SA6 cable broken on replacement pair

Hi,

I've had a replacement pair of SA6's (first edition) sent out as a replacement for my original pair that had its entire piece fractured in half. On this second pair, the joint that connects the cable to the right earpiece has snapped and no more sound is coming out of the right earpiece. Its quite dissapointing as this is my replacement pair....

Is there a place in Australia (shop or online store) that I can buy a replacement cable? I heard that Sleek Audio received a new batch of cables that were supposedly more durable. The main gripe i have with my now broken cable is also the fact that the cable becomes very stiff after a month or so.

Thank you for your time.







As you can see, the copper wire is exposed and the jacket that prevents the cable from bending excessively has been broken. I believe this may have something to do with the cable becoming stiff after a month. Its less ductile and hence fractures easily instead of yielding (Im a civil engineering student =P). I have babied this earphone like crazy after my first pair had its earpiece fractured in half just by replacing the treble tip.

I cant remember how long its been since i got the replacement pair, i think its still under 1 year, most probably even under 6 months. But Its my replacement pair, so im not sure if thats under warranty anymore...

Sure Andrew, I will do that.

So the cable was received and it looks much better than the original and comes with a straight plug which is a bonus. Here are some pics,



As you can see, a nice sleek logo imprinted on the splitter. There a length toggle which slides up and down made of plastic, and I think looks much more professional than the original cable. The length of the cable is also longer than the original.



The cable appears to be MUCH softer than the original (feels rubbery now instead of plasticky), the weight of the splitter is just right and hence the cables rest on your ears gently when worn over the ear, This to me removes much of the microphonics.

All was well, the sound was quite similar to the original cable, but I noticed a very minor bump (increase) in the lower midrange giving the music a bit more warmth. Then after a few hours of testing I decided to unplug the earphones......



Shock and Awe! Are replacement cables supposed to be like that?! Clearly design lessons need to be learnt again. Could be a manufacturing defect, could be a design issue. Notice how there is only a thin layer of glue holding the pieces together. Sound still pumps through, but every single time I unplug these earphones, the cover from the straight plug will come off. Highly annoying. I have not had any straight plug with such a defect in all my entire years of living. The highest quality straight plugs I've encountered (for portable earphones) are from audio technica. Not one bit of their plugs (or earphones) suffer any quality compromises and feel very sturdy, perhaps something can be gained by studying other designs.

In addition, the gold plug appears to be slanted and not entirely straight (probably not noticeable in the pictures). I clearly notice this when I plug it into my iphone.

But still, Im quite pleased once again with Sleeks prompt and professional support. I was mailed the replacement cable quite quickly and emails were responded to within 24 hours. I probably wont be sending this cable back for a replacement as the shipping cost wouldn't justify doing it for a second time. I will probably find some super glue and DIY . Would I buy another Sleek product again? Probably yes. Things break down after a while (supposed to anyways) and things break down when you receive them, its probably more of a manufacturing issue than with the company that actually sells the product, and as long as I know that I am backed with excellent and trustworthy support, I would not think twice about going with the same company again.

I'm a person who likes over-the-ear IEM designs, so until the next model comes out, looks like I'll be checking out other offerings.