This is very interesting. The demographic of people ordering the Custom-3 seems to be very diverse.
I am rather limited in sources, but have listened to several pretty good portable 'phones. I have nothing really to compare them to, but so far my favorite IEM has been the q-JAYS. The Klipsch Custom-3
might be going in the opposite direction of sound that I like, but I hope it retains most of the treble energy of the q-JAYS and mixes it with the midrange/bass of the Shure E500. An upgrade in soundstage from both wouldn't hurt, either.
slwiser has several excellent sources, but it looks as if it will be his first high-end IEM? (just going by his profile) I'm going to presume that slwiser might be the least impressed by these as his inventory includes the venerable Ultrasone Edition 9 and the Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9.
Then there's
cn11 with his all-portable setup consisting of a well-rounded Trekstor Vibez and also two of the more recent FOTM IEMs (Future Sonics Atrio m5 and Denon AH-C700). Perhaps the Klipsch will be the next FOTM for him?
Ordering these will be a new experience for
gdpeck as he says these are "most expensive earphones or headphones" he has purchased. He probably has the most to gain from giving these a shot.
And finally (at least so far), there's
Trager the IEM-aholic whose full story is best told by his signature:
"ER-6i -> ER-4P -> Auditioned Triple.fi #52/1000, didn't like the midrange recession -> ER-4P -> Shure SE310 -> Atrio M5 -> LiveWires (when my Atrios ended up as roadkill, very sad) -> Atrio M5 -> Auditioned q-Jays, thought they were a little too uneven and very finicky with recording quality -> Atrio M5 -> auditioning Denon AH-C700"
It looks like the Atrio m5 is a winner in Trager's book, and with all the news about the excellent bass quality provided by the single-driver Klipsch IMAGE, it is no wonder he is going to give the Custom-3 a shot.
Who else has placed an order?