Klipsch Image S4? - Page 41

thanks. does anyone know how to do up the warranty stuff in Canada? i went through their main site and for my country it redirected me to some 3rd party site for support. so not quite sure...

quick update. just FYI:

 

sent an email to Klipsch USA explaining my situation. they asked for a pic of my receipt and sent me a new pair with another two year warranty on them! all i had to pay was customs, which was ~$50

 

Safety and awareness aside (I wear earplugs with even more isolation when not using the s4's. Wind noise is a real hearing loss issue), isolation is paramount when listening out-and-about. The more isolation you have the lower you can set the music (and the ratio of music volume to ambient volume remains the same), and the lower the music the less damage you are causing. This is a big deal outside as there are tons of noises that will drown out most portables, and the volume inevitably creeps up.

 

 

I don't think I'd ever wear earbuds/phones on a pushbike, given that I can't get out of the way of motorvehicles like I can on a motorcycle paying more attention to traffic is more important, but to each their own.
 

 

I just purchased the S4s for $50 on Amazon, and have to say I was disappointed with them. I'm coming from the cheap Apple earbuds. The sound from the S4s seemed very muffled to me. Incredible bass, but the treble seemed to be so lacking that I felt like I was missing out on lots of my music. I tried several ways of fitting them in my ear, to no avail. With that being said, they are incredibly comfortable, and very light. Just not my cup of tea I guess. Returned them today and purchased another set of IEMs recommended by members here.

 

I guess it's possible I got duds, or that I'm just use to the very high treble volume from Apple earbuds.

I also got the S4 last week along with the Re-Zero and i think the S4 are rubbish! All bass and everything else is underwater. Ive remarked elsewhere that Cocteau Twins (a very delicate, frilly, high frequency sound) sound like a completely different band thru them. The Re-Zeros on the other hand were the exact opposite, excellent clear and detailed high end that made an utter fool of the S4 but unfortunately almost no bass on them at all. Ive added extreme bass boost to them just to purely flatten the response and they sound great then but i cant settle with doing that on £74 earphones. So both the above are going back and ive got a pair of Panasonic RP-HJE900 on their way to me. If they dont work for me then ill stick to my full size cans.

I had the same reaction when I first got mine coming from Skullcandy Inked. But they do need at least 100 hr burn in. And it is possible you got duds cause mine were $85 and I only bought them a couple of months ago.

That's a lot of customs to be paid on the S4 

 

Hey everyone,

 

I was researching mods for the S4 when I stumbled onto this thread. Like many, it seems, I was ready to take these back after being shocked by the excessive sibilance, to the point (and beyond!) of distortion, when I first auditioned them using just my classic iPod.

 

Though I am still of the opinion that the treble of these phones leaves something to be desired, I found they are mostly just out of balance- running some EQ- in this case, the iPod "reduced treble" preset- helps a lot. It sucks that I have to do that, but the difference is dramatic- an ok soundstage when before it seemed very shallow, and quite an improvement in clarity. Something I was not expecting to achieve at all when I first played with them. I would imagine a sophisticated amp with tone controls could tame them pretty well.

 

One other major factor was replacing the stock buds. My impression is the stock bud material is too thin; plus none of buds fit my canals. I have a graveyard of tips harvested from my many past pairs. I ended up with some that are more foam-y than the silicon tips, and they have a wide flange, forming a near-perfect seal. I think the seal is really important for this phone- sure, for many? all? IEMs, but it seems to make a big, big difference with the S4s- like the difference between passable and unlistenable.

 

I'm still on the search for better phones in the ~$60 range- I have my eye on some Maximos next- but after some tweaking I've decided I can live with the S4s after all.

Edited by zandarthemagnificent - 12/4/11 at 8:49am

I have had two pairs of s4's. One pair got run over by a car once, and after gluing the driver back in, they kept pounding away for another year before the driver in the other ear died. I was harder than all hell with them, too. Motorcycle headphones. So when mine died I just ponied up for a new pair, more than satisfied with the last. These guys have already been through the laundry once on accident, and still sound perfect. Rugged little IEM's, for sure.

 

As far as audio quality goes, they're probably the most cost-efficient IEM's on the market, hands down. They're mind-blowingly comfortable (though you might have to flip them around if you're wearing a helmet to get them to not press into your ear too much) and the sound quality is just fabulous. They sound better than things five times as expensive. I just got my FiiO E5 in and plugged them into that and they got EVEN BETTER.

 

Anyone looking for IEM's, the S4's are the first place I point them (you can find remanufactured or open box examples for under $40)

.

Edited by Louis8ball - 3/5/12 at 10:13am