear Shio
• Jcally JM6 Pro

Ear tips

• Dunu S&S

Packaging

• Penon Turbo.
• Hard case with a soft, smooth texture
• Small leather pouch
• Cleaning brush
• Pin for tuning switch adjustments
• Shirt clip
• Good selection of ear tips.
• 9 pairs of generic silicone ear tips (S, M, L)
• Leather cable tie
• Penon CS819 OCC & Silver-plated Mixed Braided HiFi Audiophile IEMs Cable
• Feels very well built, soft and comfortable to wear, doesn't come with a ear hook though.

Build Quality

• Build quality is alright, not the best.
• Shell is made entirely out of resin, very lightweight as well.

Fit

• Nozzle length and width is average, but note that it can get a little slippery for certain ear tips as it is made out of resin. 
  
• Fit is extremely comfortable for me, due to its very small shell size and how light is it, which is not common at all for an IEM that has 6BAs 
• Some popular 6BA IEMs like the Elysian Diva and 7th Acoustics Supernova have really chonky shells. 
• Very well vented, no pressure build up issue at all in my experience. 

Tonality

• Neutral-bright to L-shaped, extremely versatile tuning switch implementation in my opinion. 
• I will only describe the tuning profiles with drastic changes.
• As for the description below, I will use the format of (x-xxx), where the first x represents the turbo switch, and the xxx after that represents the remaining 3 switches in order. 0 means that it is turned off or down, 1 means that it is turned on or up, and x means that it does not affect much whether that it is off or on. 

Tuning Profiles

• 0-000
• Invalid profile according the official Penon site.
• However, I find this quite listenable, and it may appeal to some people.
• Neutral-bright signature, most open and transparent. Female vocals sounds the most light and airy in this signature. Details can be perceived the most easily in this mode. 
• However, it lacks body and note weight in this mode due to insufficient lower end response. 

• 0-001
• Slightly bright tilted mild V-shaped signature.
• Bass is still present, still with amazing qualities
• Lower midrange sound a bit cleaner than other signatures.
• Slightly favors female vocals, male vocals slightly lacking weight but treble has good amount of sparkle and crisp, plus it doesn't get harsh in any way at all. 

• 0-01x
• Mild-V shaped signature.
• Most balanced signature out of all the profiles in my opinion.
• Bass is more a bit prominent but still remains well controlled.
• Lower midrange comes with a little more weight. but I would still say it is fairly clean and open. 
• Doesn't favor any side of the vocals, both male and female vocals sound equally good on this setting. 
• Treble has just enough sparkle to push through it to balance it out with the lower end energy. 

• 0-1xx
• Slightly warm tilted mild V-shaped signature.
• Bass is a bit more dominant compared to other frequencies
• Lower midrange comes with a bit more warmth and lushness but not to the point of muddy and bloaty.
• Slightly favors male vocals, female vocals tend to get a bit masked in this profile.
• Treble is also slightly overpowered by the lower end, but this makes it into a more relaxing listen.

• 1-xxx
• Bassy, L-shaped signature
• Insane amount of bass, which easily overpowers other frequencies.
• Still remains somewhat clean due to the bass tuck.
• May have pushed the drivers a little too hard, distortions can be heard fairly easily. 
• Only suitable for certain genres like EDM, or based on your mood at that time. 

Bass

• The bass is quite balanced between the sub bass and mid bass, perhaps leaning slightly toward the mid bass
• Snappy, good rumble and slam, well textured and controlled, very impactful, have decent body and weight to it. 
• Have a woofer effect due to to bass tuck, sounds slightly detached from other frequencies but makes it quite unique and very fun to listen to. 
• I would only have minor nitpicks for the bass, that being lacking in bass definition as the bass sounds a little mushy, and it isn't as full sounding as some people prefer due to the bass tuck. 
• Quantity can be easily adjusted through the switches, ranging from bass head level to no bass at all. 
• Bass quantity affects many other factors, such as note weight, tonal balance, and overall timbre presentation.
• When the Turbo switch is turned on, the bass starts to lose some of it qualities like control and naturalness, and it starts to distort, sounding as if the bass drivers are being pushed to their absolute limits. 
• Overall, the bass performance is spectacular and is one of the highlights of the Penon Turbo, especially considering that the BAs are completely handling the bass! 

Midrange

• Overall midrange is slightly recessed from the bass tuck, 
• However, it isn't as thin as other IEMs that has a bass tuck, probably due the tuck being a bit 
• Lower midrange can get from slightly warm to slightly cold depending on the chosen switch profile, but deeper vocals tend to sound quite far away due to the recession. 
• Upper midrange is quite energetic and is very smooth to listen to.
• Vocal performance depends heavily on switch profile, 
• More bass will introduce more heft and lushness to the vocals but it will also bring in some huskiness and mask over the clarity.
• Less bass will make vocals have a more angelic and airy presentation but losing some weight.
• Fortunately, I found a very balanced setting for myself through the switches, which is 0-01x, that offers a perfect balance of weight and clarity. 
• Timbre is decent and natural enough to me for most of the profiles, with the 0-000 and 1-xxx being the exception. However, don't expect the most natural timbre due to the bass tuck and recessed midrange. 
• Overall note weight ranges from slightly dense to lightweight depending on profiles as well.

Treble

• Treble is overall quite smooth with just enough sparkle to balance out the lower frequencies on most profiles.
• On profiles that has less bass, treble tend to be a bit more forward but not enough to be overly bright or sibilant to me. At most, cymbal clashes and vocals have a bit more bite to them.
• Treble extension is good, which add some air to it.
• Details can be perceived pretty well due to how extended the treble is without being dark.

Technicalities

Resolution

• Resolution and detail retrieval is decent, the Turbo isn't really lacking in details but it isn't outstanding either considering that it is a full BA set and the $550 price tag. 

Soundstage

• Soundstage is average in terms of width but is decent in terms of depth. 
• Not really intimate but isn't exactly very wide or spacious, not the best for the price.

Imaging

• Imaging and accuracy is very good, I am able to pinpoint position accurately with ease.

Separation

• Separation and layering is impressive. 
• Every instruments are layered very well among each other, nothing will sound congested at all, even on extremely busy tracks. 

Conclusion

• Overall, the Penon Turbo is very well tuned in all departments, backed up with good enough technicalities, and can be further customized with its well implemented tuning switch system.
• The tuning switches does not changes the overall tuning style. 
• Instead, it changes the "flavor", with minor adjustments towards different tilts, just like how people enjoy different flavors for different genres or different moods. 
• Furthermore, there is even a dedicated switch just for bass heads, but it is a little niche. 
• Personally, I am very happy that this is my first endgame TOTL IEM due to its insane versatility and bass quality. 

Non Affiliated Link

• If you are interested after reading the article, feel free to check out the non affiliated link below.
• https://penonaudio.com/penon-turbo.html

Thanks for reading!