Help: JH16 imbalance
May 25, 2012 at 5:19 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 21
VaSpn

VaSpn

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I recently purchased a pair JH16 from the forum and sent them to Unique Melody to have them reshelled. UM had the drivers measured and it appears to have a 6 db difference between the left and right midrange drivers.

I was wondering if this level of imbalance is common in the JH16's since I've read that for low level listening, imbalance seems to be a problem. If so, would it go away at higher volumes (I don't exactly know how UM test these). Also, is there anyway to fix this (UM can't help since it's Jerry Harvey's design).

Cheers.
 
May 25, 2012 at 4:33 PM Post #6 of 21
So there's nothing they can do about the imbalance?
 
May 25, 2012 at 8:19 PM Post #7 of 21
Quote:
vaspn said:
I recently purchased a pair JH16 from the forum and sent them to Unique Melody to have them reshelled. UM had the drivers measured and it appears to have a 6 db difference between the left and right midrange drivers.
I was wondering if this level of imbalance is common in the JH16's since I've read that for low level listening, imbalance seems to be a problem. If so, would it go away at higher volumes (I don't exactly know how UM test these). Also, is there anyway to fix this (UM can't help since it's Jerry Harvey's design).
Cheers.
Click to expand...

I presume the left channel has the over-balance?  I had the same issue and there were threads last year proclaiming the same thing.  It was repulsive to find the IEM that killed everything in existence only to become another has-been because of channel imbalance which is completely unacceptable for any IEM at any price.
 
Fit was perfect on mine but I still sent mine back.  They claimed to have fixed the fit ($#%^&*^%$??<>) .  There was nothing to fix fitwise!!  But they came back sounding the same.  I can only deduce they have issues with their crossovers on JH16.  5-6 guys stepped up with same issue after I posted my experience.  You are screwed.  Why doesn't Jerry Harvey chime in here and defend his engineering department and explain how a perfect fit could have a channel imbalance?
 
May 25, 2012 at 10:18 PM Post #8 of 21
That's a disappointing experience. I guess I'm lined up for the same thing. In a dilemma now on whether to follow through with the reshell. I realized you sold yours so what's your take on this Spyro? Sell the drivers or follow through and see how audible this imbalance is to my ears?

I thought dealing directly with JH (I presume you did) would have yielded better results. It's an in-house design so fixing the imbalance shouldn't be that hard for them yea? Rather disappointed at the fact that that's the support given to a direct buyer. Guess i won't be able to expect much help from them since I bought it 2nd hand.
 
May 27, 2012 at 9:05 PM Post #10 of 21
Quote:
vaspn said:
That's a disappointing experience. I guess I'm lined up for the same thing. In a dilemma now on whether to follow through with the reshell. I realized you sold yours so what's your take on this Spyro? Sell the drivers or follow through and see how audible this imbalance is to my ears?
I thought dealing directly with JH (I presume you did) would have yielded better results. It's an in-house design so fixing the imbalance shouldn't be that hard for them yea? Rather disappointed at the fact that that's the support given to a direct buyer. Guess i won't be able to expect much help from them since I bought it 2nd hand.
Click to expand...

I would fight it like hell with JH Audio.  Tell them you are a member here and are dissapointed to hear other buyers having imbalance issues NOT RELATED TO FIT!.
 
Offer them the chance to investigate.  It sucks because it costs you time without them but better than being out $1,200.  Be respectful but firm that you demand the problem be fixed or you will NEVER recommend JH Audio among the other 5,000 members here....among perhaps the most widely recognized audiophole website blog in the world.
 
Such frustration with my JH16 but on the flipside, the JH5 has been the best audio purchase I have ever made in the past 10 years.
 
May 27, 2012 at 9:19 PM Post #11 of 21
6 dbs is actually a pretty huge margin especially for something that's supposed to be precise. If any company stated that was within their acceptable limits for any of their IEMs/headphones, I would NEVER purchase anything from them. 
 
May 27, 2012 at 9:43 PM Post #12 of 21
This imbalance is usually due to driver degradation, moisture are driver killers and this is always the risk you take when buying second hand IEM's.  You don't know how old they are, how they are performing.  Heck they could've been dumped in a bathtub for all you know.
 
We're just clarifying here because in no way is Unique Melody saying that JH audio produce IEM's with driver imbalance.
 
May 28, 2012 at 3:22 PM Post #14 of 21
JH needs to fix their channel imbalance and their fit issues. I just started getting fit issues (and consequently, a lopsided right channel) after having my JH16 for a year. It is extremely disappointing having had to send my JH16 back more than three times to JH.
 
I will seriously stop purchasing JH products if they cannot fix my problem permanently this time around. I will give Westone my business and hard-earned money.
 
May 28, 2012 at 3:43 PM Post #15 of 21
My Westone ES3X required 3 refits, ie 4 sets. The very first set had a channel imbalance. I was informed by Westone that although this is not the most common fault, it is something that can --and does-- happen with new sets. At least Westone were reasonably quick --one week on average-- to work on each refit, something that could not be said for several manufacturers, some of whom can take 1-2 months to sort out any kind of issue that may arise.
 
The 3-year-old ES3X I'm selling sounds as good as new, and I've not experienced any sort of SQ/technical issues since I got them.
 
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