I know there are other cheap custom options out there but I just want to share that I had the opportunity to have JH5, JH13 and JH16 at the same time (unfortunately unamped).
But I feel my memory is very clear and I will say this:
If you tick up the treble and bass a notch, the JH5 (amped-Ibasso T3) it is insanely close to the JH16 (NO EQ adjustments). This is important because the JH5 can take a lot of juice and will not distort under any circumstance. I tend to listen on the loud side and like the vicesireal (sp?) bass but if it distorts it is a complete deal breaker for me. I like to "rock out" and my IEM's need to be able to handle everything I throw at them. Having said that.....the JH5 surely handles the task. In my mind the JH16 provides a little bit more holographic presentation and a bit more transparency but I almost felt "spent" after a long listening session with JH16. The sound is just so (unneccesarily?) massively huge I wasn't sure I was just exfixiated on the sound or the music. Don't get me wrong, I loved it and it sucked me in but perhaps it wasn't very realistic. It was like every frequency on steriods.
JH13: Very impressed. As I have said here many times before. The best treble, speed and transparency of any IEM I have evey heard (GR10 next in line but many nothches down). It's freakish and takes a while to get use to because you have NEVER heard audio (music or TV) like this before. Unfortunately I did not have the amp and I found it lacked mid-bass (very rare in any universal) but had lower bass that sometimes seemed out of place (without matching mid-bass). I wish I had the amp with JH13 because I wonder if it would have been ther perfect IEM with "gain 1 or 2" to give it more oomph.
Anyway.....Those are both gone for various reasons and I am still in bliss with W3 and JH5 and concentrating on the music. I am certain JH5 and W3 provide me with a better listening experience than what 99.5% of the general public has for music listening "gear."
Edited by Spyro - 4/20/12 at 4:25pm