Released: Sleek Audio SA1 !!! *SA1 Discussion Thread* - Page 4

The newer generation of BA driver can have vent port on the side which would takes advantage on bass reflux. But whether wood housing has any effect on vented BA driver is out of my knowledge.

just to add, given the small area of wood camber, the effect is not really felt compare to full size headphone. Therefore we seldom see woody iem.

doesn't aesthetics count anymore? sure the wooden elements don't add to the sound... but it sure looks great.

I got to hear these briefly when I visited Sleek a couple weeks back. The fit and finish is quite good on the SA-1, I especially liked the metal threaded treble ports. I can't say much about the sound at this point, because I didn't have a familiar source on hand. I can say that the bass kicks pretty hard out of that dynamic driver, and that the whole thing feels like a bargain for $80.

So, they've been released and at this point should be shipped. Did anyone pick up a pair? If so, what are your initial impressions?

Still waiting for my pair here (Canada).

I pre-ordered a pair from SoundEarphones.com. I am still waiting for my order to ship. Apparently, there is a delay on these from Sleek. I hope it doesn't take too long.

i've been told that they ship early next week.

mind the size

Looks like some high quality construction. I still have trouble spending $80 sound un-heard without some listening reviews.

Mine are scheduled for delivery tomorrow. I'll let everyone know what I think when they get here. Most of my experience is with entry level headphones (grado sr60i, denon c452, Sony xb700, and jvc rx700) since I'm just a poor college student but since that's the price level these are competing with, I should be able to give a good idea of the price/value ratio. I'll be using them with the new fiio e1.

The sa1 come in a gorgeous packaging and include a really sleek pouch
sa1_009.jpg - ImageHost.org

also there is reference to an not yet announced micro USB cable ?
sa1_005.jpg - ImageHost.org

Well after about 7 hours or so of burn in on them so far here's my thoughts. First of all, they are great looking headphones. The wood body definitely adds a little class which I think is nice. They are tiny though. Maybe about half the size of my denon 452k's.

Right out of the box, it sounds very good. For one thing, I think the bass is very well controlled. On "Wolves at the Door" by Senses Fail, there's a bass drum line right at the beginning. I've never heard a set of headphones that didn't get at least a little sloppy on that line. These didn't. The bass is there when it needs to be and isn't when it doesn't. Midrange is a little odd to me. Female voices sound great but male voices don't. I'm sure that's something that will iron itself out with a few more hours. It already sounds better in this department with 7 hours than it did straight out of the box. Oh and the midrange did sound better with the black tuning tips in but, for me, it was at the expense of the high end, which I guess I prefer since the silver ones are in now. With these in the high end is nice and sparkly. All frequencies are very well controlled and I'm definitely hearing details I didn't notice before. If I had to compare them to my other sets, I'd say that they're most like the Grado SR60i's but they're a little better on the low and high ends and not quite as good in the middle. We'll see how they break in.

That's a quick and dirty little review for ya. For me, they're definitely worth $80.

Edit: the midrange did work itself out after some more burn in. I definitely found myself dreading taking these out as I walked to my car after class on Friday. Best headphones I own at the moment, no regrets here.