Since I haven't seen much about these I thought I'd share my first impressions after a few days with the LZ Z05A that I bought for $57 on the recent AE sale:
First of all the build quality seems very nice for the price. The housing is made of high quality plastic and the backplate seems to be of some kind of metal. They're lighter than the Auglamour F300 and feel more premium than the KZ ZSN. I haven't tried the stock cable yet as all my listening so far has with the Radsone ES100.
Fit is excellent and the size is slightly bigger than the F300 and a bit smaller than the ZSN. I'd say that they feel on par with the QT2 in both size and build quality (despite having more plastic) . They sit perfectly flush with my ears and I can lay on the side with them without any discomfort.
I prefer to use them with wide bore tips and my favorites so far are the JVC spiral dots.
Like all other LZ IEM's I've heard (Z02A, A2, A4, A5 and the Big Dipper) these are not a neutral sounding pair of IEM's but, also like the others, they're very engaging and musical.
The Z05A are a very well tuned single dynamic with a lifted midbass, nothing extreme just to give them a nice punch and a rich and warm sound. Only occasionally do the bass bleed into the midrange and when it does it doesn't overshadow it. The bass is a bit on the slow side, that being said I listen mostly to full size headphones these days (HD800S, Alara, HE560 and A800) and when I use IEM's it's almost exclusively all BA models (HQ12, HQ6, Big Dipper, B400 and P4 Pro)
, so don't put too much into this statement as the bass doesn't feel boomy. Sub bass impact is not the greatest but stil sufficient and they definitely not bass light but the mid bass has more impact than the subbass.
The do also offer very nice vocal presentation with a nice weight to male voices while female vocals are intimate and totally fatigue. As a matter of fact there's something quite unique in how the vocals are so intimate given their overall signature. I say this because the soundstage width is also surprisingly good for this kind of signature and in my experience these two are not often combined, especially not in cheaper offerings.
The treble lack a bit of sparkle but still doesn't sound too rolled off and is definitely free from any harshness. For reference I typically like my treble well extended and maybe even a bit on the bright side, the HE560 for example has excellent treble for my preference.
To me the LZ-Z05A delivers what the F300 totally failed to do: a smooth, entertaining and natural presentation. The reason I compare these two is that they do seem to aim for the same it's just that one sound right to me and the other does not.
Compated to the ZSN the Z05A os warmer, more relaxed and sound a great deal more natural. The ZSN on the other hand is perceived as a bit more detailed from being brighter.
Compared to the more similar priced QT2 the Z05A is more laid back and natural. The QT2 is a lot more V-shaped (the relaxed treble on the LZ's makes them more L-shaped) with greater quite a bit more subbass presence and noticeable brighter and also better extended treble.
It's been quite a while since I was impressed enough with a sub $100 offering to take the time to share my impressions on them but LZ has impressed me once again.
The Z05A offer a very typical (and good) introduction to the LZ house sound imo and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for this kind of natural and easy going signature in the sub $100 range.
As always YMMV as I use my ears, tips and source
Edit: I don't know what happened to the order of the pictures.......
