Select comparisons
Campfire Audio Astrolith ($2,199). While Grand Luna might share a fair amount of DNA with its planar sibling, Astrolith is just more: more bass, more mids (slightly), more treble, and better technical performance. It’s more stylish, flashier and more expensive-looking too, but also has some extra technical tweaks (and raw performance) to justify the higher price point over looks alone.
To my ears Astrolith is not a ‘better’ Grand Luna; instead, it’s a completely different IEM that can easily co-exist in a collection for someone who appreciates both maximum energy (Astrolith) and chilled vibes (Grand Luna). In a way, Grand Luna is the Ying to Astrolith’s Yang – more sedate, more polite, smoother and far less aggressive at both ends.
If Astrolith is Ken’s take on how far he can push planar technology, Grand Luna takes that experience and reins it in for those of us who, as much as we love Astrolith’s energy and right-up-to-the-red-line bravado, also want to relax from time to time and just let the music flow.
Campfire Audio Clara ($1,999). Clara strikes a happy medium between the hyper and smooth tunings of Astrolith and Grand Luna respectively, while bringing its own personality to the mix.
If you’re one of those Campfire devotees that rather likes how Ken gambles with his tuning, then listening to Clara might feel a bit like a cold shower at first. Gone are the wild swings, the bass booms, the recessed mids and the rollercoaster treble. Instead, you get an even-keeled, w-shaped presentation that leans more musical than technical, but still has more enough technical nous for its premium price tier.
It’s no secret that Clara is tuned far closer to my preferences than either of its planar siblings, and even though I have loads of fun with the planars, it’s Clara I’d turn to first for a quality listen. That’s because I prefer the balance, the even-handedness of the bass-to-mids and mids-to-treble transition, and the overall cohesiveness of the sound. I also prefer how its biocellulose dynamic drivers renders bass notes with guttural energy minus the bloom, and everything else simply falls in line beautifully from there.
Practically speaking, Clara fits me better, looks better, and even though it costs quite a bit more than Grand Luna, it would still be my pick as the current Campfire IEM of choice.
Icelab Spectrumica ($1,999). The reason I chose this particular IEM as a comparison is because I feel that it goes for the same warm, smooth, laid-back listening style as Grand Luna, except it does it better on every metric.
Ok, maybe that’s a bit unfair. Grand Luna definitely has the advantage of faster bass and spritelier treble, and also more extension at both ends. Where Grand Luna falls short, by comparison, is the tuning. Spectrumica, like Clara, is better-balanced through the midrange, with a more forward presentation that separates vocals and gives them an earthy richness regardless of the bass levels in the track. It also has a bigger, more holographic stage, courtesy of one of the best bone conduction drivers I’ve heard to date, at any price.
Build-wise Spectrumica is next level too, with an all-metal, precision-CNC’d shell that oozes quality and style, and comes with a stock cable that isn’t out of place among far pricier aftermarket alternatives. For its part, though, Grand Luna will definitely give you some of Spectrumica’s warm wave vibes, with even more bass (especially sub-bass) and a crisper treble, and cost you quite a bit less in the process.
Tweaking Luna
This is always the part where things get interesting, and likewise where some people just switch off completely. Like anything else that’s highly subjective in audiophilia, my take on cable and ear tip rolling is that between them, they can fundamentally change our perception and enjoyment of an IEM, even though the former is almost impossible to measure and the latter barely moves the SPL curve.
Yet despite all that, with some IEMs – and Grand Luna is one of those IEMs – they both make a significant difference to how you’ll hear it.
Let’s start with tips. To be fair, I haven’t spent as much time tip-rolling Grand Luna for sound as I have tip rolling for comfort. Its large metal nozzles just about fit my ear canals without tips, so you can imagine I’m not turning to tips that are too large, long, fat or hard. That excludes many favourites among tip devotees, so I’ll keep my personal findings simple: check out Acoustune’s AET07 (small, of course, which conveniently have matching red stems), Eletech’s Baroque (soft and supple, and also collapsible), and SpinFit’s CP145, which just seem to make everything fit my ears.
Of the three, I’d pick Baroque for the best sounding (bigger stage, more midrange detail), CP145 for the biggest bass and smoothest treble, and AET07 for a good balance between the two, minus some of the super soft SpinFit and Eletech comfort.
Then there’s cables. Now, I’ve heaped some praise on Campfire’s new modular cable system, and for good reason. It’s practical, decently well-made, non-microphonic, and very economical to use. But it’s not the best sounding cable for Grand Luna. In fact, some of the criticisms I’ve leveled at the bass bloat, for example, which compounds the recessed vocals, and the odd spikiness in the lower treble with some music – all of this can be mitigated with one change to the chain: a better cable.
To be more specific, I’ve tried two aftermarket cables to date: Nightcraft’s exceptional Nocturne Shielding (reviewed here), and Eletech’s sumptuous Odyssey (reviewed here). Both offer a marked improvement in sound over stock, and while you might assume the $2,000 Odyssey is the better option, it’s actually not. Nocturne is what tightens the bass, lifts the mids, and refines the treble, albeit at the cost of some heft and microphonics; Odyssey gets you partway there, but not quite as effectively, even though it’s lighter and more comfortable.
I can go on about this with specifics, but I won’t, because spending as much on an aftermarket cable as the IEM itself – nevermind spending significantly more – is not something I’d recommend to anyone but the most experienced, reckless or loaded. Just know that, if you’re hearing something ‘off’ with Grand Luna at first, it doesn’t have to be the last way you’ll hear it.
Continue to closing thoughts…
