By Nick Smith, 27th December 2023
I’ve often wondered why sequels invariably suck.
The’s lots of ways following up a big success can go wrong:
- Temptation to duplicate your previous formula… risk of producing a similar but inferior copy.
- Desire to try something completely different… risk it won’t match your existing fans’ taste.
- Pressure to add a new selling point but keep things the same… risk questionable stuff gets added just to differentiate from the original.
Why do I mention this? Back in October Penon Audio sent me a pair of ISN Neo5s which remain my #1 budget IEM champ of 2023. Me and my friends just love ’em.
So when I was offered a set of new Penon DOME IEMs in exchange for a review and saw they have virtually identical shells & nearly the same driver config and price… suddenly my excitement bubbled.
There’s wasn’t much to complain about with the Neo5s and lots to like, so I was skeptical they’d produce a better follow-up without ballooning the shells, driver count & price. Either way it’d be fascinating just to see the direction they took – stay true to the original, try something new or a slight variation?
It turns out the DOMEs are different to the Neo5s, and you’re about to lean why.
Packaging
The USD $349 Penon DOMEs arrive in the usual small yellow Penon cardboard box, inside of which is a fairly plush & well-made leather carry case that strikes a nice balance between being small enough to pocket but roomy enough to house the IEMs with a large 8 wire cable.
There’s also a small leather accessories case, inside of which are three sets of silicone eartips in 3 sizes along with a shirt clip & cleaning tool.
The DOMEs come bundled with a very comfortable 8 wire silver-plated copper cable, in your choice of 4.4mm, 3.5mm or 2.5mm terminations.
Ergonomics
The DOME’s medical-grade resin shells are almost a carbon copy of the ISN Neo5s I’ve reviewed. They’re tiny, very light & extremely well-sculpted to fit the ear, and are as effortlessly comfortable for prolonged use as any hybrid IEMs on the market I’ve tried.
They’re also vented to alleviate pressure build-up, my only minor complaint is the metal nozzles – eartips don’t grip them as securely as nozzles sculpted from the resin itself, so my Spinfit W1 tips occasionally dislodge from the nozzles if I’m not careful to remove the DOMEs from my ears gently.
The stock cable is very light & flexible, with no microphonics or memory effect.
Page 1 – Introduction, Packaging & Ergonomics
Page 2 – Sound Impressions & Technical Performance
Page 3 – IEM Comparisons
Page 4 – Amplification Performance & Cable Comparisons
Page 5 – Conclusion
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