EarAcoustics Audio SPA Limited Edition Review: A Bold Reinvention
EarAcoustics Audio is a “new” brand that has been burning through online audiophile spaces for the last few weeks. Attentive users have noticed that EarAcoustics Audio (EAA) is actually a resurrection of TFZ, a once-popular Chi-Fi brand that built some of the great IEMs of yesteryear. Earphones like the TFZ King, Queen, and Tequila Pro left a strong impression on listeners, myself included. Now that they’ve rebranded, EAA has released a huge new lineup of IEMs with the subject of today’s review, the SPA Limited Edition, sitting at the pinnacle.
EAA’s swath of new IEMs have somewhat confusing names, but the
SPA Limited Edition can be found on sale for $429. Linsoul carries the other Limited variant as well as the lower-priced SPA options.
About My Preferences: This review is a subjective assessment and is therefore tinged by my personal preferences. While I try to mitigate this as much as possible during my review process, I’d be lying if I said my biases are completely erased. So for you, my readers, keep this in mind:
- My ideal sound signature would be one with competent sub-bass, a textured mid-bass, a slightly warm midrange, and an extended treble.
- I have mild treble sensitivity.
Testing equipment and standards can be found
here.
The Big Picture
Pros:
- Unique, bold visual design
- Solid accessory package
- Great shell construction
- High-end levels of resolution
- Fast, precise bass
- Spry and snappy tone with excellent transient response time
Cons:
- Mediocre eartips
- Cable microphonics
- Very confusing naming scheme
- Unclear product translations in English
- Lacking in value compared to lower-costed siblings
Tech Specs
- Driver: 11.4mm Dynamic Driver
- Transient Response Time: < 3ms
- Distortion: <0.5% THD
- Sensitivity: 111dB/mW
- Impedance: 26 ohms
- Cable: 0.78mm 2-pin w/ 3.5mm termination
Sound Signature
Sonic Overview:
The SPA Limited Edition (SPA LE) features a clean, precise, gently V-shaped sound signature. It has well-extended, transparent treble, a well-toned “almost warm” midrange, and healthy, organic bass. The SPA LE possesses excellent transient response time, making it very “snappy”-feeling. The overall tonal balance afforded by the SPA LE’s tuning gives it a wide, deep soundstage. Older mastering styles sound quite airy and spacious. Modern mastering styles are dynamic and energetic, with the SPA’s conservative treble remaining under control and respecting the upper mids. The SPA’s emphasized bass is linear and textured and does not bleed into the lower mids.
Sonic Breakdown:
Treble: Songs used:
In One Ear,
Midnight City,
Outlands,
Satisfy,
Little One,
Show Me How To Live (Live at the Quart Festival),
Bittersweet Symphony
Treble is typically reasoned to be the territory of the balanced-armature and planar driver, but there’s plenty of engineering left to be done to bring dynamic driver technology up to par. The SPA LE exemplifies this reality with its strong upper-register performance. Background details are nearly all captured, many of which all but a discerning listener would miss. High hats and cymbals are, largely, captured in their entirety. The natural crash and fade of the percussion in the background of
In One Ear is easy to glean from the track’s chaotic din. The SPA LE performed similarly well on my other rock/alternative test tracks, though I did note the occasional, very subtle clipping of cymbal fade when mixed deep in the background.
Songs with chronic treble congestion fare well through the SPA LE’s well-tuned drivers. The IEM’s competent upper-register gifts it a propensity for airiness that is not often found from dynamic driver IEMs.
Bittersweet Symphony’s mastering is often cruel to IEMs with less-resolving treble — though the SPA LE frets not. It deftly layers the piles of string instrumentation, cymbals, and miscellaneous synth effects crowded into the treble.
Speaking of synth effects, the SPA LE’s recounting of
Midnight City was similarly enchanting. The SPA LE has such control over the upper register that it nails the presentation of tracks, like this, that relish in their own emptiness. This sense of space and air is a neat function of the SPA LE’s extraordinarily clean treble response and quick driver response time.
Midrange: Songs used:
Flagpole Sitta,
Jacked Up,
I Am The Highway,
Too Close,
Little Black Submarines,
Bohemian Rhapsody,
Cash Machine,
Chasm,
Dead!,
The Parts
Tracks with dry mastering styles are excellent tonal benchmarks.
Flagpole Sitta is, to this end, an excellent choice that highlights IEMs’ midrange identity. The SPA LE is decidedly “north of neutral”, settling nicely into its own subtle warmth. It wouldn’t classify as a “warm” IEM, nor a “neutral” IEM, but exists within the limbo between. I really like this style of tuning as I perceive it as incredibly natural and effortless. Harvey Danger’s desperate anthem consequently plays back with undertones of richness, nicely filling out its otherwise bleak mastering style.
Because the SPA LE’s lower mids are fairly restrained and polite, it performs well on tracks like
Jacked Up whose engineers were more generous with their instrumentation. Weezer’s high-pitched vocals are articulate and intelligible. The SPA LE grabs loads of texture from the track’s guitars, drums, and bass, cohesively weaving them together without fielding interference from the upper or lower register.
And, while the SPA LE’s midrange may be
polite, that doesn’t restrict it from reproducing engaging, vibrant vocals. Vocalist-centric tracks like
Dead! and
Bohemian Rhapsody exercised the SPA LE’s capacity for vocal texturing, separation, and intelligibility. Throughout my collection of test songs, I really didn’t find a track with a poor vocal showing.
Bass: Songs used:
Moth,
Gold Dust,
In For The Kill (Skream Remix),
War Pigs (Celldweller Remix)
The SPA LE’s bass is forward, present, and controlled. It is not a “bassy” IEM by mainstream standards, though it possesses a the right amount of punch and rumble for all but dedicated bassheads. The engineers at EarAcoustics Audio clearly know what they’re doing. Achieving this level of bass control and texture is not a trivial task and requires real engineering know-how. For example, the kick and decay of the drum in Slothrust’s
Planetarium slams with authority and weight. It fades out organically, providing the track with solidity, tactility and an uncommon dedication to realism.
Electronic music, though not entirely drenched in bass, is still a true joy to listen to. The SPA LE dances deftly along the lines of fun and professionalism, delivering genuine rumble when called-for. This rumble isn’t simply quantity either — it possesses form and texture. The SPA’s control over its lower register stretches uniformly from its midbass down into its sub bass, well below the 50Hz mark. Listeners who have gotten a strong passive seal will understand this — the SPA LE’s bass is archetypally fun and energetic without feeling sloppy or blown-out.
Packaging / Unboxing
The entire SPA series comes in a robust, cube-shaped package. It is composed of a reflective silver exterior with matte-black interior pieces and surfaces.
This is a top-notch unboxing experience. EarAcoustics Audio does a great job of towing the line between “enough to feel premium” and “simply wasteful” with its packaging.
Build
Construction Quality
It’s not every day that you come across a brand with such a wide variety of metal-shelled IEMs, but it seems that EarAcoustics Audio really loves their CNC machines. And to EAA, metal shells are not simply a box to be checked — they really know what they’re doing. Some IEMs (cough cough, Timeless II) feature metal shells with feeble adhesive-bound fault lines running through the middle of the shell. The SPA LE,
Hi-End MAX, and
Hi-End ULTRA each feature proper metal shells.
The SPA and STA series both feature iconography featuring the brand logo and a… cute little snake. I don’t really mind the little guy, but I found it at odds with the EarAcoustics Audio broader aesthetic. Much of what the brand posts is on the theme of “silver robo angels”. The case of the SPA LE, in fact, features the phrase “silver angels” embossed upon its top face. Would a pair of angel wings not have fit better instead of Mr. Hiss? Either way, the face plates are flamboyantly bejeweled — a style I don’t find myself normally wearing out.
The SPA LE’s nozzles are above-average in width and of average depth. They have well-designed lips that do a good job securing eartips in place without being finicky.
The side of the SPA LE reveals a precisely-machined vent featuring a decorative debris filter.
The top face of the shells house the 2-pin sockets. They’re integrated nicely with the rest of the shell and are free from adhesive overrun.
The SPA LE’s cable is robust. It has weight and heft, portraying a sense of substance. That said, this appears to be a commonly-used wire that can be found on other IEMs such as the Tansio Mirai Shock. I don’t expect every IEM to have a bespoke cable, but it would have been pretty cool for a “limited edition” of the SPA to have such a rarity.
As for the cable’s assembly, it is actually quite nice. It features metal 3.5mm and 2-pin shells, each finished in chrome. This monochromatic design is visually pleasing and classy. The simplicity of the cable contrasts nicely with the boisterous design of the shell and its faceplates.
Comfort
Disclaimer: comfort is a highly individual metric — no two people will have the same experience.
The SPA LE is fairly large with sizable nozzles. I found that the stock eartips performed very poorly for me. In fact, my seal was so poor that I could not fairly assess its sound quality. In order to give the IEM a fair shot, I switched to
Plussound’s new hybrid eartips.
Eartips aside, listeners with smaller ears may find it difficult to get a comfortable fit with the SPA LE. I have to carefully adjust its position to ensure that the shell does not make contact with a ridge on my left ear — its uncommon foil-like texturing irritates my skin over time. While these large, substantive shells do communicate a sense of luxury, they are somewhat lacking in ergonomic refinement.
Power
The SPA LE is easy to drive. Every source, except for very high-gain sources, sounded great. It can be fully driven from an Apple Dongle or integrated headphone jack. It is not super sensitive, so sources with a minor amount of background hiss may still sound ok.
Warranty and Repair
EAA is a new brand that is still working out their precise warranty and repair procedures. I asked for some clarity regarding this, and I was told the following:
- EAA products each feature a one year warranty that covers workmanship flaws, but not damage caused by accidents or neglect
- EAA will repair IEMs at a fair rate, though their precise protocol for shipping and evaluation has not yet been decided.
Accessories
Inside the box you’ll find:
- 1x Semi-hard carrying case
- 3x Silicone eartips
- 3x Wide-bore silicone eartips
- 1x Misc jewelry
For a $429 limited edition, I was expecting something a little more grand. These accessories are
good but not precisely generous. For example, other IEMs in this price range include luxuries such as foam eartips, microfiber cleaning cloths, cleaning tools, 4.4mm / 0.25in adapters, modular cables, etc. It makes sense to me that EAA would want to keep costs down by maintaining a uniform suite of accessories across their lineup, but the “Limited Edition” moniker implies that the IEM gets
the works — not just in visual form, but accessory form too.
The SPA LE’s eartips were a particular irritation to me, as I simply could not get a good seal no matter what permutation of sizes or bores I chose. I don’t often have this issue, but there’s something about the shape of this IEM that necessitates I use 3rd party eartips — a very rare deviation I make as a last resort while reviewing a new IEM. I suggest that EarAcoustics Audio investigate including eartips like Comply.
Comparisons
Comparisons are selected solely based on what I think is interesting. If you would like me to add more comparisons, feel free to make a request in the comments below!
1:
Campfire Audio Cascara ($499)
The SPA LE is about $60 cheaper than the Cascara. The Cascara has better stock eartips and a more-comfortable cable, though it is lacking the carrying case that comes with the SPA LE. I much prefer the Cascara’s shell ergonomics though. It is lighter and molded better to my ear shape.
These two IEMs, despite having similar driver configurations, have considerably different takes on V-shaped sound. Sound wise, the Cascara is far more bombastic. It has a much broader mid-bass and an excitable sub-bass. The SPA LE has a brighter upper-treble, but less overall treble emphasis. The SPA LE’s treble may be less emphasized overall, but its treble is slightly smoother. This comes at cost of very subtle clipping on background cymbal decay. Both IEMs have great midrange expressiveness, though the SPA LE is cooler with less vocal emphasis.
These are well-matched opponents and clearly swing in each others’ weight class. The SPA LE manages a more organic mix between the upper and lower register with an even-keeled overall tuning, while the Cascara has a greater command over bass and simple matters of “fun”.
2:
Rose QT-X ($339 / $449)
The QT-X has a very different sound signature than the SPA LE. Swapping between them is disorienting — rendering quick A/B comparison difficult. That said, careful comparison reveals that the SPA LE has a comparatively recessed midrange versus the QT-X. The QT-X has a less-dramatic treble and slightly more pronounced lower-register. Its lower midrange is warmer. Both IEMs are well-extended, though the QT-X sounds slightly better extended in the upper treble. It has subtly-better control over fine background treble elements such as high-hat fade.
Beyond frequency-response analysis, there’s a certain crispness to the SPA LA that gives it a “clean” and “precise” feeling that’s somewhat lacking from the QT-X. The flipside of the difference in sensation is that the SPA LE trades away some of the simple smoothness and richness that comes with the QT-X. That said, the QT-X does have a number of material advantages. In its cheapest form, it is more ergonomic, lighter, comes with a great DAC, is $100 cheaper, and has superior eartips (including foam). The QT-X’s cable is also house-made, which is a nice bonus. I do, however, much prefer the case from the SPA LE.
3:
Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite ($249)
The Orchestra Lite is a well-regarded IEM that performs well in its sound niche. Its all-BA design allows it to project an immense amount of detail. The Orchestra Lite’s lightweight, subtly-V-shaped sound is refreshing and quite “airy” compared to the SPA LE’s bassier, warmer tuning. The SPA LE’s tuning is more organic, particularly when it is able to leverage its potent mid-bass and sub-bass. The Orchestra Lite, on the surface, sounds as though it surfaces detail better — but ultimately that’s an illusion derived from its brighter upper mids and treble.
The Orchestra Lite’s significantly lower price and improved ergonomics versus the SPA LE make it a compelling choice for those who want north-of-neutral, highly-resolving performance in an ergonomic package. Those with the budget to spare and a desire for full-spectrum performance will probably tilt towards the SPA LE’s superior lower register and more-organic presentation.
Conclusion
The SPA LE is a fitting, and relatively affordable flagship from EarAcoustics Audio. While it may provide less value-per-dollar than its lower-costed siblings, it brings a lot to the table for those that can tolerate its styling. The SPA Limited Edition is an exemplary case of achieving better sound with fewer drivers and one that I hope other brands can learn from. It is cohesive, organic, and technically capable. Fans of V-shaped dynamic driver IEMs rejoice!
Who This is For
- Listeners who want outstanding V-shaped sound without overbearing bass
- Dynamic driver fans who want excellent resolution
- Those who want an IEM with unique styling and dynamic sound
Who This isn’t For
- Listeners seeking reference sound
- Those with conservative senses of style
- Buyers seeking maximum performance-per-dollar (see SPA High-End MAX)
- Listeners with small ears or sensitive skin
As always, happy listening!
