Whats better: Sleek SA6 or Klipsch Image X10?

[RAQemUP]

Has anyone ever had or demoed both the Sleek Audio SA6 and the Klipsch Image X10s? ATM they are pretty close to each other in price and was wondering if the SQ between them was that big. I love the removable wire and the exchangable ports on the SA6 and it doesn't seem to be that much larger than the X10s.

[tstarn06]

You need to read up on the threads hereabouts. THere are several comparison threads going on. Check the one that says "Notice How Cheap the X10s have become" (paraphrase). Many comparisons there. I now have both, and my first impression of the two is the X10s are amazingly comfy (only tried the medium single flanges so far), even more so than the Sleeks (I use the Shure olives).

On the flip side, I like the modular aspect of the Sleeks, as well as the potential for wireless.

Sound-wise, when I plugged the X10s into my Zune80, my insta-impression is "What happened to the highs/mids?" Seemed dark and with no EQ on the Zune, I prefer the Sleeks (comfort notwithstanding).

Now, when I moved to the Sony A818, where I could kick up the EQ on the right side a tad, they sounded a little better, but, but, now, on some tracks (Diana Krall Live in Paris: East of the Sun...), the sound was a little harsh. So I pulled back the EQ and found a pretty good compromise.

Having said that, I have compared the two for all of 5 minutes. I am dog tired right now, and will do some serious head to head comparison listening tomorrow.

Oh, you can now get the X10s on newegg.com for $179 shipped, if you use the right coupon code. THere are threads about that too.

[Lad27]

I have both of them. I would not say that one is better then the other. Boils down to sound preference.

Klipsch X10 - bass is deeper, more punchier and very well textured. It is this fact that wins me over Sleeks. Midrange is good, nothing to complain about there. Highs are presented very nicely, clean, lots of sparkle. Never had sibilance issue.
Overall they have very speaker like sound (well, we know where Klipsch name is big) with amazing dynamic range for such a small drivers , great detail and instrument separation.
Somehow on warmer side, but that's the way I like it.
Very comfortable, can wear them for hours using medium tips. Double flange tips are less comfortable for my ears.
Smaller and lighter than Sleeks.
Cable longevity could be an issue, probably half of the diameter of Sleeks cable, gonna take great care handling those things. Two nice black leather cases are supplied, these look and feel classier than Sleeks storage case.

Sleek SA6 (Bass+/Treble + was the combo I've settled on after some lengthy experimentation)
Bass is not as good to my ears. Don't get me wrong, they are quite bassy IEM's but compared to X10 not as deep, more boomy and lacking X10 bass texture and detail.
Midrange could be considered SA6 strong point. Very nice, reminds me strongly ATH AD2000 mids. Vocal heavy songs are bliss to listen to.
As X10 highs they are very nice on SA6, needless to say they could be fine tuned with treble ports.
Overall I feel they are more neutral sounding with slightly less dynamic range - like they trying to stay on the same loudness level. It very subtle difference though.
Comfort wise they are very good. They look and feel very sturdy, the detachable cable is a beauty. I would take them where I would not dare to take Klipsch X10.

To sum it up: I could live happily with either of them, very close in sound. If I have to pick one - it'll be X10 due to their bass presentation.

[PeterDLai]

What I'm interested in knowing is where the Klipsch Image X5 fits into all of this.

Sovkiller here at Head-Fi prefers the X5 over the X10 (better highs, about the same otherwise), and blsamuel over at the Klipsch forums also notices that they sound clearer without much else different (also noting that the X10 may be a tad comfier because of its slightly smaller size). ajmiarka here at Head-Fi also seems to agree with those points: "For my brief time with the X5s, I can say that the mids/highs are much clearer than the X10s. To me, the bass on the X10s hid a lot of the mid and high sounds."

I notice that a lot of Image X10 reviews come across as saying that they're "dark" or "warm" or such. It seems the Image X5 is the supposed solution to that.

EDIT: Forgot one more comparison. The reviewer at TheStreet.com says that the highs (cymbals, and overall airiness of sound) are a tiny bit more extended on the X5, but also notes that the X10 may be more accurate in frequency response.

[tstarn06]

You mean I could have saved myself all this hassle getting the X5s, for $20 less (based on my price of $191)? Ugh. So I guess I should send back the X10s and get the X5s. Not out of the question. I really found the X10 mids/highs to be muffled to some extent (see above)

[PeterDLai]

Originally Posted by tstarn06

You mean I could have saved myself all this hassle getting the X5s, for $20 less (based on my price of $191)? Ugh. So I guess I should send back the X10s and get the X5s. Not out of the question. I really found the X10 mids/highs to be muffled to some extent (see above)

Well, maybe, maybe not. I would not be surprised if you got the X5's and still found the SA6 suited you best. I'm still amazed that EyeAmEye prefers the SA6 to the custom UE-11 Pro.

EDIT: One more thing that I just remembered... Sovkiller said this back in May:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller

The sound is a little different from the small brother (in size) it sounds more like the Sleeks, as I stated above, like more upfront, and the highs are a little more present, but not fatiguing or hash at all, IMO very natural, the bass is tamed a little, what I really enjoy, but still textured and deep...For rock I love them...I will pick them anyday over the Images X10 honestly...

EDIT: Another (more recent) quote comparing the X5 and the SA6:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller

I find both to be similar in sound signature, the X5 has an slightly more sparkle on the highs, and of course the SA6 is more versatile and you can customize the sound a little to your taste, also they have a detachable cable, and the upcomming wireless feature, that makes them a more versatile overall IEM, IMO.

[tstarn06]

True. I am going to try and do some serious listening with the X10s tomorrow, and see if they will stay in my collection.

[Lad27]

In all these X10/X5 comparisons and quotes the emphasis is on alleged better sparkle and presence of X5, but it seems like few of the quotes got cut out where the poster(s) comments that bass on X5 sounds a tad leaner and not as deep as X10.

[PeterDLai]

Originally Posted by Lad27

In all these X10/X5 comparisons and quotes the emphasis is on alleged better sparkle and presence of X5, but it seems like few of the quotes got cut out where the poster(s) comments that bass on X5 sounds a tad leaner and not as deep as X10.

Yeah, true, I didn't include those as I was only really replying to tstarn06's impressions of the X10 (missing mids/highs).

From reading all the X5/X10 comparisons, it seems like the difference in the highs is just might be about as small as the difference in the bass (though blsamuel and Sovkiller don't seem to miss much of the X10's bass from what I've read), which is why I think that tstarn06 might still end up preferring the SA6.

What we need is an X15 (5+10=15), which is smaller than (or just as small as) the X10, has better bass than the X10, has better highs than the X5, and has better mids than both.

Sovkiller may know something that we all don't regarding Klipsch's next move.

[RAQemUP]

Well I got in on that Newegg deal for the Klipsch Image X10s for $179 shipped before they went out of stock. Seemed too good a deal to pass up where as the SA6 may stay at the price at $199 for awhile if I decide to change my mind later. Decided to just go for them mainly since they are just some of (if not) the smallest IEMs out there and I have small ear canals. Plus I hear the bass is better then the SA6 which soozieq and headphoneaddict have stated in some posts.

Not to mention that Newegg is a verified Klipsch retailer and I will receive the warranty. That definately helped. I am sure I would have most likely been happy either way though.

[Lad27]

Originally Posted by PeterDLai

What we need is an X15 (5+10=15), which is smaller than (or just as small as) the X10, has better bass than the X10, has better highs than the X5, and has better mids than both.

And have nice detachable cable like Sleek's. Oh yeah.

[elnero]

I own both and pretty much agree with Lad27's comments with the exception that I don't seem to find them as similar as he does. That may be because I've had the E530's and triple.fi's here on loan for comparison and to me the SA6's and Image X10's are the most dissimilar of the four.

What I found after some extended listening is the X10's have a nice warmth about them, even though the mids and highs are somewhat recessed they have tonal quality about them that the others miss. They have more bass than the SA6's but it can be borderline too much. This is all with the large bi-flange and I've found the signature changes fairly significantly with other tips so results may vary fairly widely from ear to ear.

The SA6's with + treble and a + bass port are more even handed. They have excellent treble detail and extension, mids are forward but not too much so and the bass has a decent amount of heft with nice texture and detail. By comparison they work well with just about anything but can sound a bit dry and closed in by comparison to the X10's.

Of course sound is only part of the story, now that I seem to be getting used to the ear gels I find the overall comfort of the X10's to be higher but not too much so. The X10's also just kind of slide into my ear while the SA6's require a bit more of an effort to insert them.

While the X10's are more comfortable and bit easier to use the SA6's are infinitely more versatile with their VQ system, detachable cable and of course the upcoming wireless option. For me when I bought the X10's to try I was looking for something of a different flavor than the SA6's and that's exactly what I got. I'd find it pretty hard at this point to say one is better than the other as they both have very nice qualities with some minor drawbacks.

[tstarn06]

Without even doing much listening today (I had the Images on for 30 minutes when walking the dog), I have to agree 100 percent. Also, I went back last night and listened to the Images with the Zune80, and it sounded very nice, I started to like the warm sound, even with the recessed mid/high (and no EQ). So I think I have exactly what Elnero has, two good sets of IEMs for my use.

Oh, has anyone tried the Klipsch gels with the SA6s? That's my next move, as they are really comfortable.

[BloodSugar00]

Interesting.

Elnero, how would you compare the images to the SE530's and triples sonically, both of which I own?

[elnero]

Something I tried today that gave some interesting results is using the large single flange ear gel with the X10's. I can't seem to get a decent seal with the medium singles and the large bi-flanges fit wonderfully but I was curious how much change there would be if the large single flanges fit. They do fit albeit less comfortably than the bi-flanges but what was interesting is that they balance changed in a similar fashion to when I tried the Shure olives. It was actually more of an in between the stock bi-flange ear gels and the olives and it sounded decent but somewhat lackluster to what I get with the bi-flanges.

What I get from all this is the X10's are quite sensitive to different tips and for me at least there seems to be a sweet spot with the bi-flanges that has a really great sound.