[Dobrescu George]

Xelento caught our attention at Audiophile Heaven and we will be receiving and reviewing it sometime in the near future!

We are quite enthused about it and especially about how it compares to other flagships like RE-2000 and ie800.

 

[kms108]

Finally got another new cable for my Xelento, this is the C081 cable from Final Audio, made in Japan, it's a stock cable found on the Final Audio Lab II IEM, the cable is supplied with two rubber ear hooks, they are really small, very flexible and comfortable to wear.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Finally got another new cable for my Xelento, this is the C081 cable from Final Audio, made in Japan, it's a stock cable found on the Final Audio Lab II IEM, the cable is supplied with two rubber ear hooks, they are really small, very flexible and comfortable to wear.

Woah, that is a beautiful cable!

your table texture is quite similar to mine!

 

[joshnor713]

Finally got another new cable for my Xelento, this is the C081 cable from Final Audio, made in Japan, it's a stock cable found on the Final Audio Lab II IEM, the cable is supplied with two rubber ear hooks, they are really small, very flexible and comfortable to wear.

Where do you buy this??

 

[kms108]

Woah, that is a beautiful cable!

your table texture is quite similar to mine!

I'm sure it looks nice, i mean, it does come as stock for the Final Audio lab 2 IEM, and that cost about Yen 453'600 (USD 3800). I notice this cable many months back, but not sure about the sound, it cost about USD 250, so I was going to wait till december to get it from Japan during my visit, that way I can try it out, but only a week ago, found a local store that allow me to try it out, whiles many places that stock it won't allow this because of the hign cost, this store also sold it to me at USD 217 which is even less than the original price sold in Japan, with the current conversion it only cost me YEN 23915, whiles Final Audio site Japan is selling it at Yen 24710.

The cable is a silver coated High Purity OFC, it's also available as 2.5mm balanced.

When compared to the stock Xelento cable, with my personal opinion, it retains the same balanced mid and treble, bass is slight more, female vocal, along with treble and mids are more accurate and sharp, whiles using the stock cable, instruments and vocal are slightly in front of you, this cable sounds like you are in the center of the stage, much more of a 3D, wider sound, but sometime bass can sound muffed up if your files is not the best quality.

You can buy it direct from Japan here http://final-audio-design-directshop.com/fs/final/FI-CABA , but must use a agent to make the purchase, or find a local agent in your country and order them as a spare accessories. If you live in Hong Kong I can give you the address.

BTW the supplied rubber ear hooks makes wearing the Xelento really comfortable, even if you shake your head around, they stay in position, you can also buy the ear hooks for around Yen 980 (USD 9).

 

[kms108]

I like to add, the cable does have a tight fit, so you won't need to worry that the IEM and cable will detacted from each other. If you like you can also sleeve the MMCX plug in black to match the drives, but I prefer to leave it how it is.

 

[joshnor713]

Great, thanks for the info. Sweet cable.

 

[csglinux]

You can buy it direct from Japan here http://final-audio-design-directshop.com/fs/final/FI-CABA , but must use a agent to make the purchase, or find a local agent in your country and order them as a spare accessories.

If I read that correctly, that translates to about $230 USD - for a silver plated cable?! It looks nice, but... ouch.
If you're willing to do your own soldering, you can make a silver litz cable for about half that.

BTW, only 29 pages?! I feel the Xelento is being under-appreciated by the community! These are really awesome IEMs!!!

 

[Dobrescu George]

If I read that correctly, that translates to about $230 USD - for a silver plated cable?! It looks nice, but... ouch.
If you're willing to do your own soldering, you can make a silver litz cable for about half that.

BTW, only 29 pages?! I feel the Xelento is being under-appreciated by the community! These are really awesome IEMs!!!

Quite awesome IEMs indeed!

Probably because they are a bit recent and it takes time to listen and describe their sound. So far I'm hearing a really full sound with a strong bottom end and a smoother top end that is here to relax and make music sound friendly

 

[kms108]

May be because BD is more known for Cans rather than IEM, and I think all IEM from BD before the arrival of the Xelento has been very basic and target to the lower to mid end of the market, and the Xelento, I think is the first IEM with MMCX.

Probably their market stragegy hasn't been done well, the first Xelento wired was released only in China and Hong Kong back October, the Xelento remote was official released around March, and officially released in Hong Kong late last month, whiles the newer wireless version has been announced, but expect to wait to at least October before it reaches the shops.

@csglinux

Yes it's about USD 230, you are probably right as to have a custom cable made for a fraction of the price. my soldering is consider good, but i'm too lazy, and I prefer a near and tidy pair with a L plug, USD 230 isn't consider expensive consider it's a stock cable for the Final Audio LabII which cost approximate USD 4000.

I'm sure you can agree, this is one of the best looking MMCX cable available and does match the Xelento, whiles many other MMCX cables does not fit well with the looks and sound, even the stock cables has better SQ than most custom cables.

 

[csglinux]

Yes it's about USD 230, you are probably right as to have a custom cable made for a fraction of the price. my soldering is consider good, but i'm too lazy, and I prefer a near and tidy pair with a L plug, USD 230 isn't consider expensive consider it's a stock cable for the Final Audio LabII which cost approximate USD 4000.

I'm sure you can agree, this is one of the best looking MMCX cable available and does match the Xelento, whiles many other MMCX cables does not fit well with the looks and sound, even the stock cables has better SQ than most custom cables.

I've not heard this cable, so I'll defer judgement on that. It does look really good. The one thing that would bother me is the thick, transparent strain relief at the mmcx connectors. I usually want a small bend inward right after the plug, and then a larger loop backward, in order to wear IEMs comfortably over-ear without any need of memory wire or ear hooks. A heat gun can take care of that with most cables, but this one looks like it's got no choice but to protrude straight out some distance from the earbud. I think I'd have to take my exacto knife to that strain relief

Quite awesome IEMs indeed!

Probably because they are a bit recent and it takes time to listen and describe their sound. So far I'm hearing a really full sound with a strong bottom end and a smoother top end that is here to relax and make music sound friendly

That's exactly how I'd describe the Xelentos too! But that top end is also pretty detailed - more so that with many of my brighter, more treble-weighty IEMs. The attack and decay with those tesla drivers is impressive, second only to the KSE1500 IMHO, and a lot more convenient for portable use. I'll try to post some THD measurement comparisons when I get time...

All the buzz/hype these days seems to be around the (much) more expensive, multi-driver IEMs. Personally, if the Xelentos were $3600 and the Tia Fourte were "only"(?) $1000, I'd still want the Xelentos - any day of the week.

 

[Oscar-HiFi]

Hum... we sell the Final cable and the Xelento, so who wants a bundle deal?

 

[kms108]

I've not heard this cable, so I'll defer judgement on that. It does look really good. The one thing that would bother me is the thick, transparent strain relief at the mmcx connectors. I usually want a small bend inward right after the plug, and then a larger loop backward, in order to wear IEMs comfortably over-ear without any need of memory wire or ear hooks. A heat gun can take care of that with most cables, but this one looks like it's got no choice but to protrude straight out some distance from the earbud. I think I'd have to take my exacto knife to that strain relief

I agree, SQ is subjective, but out of many custom and aftermarket cable i've tried, only a few does sound alright and looks good with the Xelento, but not many, the stock cable is one good sounding cable, it's a shame they look too fragile, and does not have a really firm tight hold on the MMCX, with a reasonable tug, they will come off, but this new cable does hold in really tight, so i'm not worried of it coming apart on the move. About that transparent sleeve on the MMCX, I do agree at first being too long and may affect the IEM being looped over the ears, thats why I hesitated to get it until I try it out, it was my intention to try it out in japan in december during my visit, I have mentioned this before, but due to high cost many shops in Hong Kong wont allow me to try it out, only one shops allow this, just 2 weeks ago, thats why I got it, it also gave me the chance to listen to the SQ, if it was bad or does not sound good, I wouldn't have got it.

Just a side note, someone mentioned that you can use a knife to trim the sleeve off, post 84 https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fin...d-f7200-earphones.807729/page-6#post-13615356 The ear hook may not look good, but it's really comfortable and keeps the IEM in your ears, I also intend to get a few more hooks during my visit to Japan, pretty cheap and will come it handy.

Also whiles you consider the cable expensive, which I also agree with my budget, someone did contact BD for a replacement stock cable, and was quoted USD 99, although I can get them in Hong Kong for HKD 360 (approximate USD 46) Hong Kong authorised agent for BD.

 

[kms108]

Hum... we sell the Final cable and the Xelento, so who wants a bundle deal?

Looks like I need to patent the design

 

[Shmuel]

Hello

Im now looking to upgrade my well worn AKG 3003.

Any thoughts on the Xelento vs akg 3003 vs dita dream?

Thanks.