Sleek SA6 - Page 51

Heh, I like them so much I sold my E500's.

Tyrion bought a set and he is going to sell off his 530s...so they are pretty dam good if it can get Ty to switch.

Tyrion must have bought another pair of the Shure's, my initial E500's I bought from him shortly after they came out. I was and still am a big proponent of the Shure's but eventually the cable problems hit me and while Shure took great care of me it still got me looking at other options. At that time, around Christmas, the SA6's were just being introduced and curiosity got the better of me. The modular design and replaceable cable were big initial draws but it was the sound that won me over, as I've said before, I'd say they're at least in the same league as the E500's but with the added flexibility and cheaper price tag it really seemed like a no-brainer for me.

Im listening to some Primus, wanted to start getting some listening time with the Sleeks. At first they did see a tad uncomfortable, i quickly had to keep moving it cause the wire kept getting tugged. Sleek might i suggest a small movable shirt clip to hold the cable on your shirt so you dont tug on it. Now of course you can run the cable behind the ear, however my attempts at this only lead to the cable making its way over the top of the ear.

I have to say though, after about a hour of them in, im getting use to the feeling of them. Its certain different then the Shures...just cause ive had them for a while.

Now on to the primus...have to admit...the bass is certainly a welcome addition. The Shure E4 did it, but the sleeks do it better. Soundstage seems much bigger on the sleeks, actually fooling me to believing i was wearing PX100s. The Shure really dont have that much soundstage...everything being beamed into your ear in a single file line. Where the E4 shines is clarity and detail. Not to say the Sleeks dont have detail, the E4 just does it better. I havent tried the really high freq inserts though, almost scared to expose my ears to it haha.

If i had a gun to my head and had to pick? For the wire, the inserts and the adjust ability i would go with the Sleeks.

If you want a more refined, tad more detail, more sparkle and dont mind losing the bass then go with the E4s.

If you want bass + soundstage and dont mind sacrificing a tad detail for it, Sleeks are the way to go.

I went through a few of my favorite cds to run my tests...Primus, Nirvana, some classical, Miles, Trane...the sleek performed very well through out the selections. Nirvana's "In Bloom" was a nice pleasantly boomy experience. The E4 could not carry the bass tone long enough. Miles "Freddie Freeloader" the E4 had a tad advantage, the trumpet sounded nice and clean, it was nice on the sleeks also. Another very minor difference. Primus is all flickin bass tones...where the Sleeks SHINED above and beyond the E4s. The detail was still present, with the added boom this made it a clear winner. Les claypool is GOD and love hearing him play. The E4 just didnt do him justice. As for classical, another hands down winner to the sleeks, why? Cause of the soundstage...can really enjoy a orchestra when you have a large soundstage..it just brings the music around you, it surrounds you..its quite intoxicating actually. I was very surprised on how large the sound.

Just swap out only one, yes one tip with the treble + and leave the other one at the default treble = . You get nice warmth with just a bit of sparkle at the high end

a few observations:
HighLife mentions a few points that piqued my interest. I too listen to tons of Miles and use "On the Corner" or :Bitches' Brew" tracks to test headphones. Both are Miles' best fusion-type jazz with lots of cacaphony or different things happening all at once in your head. The Sleeks truly are outstanding at separating the sounds, the depths of electronics or the sparkle of the tympani. As for his classical notes, he's right: listen to a big Mahler like the 9th or even the 5th symphony and I'm getting right/left, front/rear separation that to my ears is better than Triple Fis.

Scond: I'm noticing different tips behave differently with different foam or flange systems. Ireally prefer the bass+ treble ++ with Ety4p triple flanges, but have togo down to bass= treble++ with Shure Olives. Then almost bass=/treble= with the provided Sleek tips. In other words, different sounds can be produced depending upon the flange/Sleek tip arrangement.

finally: I asked this once before,but Inotice a HUGE differnce using amp/portable v-cap combination with these guys. I had previously returned the Sleeks about two months ago because I didn't think they sounded correct; then reordered them when I got my portable v-cap and Shure Olives. This is a truly heanvenly synergy and that v-cap opens everything to a bigger and better soundstage. So perhaps the improvments all worked together, but the Sleeks are a big plus in the whole equation

You guys hit on something that struck me after owning the SA6's for awhile, contrary to my initial impressions the staging, imaging and separation are much better than I initially thought. It's not that I thought they were bad initially, I thought they were decent, but by comparison the E500's are a little more out in front, with vocals being more out of your head. The SA6's are closer, more in you head, so my initial reaction was it's capabilities are typical of most IEM's. As I compared more though it became apparent that yes, the stage is a bit more compacted left and right, and the start of the stage is closer, but the SA6's have more height and depth with better instrument separation. They actually seem to do quite well at larger, denser, more complex musical arrangements. I had a big grin on my face the first time I listened to the 1812 Overture on them and while I had danced around Porcupine Tree for quite some time, listening to them with the SA6's I finally "got" them, the music just seemed to fall into place in a way it hadn't before.

tnmike1, I've said it before but the SA6's benefit very nicely from a better source. Because they have a fairly stable impedance the differences with an amp might not be as apparent as some other phones. I certainly noticed a difference between my iPod's headphone out and using the line out to the Pico's amp but it wasn't as big of a difference as I noted with E500's.

The MUCH bigger difference comes when I hook the Pico up to my computer via the USB DAC, it's not a subtle difference by any means. That makes me wonder though, how much better would it be if I had a higher quality home amp, maybe even a tube or tube hybrid paired up with the Pico or an even better source? That's something I hope to try in the near future.

Your post made me try something I had not done before. I have two different 30GB Creative ZVMs sitting around (long story, but one I gave to my wife, who hardly ever listens to it), so I decided to hook up the SA6s using the ZVM LOD (the white plastic thing that comes with them for line out) to the MiniboxE+

Wow, bigger and better soundstage, detail, you name it. Across the board. I was using the SA6s straight from the Zune/Sony DAPs, and the it was very good. Then, I tried using the Minibox with those two DAPs using the HP out, but it didn't seem to be make much difference.

But reading your post, I went back to the ZVM, which had pretty good SQ in my view, loaded on a few 256-320k WMAs, and listened critically. Wow. The soundstage blew me away, as did the added detail. I just don't think you can do any better at this price point for an IEM. For that matter, based on some who have owned more expensive models, any universal IEMs.

Now, I badly want someone to build and sell an LOD for the Zune80, because for amped listening around the house, using the HP out just doesn't make much difference.

Curse you, head-fi. I take a couple months off from the forum, come back, and find Tsarn, soozieq, and PeterDLai all recommending the hot new IEMs... so after wading through this beast of a thread, and seeing a bunch of the former Atriophiles converting, I put in an order. Which just arrived. And I think my Atrios are bound for backup duties now, even with the stock biflange tips and =/=. Initial impressions from my iPod Classic: very sweet midrange and fairly good bass with pretty good impact and slam. The highs could use just a touch more sparkle, so I may end up going to a + or ++ treble, but I'm going to give my ears a little time to adjust first. I have to say I like their biflanges very much, they're really fairly comfortable and have good isolation.

Welcome to the club. Just so you know, Soozieq sold her SA6s, not sure about Peter D. But there are plenty of other fans, as you no doubt read, who favor the SA6s over some very heavyweight competition. Apart from the excellent SQ on several fronts, just today I amped the Sleeks with a LOD from my ZVM, and they sound even sweeter. Just so you know, I use the bass= and treble+ combo. On occasion, I go to the treble++, but usually return to the +

I sold my Atrios, and never looked back. They are fine IEMs, but not on par with the SA6s. The Atrios are also $100 less, of course. But to me, these are the sweet spot. Glad you gave them a shot. Hope they continue to work for you.

I just sold off my e4....i dont need them anymore....SA6 for me.

I got a good listen tonight, was in a loud area and was able to turn up the volume enough to block out the ambient noise.

Really nice bass tone, very nice soundstage, as we know its HUGE.

Really enjoying these after some time with them.

Agree on the shirt clip, so I bought a couple of cheap ones at Ety (the ones for the er6i, not the ER4P), and they work.

I completely agree with ya HighLife, Primus sounds just lovely on the SA6. Oh, and if you think the soundstage is good now, try it with a Meyer crossfeed. These puppies are taking real good to the 2Move, probably more due to the crossfeed than the amp itself.

I just got my SA6s the other day and all I can say is wow. I thought my free SE210s sounded good, but now I know what I have been missing. I hear things in my music that I've never heard before. I am using them unamped from my Zune 80. I started using the bass= and treble+ ports, but after a few hours of listening am going with the bass+ and treble+. I am using the standard dual flanges and find them to be very comfortable. I decided to get the SA6s because no matter what I tried, I could not get the Shures to fit comfortably.

My thanks to Jason from Sleek, as well. My cable has a minor issue where it is slightly detached (a bit of bare wire showing) from the 1 into 2 junction. I called Sleek and Jason immediately said that was unacceptable. He has a new cable on the way. Great customer service.

I just had the pleasure (yes i say pleasure for a RMA) to exchange my earphone for another. My metal lifted off the housing which caused a rattle when i moved.

I emailed Jason and with 1 day i had a replacement. I know its quicker then normal, since im only about a 3 hour drive from them.

Hats off man, great customer service, great product...great Father and Sons team =)