I bought these to replace a cheaper set of speakers which broke, and I'm honestly quite happy with them.

I usually listen to FLAC on ATH-M50 headphones through a Fiio E17 (Alpen) DAC, so I expect relatively clear sound. I was not disappointed
 
The Harman/ Kardons SoundStick III was decently priced at $150 Australian Dollars at CostCo, and I new from the review of the SoundStick II that I should expect good quality speakers.
 
The bass is punchy as hell, and really clear, and the mids and highs feel really well balanced and nice and sharp. The sound is really encompassing the room, and the cool design adds to the pull of these speakers. Jazz sounds so clear, techno is punchy, colourful and alive, and classical is just indescribably well-rounded, sharp, clear and simply lovely. I am extremely happy with the quality of these.
 
The only things I can really criticise are design 'flaws', such as volume/ mute controls cleverly placed on the right speaker, whereas unfortunately the power/ bass level knob is oddly situated on the back of the sub. Also, there is a white light on the sub when the system is live, but it's not TOO bright, which is good. To be honest, these aren't really that bad, I just thought I'd mention them. There aren't a wide array of inputs available - although some adapters came in the box - but I don't mind since I'm using the AUX out from my amp.
 
All in all, I'm really happy with these speakers, so I'm giving them a 4.5/5. I'm obviously no expert on sound quality; but the Harman/ Kardon SoundStick III has that magic, beautiful sound that you look for in a listening device. 

These were the first 'decent' pair of headphones that I purchased, and my sentimentality towards them may cause some amount of bias.



I found these headphones to be a bit bassy when I first bought them, but at the same time, I feel now that the amount of bass is quite reasonable. Most devices will let you manually alter the levels these days anyway.


 


I think that the rotatable right headphone feature is a bit of a gimmick, but it's somewhat handy in keeping the headphones on and being able to hear outside sounds as well, like if you're a DJ.


 


I think the sound is nice - don't get me wrong - but it is a bit of a stretch from Sennheiser's reference-quality headphones. I feel that the mids come out somewhat suppressed with these cans, but the quality of sound seems to have greatly improved since I've started using an E17 with WASAPI from my laptop playing lossless audio files.


 


It's nice that these are a bit cheaper than what I first purchased them for, and if you're looking for a somewhat portable, somewhat good, somewhat stylish and reasonably priced headphones, it would be worth looking at these.


 


The long cord is a bit of a pain though, since it is ten whole feet long! I can see how this would be effective if you were zipping aroung in a music studio with these on, turning knobs and adjusting levels, but to be honest, these aren't really good enough to be used for that application. I guess it's handy to be able to move freely around my room with these on though, so you could either love or hate the enormous, thin cord. Not to mention the painful, vice grip clamping that it comes with.


 


In summation, although the mids sound a little flat, the cord is long and the harsh clamping needs to be adjusted at home via basketball, I love these headphones, and I think you would too.

First review here, somewhat uneducated, so tell me how I go!
 
This is my first DAC (and headphone amp), and I feel that it was well worth buying. Although my cans probably are not at the level where I need a DAC (Ol' Faithful Sennheiser HD 205), there seems to be some boost in performance with the Fiio E17 'Alpen', although the placebo effect may be to blame.

I personally love how the E17 doesn't seem to add any color or brightness to the sound, as I am an avid fan of neutrality in music replication; and even if your headphones are too dark, bright or colorful, there are some moderate changes that can be made through the E17 to counteract that.

It was as simple as plug and play to use, and it comes with a hefty handful of input types, and I personally am very grateful for it's affordable price.

In conclusion, I believe that this could be considered a fantastic entry level amp/DAC, and may even be sufficient to power a higher-end set of cans, although tube is still the best way to go from what I've heard.
 
 
*Edit: After considerable use, I feel like the best way to describe the action of the E17 is to say that it 'cleans and amplifies sound'. By this, I mean that I feel as though I can hear more instruments playing in the background, and everything sounds a touch louder and more precise.