Disclaimer

This set was bought with my own money. Make of that what you will. These are just first impressions, and some things may change in the full review.

GK KUNTEN is the brand’s first release under its new ownership. They used to be owned by KZ, but KZ’s largest distributor bought the brand and is still using KZ as the OEM.

This new set uses the KZ Zenith driver, which is listed for $50.99 at KZ’s official AliExpress store. But the thing is: the KUNTEN MSRP is just $12.99, and depending on where you live, you can get it for as low as $5.

Setup

- Stock cable

- HE Sonic eartips

- Snowsky Echo Mini

But how good can it really be? Let’s find out.

✔Pros

- Punchy, tight bass with texture and impact that hits far above its weight

- Detailed, natural mids

- Excellent at separating layered vocals in busy tracks

- Airy treble with above-average detail

- Above-average soundstage, layering and separation

- (Extremely Personal) Very comfortable for long sessions

✘Cons

- Comes in the (in)famous KZ packaging

- Only includes KZ Starline eartips, which don’t seal well for me — hence the HE Sonic tips (which are great, by the way, and easy to recommend)

- Stock KZ silver cable is stiff and holds memory

- Timbre is good, but can be outclassed by some of the top options in this price bracket

- Sounded a bit strange with more powerful sources — still need to test this further for the full review

Here’s the twist: when I say “above average” I don’t mean for under $20 or $30. I mean under $50.

Yes, you read that right.

For my ears and preferences, it even outperforms some of the more expensive sets I’ve tested recently, like the Juzear Defiant, Tripowin Kailua and Tangzu FUDU VERSE 1. I’ll get into more detailed comparisons in the full review, but GK really came in swinging to shake up the market.