Sendy Audio Peacock Gold, open-back planar headphones
The name comes from the outer grille. Pierced with small oval openings radiating from the centre, it recalls a peacock’s fanned tail. Beneath this decoration, Sendy Audio, the high-end label of Chinese manufacturer SIVGA, houses an 88 mm planar driver in solid zebrawood earcups, making this its flagship over-ear headphone model. The Gold version pairs this light-coloured wood with 24-carat gold-plated metal parts.
A planar driver with four coils
In planar headphones, sound does not come from a cone driven by a central coil: a very thin diaphragm, carrying a conductive circuit, is set in motion across its entire surface by magnets positioned on either side. Sendy Audio calls its version of this principle Quad-Former. The diaphragm carries coils on both sides, with two coils per side, four in total, facing a double row of magnets that exerts the same force on both sides. The brand’s stated aim is for every area of the diaphragm to vibrate in the same way at a given frequency, limiting distortion.
The diaphragm itself is a composite developed over more than two years. A layer with high internal damping handles vocals and bass, while another, thinner and stiffer layer extends the response up to 40 kHz. The driver is housed in a mount machined from solid aircraft-grade aluminium, with the size and position of each hole finalised after several rounds of testing to distribute sound evenly across the entire spectrum.
Zebrawood, goatskin and 24-carat gold
The earcups are CNC-carved from solid zebrawood, then sanded, varnished and left to dry naturally. This wood’s light and dark grain gives each pair a slightly different pattern. Over it, the grille combines two layers of steel, one black and the other gold, whose perforations also contribute to the headphones’ tuning. On this Gold version, all gold-coloured parts are plated with 24-carat gold, including the logo and the left and right markings.
The yokes and connecting parts are made from machined aluminium, with cut-outs that lighten their design. The headband is covered in soft goatskin, stitched with gold thread to match the grilles. A black version shares exactly the same driver, materials and accessories; only the colour of the metal parts changes.
Headphones for hours of listening at home
The earpads combine goatskin and memory foam, with an ergonomic shape that follows the contours of the ear and distributes pressure. They detach for replacement, and left/right markings prevent mistakes when refitting them. Weighing 578 g, the Peacock Gold remains a heavy pair of headphones: the leather and foam help offset this weight over time, but it never disappears entirely.
The open-back design allows air and sound to flow in both directions. Those nearby hear what you are listening to, and you hear the room around you. These are headphones for relaxed listening in the living room or home office, not a companion for public transport.
A balanced 4.4 mm connection as standard
The 2 m cable connects to each earcup via a locking 4-pin mini-XLR connector. The sockets face forwards, so the cable hangs in front of the shoulder rather than rubbing against it. It is an eight-conductor braid made from 6N OCC copper, terminated with a balanced 4.4 mm Pentaconn plug, the format used by recent portable music players and portable DACs. Two adapters complete the package: one for the 6.35 mm jack on conventional headphone amplifiers, the other for the 4-pin XLR on desktop amplifiers.
With an impedance of 50 Ω and a sensitivity of 103 dB, the Peacock Gold requires less power than most planar headphones. A portable music player or portable DAC with a 4.4 mm output is enough for listening at a good volume, while a desktop amplifier provides more headroom for dynamic passages. The headphones come in a rigid brown leather carrying case with bronze-coloured hardware, accompanied by a hemp pouch.
