Thanks to Campfire Audio’s Chris Halasz for sending us a sample Grand Luna for review, without any expectation other than our honest opinion. Your continued support is greatly appreciated.
Ken Ball doesn’t do ordinary. Campfire Audio’s charismatic founder and CEO almost prides himself on breaking conventional audio target curves with his colourful tuning, and he’s done it again with Campfire’s latest IEM concoction, the $1,399 Grand Luna.
Ostensibly the company’s first ‘hybrid planar’, Grand Luna adapts the 14mm planar driver we first saw in the technically ambitious Astrolith (reviewed here), but swaps out that IEM’s micro planar tweeter and high-frequency tuning chamber for two custom balanced armature drivers.
The combination of these divergent driver types is about as eclectic as it seems, with a warm, smooth sound that manages to be bewildering and captivating in equal measure.
Where some IEMs are simply hit or miss, I’ve come to expect Campfire’s creations to be both, often at the same time. As with the still controversial Trifecta flagship (reviewed here), Grand Luna is an IEM that can sound absolutely pitch perfect with some music, and brow raising with others.
It’s an almost complete 180 from the perfectly balanced and natural-sounding Clara (reviewed here), which Ken tuned together with music legend Alessandro Cortini of Nine Inch Nails fame. So, it’s not that Ken can’t do conventional, I’d like to think he rather chooses to challenge his listeners to ‘try on the pants with polka dots and pink stripes’, just for fun.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a step back and uncover what Grand Luna is all about, where it sits in campfire’s lineup, and who this pretty yet peculiar IEM might be best suited for.
Packaging and accessories
As with all of Campfire’s premium IEMs, Grand Luna is presented in a generous but compact box, this time dressed up with suitably dark, lunar artwork that reflects its theme.
There’s always some thought put into these unboxings, in this case a clever little pull tag that slides the main compartment from inside the box lid to reveal the Grand Luna earpieces, tethered to their cable, nestled inside a laser-cut foam tray. Lifting the tray reveals a bottom compartment with four cutouts, one each for the cable slack, modular cable plugs (more on these shortly), tips and cleaning cloth, and a new semi-hard leather case, appropriately dyed in a “blood moon” red.
Aside from the case, which is a departure from the purse-style Portuguese leather cases that Campfire includes with its pricier IEMs, Grand Luna debuts Campfire’s new modular cable system, comprising, in this case, of a four-core blended copper and silver cable, and a set of three interchangeable plugs: 3.5mm, 4.4mm, and USB-C (complete with an inline Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC).
The cable itself looks well made but rather basic, with black plastic hardware (could be metal, but feels like plastic), and a decently girthy feel, though not too thick and quite supple. One thing to note: the cable lacks ear guides, but this makes it more comfortable and pliable to use.
Modular cables are nothing new, of course, but they’re new to Campfire, and the inclusion of a USB-C plug is very clever for those that simply want a way to connect the IEMs to a phone, tablet or laptop on the go, right out the box.
Last but not least, Campfire includes a generous selection of tips, both silicone and foam, which will prove useful as I look at tweaking options later on; a cleaning brush; a mesh pouch for keeping the earpieces scratch-free; and a 10-year anniversary lapel pin for branding die-hards.
First impressions count, and I can always count on Campfire to make a good first impressions with all of their IEMs. Grand Luna is no exception, and in fact it’s right up there with the rest of the premium lineup, even though it’s priced closer to the middle-tier offerings.
Continue to design and fit…
