[boblauer]

My custom Spartans burning in. Got them Friday and have about 50 hours burning them in. Initial impressions really good isolation, mid centric but not so much as to be harshly analytical, more musical. Really nice with Jazz, vocals and classic rock styles. Will be unleashing some metal and heavier stuff on them in the next day or so. Thanks so much to the Empire Ears crew, great job, great fit, sound and the colors came out perfect for what I was going for. They are smoke shells with a black chrome face plate.  

 

[Cagin]

I'm ecstatic to hear that you'll be at canjam London too! Spread the wind and roll the thunder. Unleash the Zeus across Europe haha.

Oh boy if I end up liking the low sensitivity Zeus, mine will end up costing me more than the kse1500 in total lol!
I can dream up a H-F custom title: OCD about pampering his Zeus

 

[Watagump]

I'm ecstatic to hear that you'll be at canjam London too! Spread the wind and roll the thunder. Unleash the Zeus across Europe haha.

Oh boy if I end up liking the low sensitivity Zeus, mine will end up costing me more than the kse1500 in total lol!
I can dream up a H-F custom title: OCD about pampering his Zeus

 
 
Mmmmmmmmmmm french fries, or as those foreigners call them, chips.

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

I received my balanced cable for the Spartans from Impact Audio today.
 
The build quality on the cable is top notch. The cable is itself is wrapped in braided fabric with colors you can personalize (I went with white and red to match the colors of the IEM). The connectors are Eidolic and high quality. Very easy to connect to the IEMs themselves.
 
Sadly even with a balanced cable the Spartans pick up too much noise from my ALO Rx-MK3 in balanced mode. I don't have my balanced->SE adapter with me at the moment to test how it sounds with my Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII, but since that had a pitch black background with the old cable, I suspect it will with this one through the adapter as well.
 
Right now I'm using it out of the balanced out on my Geek Out V2, and so far this is the best presentation I've heard with these IEMs. Very finely detailed and enveloping, nice soundstage and plenty of clarity. I was using the JVC spiral dots with the single ended cable, but I switched back to the Comply medium foam tips and am getting a more fully realized sound now.
 
The only issue I'm having with this cable is that it's quite microphonic, not so bad that it can be heard when music is playing at normal volume, but annoying between songs or when there are quiet passages in the music. I'm hoping that aspect diminishes. If not it may just have to be the trade-off I make for better overall sound.
 
I still need to try these balanced with my Pono player and also my Liquid Carbon, which I will likely do later tonight or tomorrow. So far I think it's worth it to get a balanced cable for the Spartans if you have balanced amps. It steps the game up noticeably.

 

[Army-Firedawg]

Can't say I've any aftermarket stuff (minus a UE buffer jack) but I can say that as I sit here in this beautiful Monday night under a very emotionless Charlotte sky listening to whatever plays on my shuffle I really am amazed just how well these ciems sound (Hermes in my case). I'll be the first to admit I sometimes get carried away in all the gear I listen to and reciew, I forget what we buy this gear for; to enjoy the musical experience being performed. And tis why I truly admire the EE lineup that during my time with them, every piece really gave me true enjoyment.

 

[boblauer]

@Merrick The cable that's on my Spartans,  see avatar, above is from Lindsay at Impact as well, SPC with paracord below the split. Really well made good value cables, second one I've bought from him. It definitely adds to the details and more airy presentation.  Throwing some heavy rock at them right and liking the sound. 

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

  @Merrick The cable that's on my Spartans,  see avatar, above is from Lindsay at Impact as well, SPC with paracord below the split. Really well made good value cables, second one I've bought from him. It definitely adds to the details and more airy presentation.  Throwing some heavy rock at them right and liking the sound. 

Any issues with microphonics?

 

[Jack Vang]

  I received my balanced cable for the Spartans from Impact Audio today.
 
The build quality on the cable is top notch. The cable is itself is wrapped in braided fabric with colors you can personalize (I went with white and red to match the colors of the IEM). The connectors are Eidolic and high quality. Very easy to connect to the IEMs themselves.
 
Sadly even with a balanced cable the Spartans pick up too much noise from my ALO Rx-MK3 in balanced mode. I don't have my balanced->SE adapter with me at the moment to test how it sounds with my Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII, but since that had a pitch black background with the old cable, I suspect it will with this one through the adapter as well.
 
Right now I'm using it out of the balanced out on my Geek Out V2, and so far this is the best presentation I've heard with these IEMs. Very finely detailed and enveloping, nice soundstage and plenty of clarity. I was using the JVC spiral dots with the single ended cable, but I switched back to the Comply medium foam tips and am getting a more fully realized sound now.
 
The only issue I'm having with this cable is that it's quite microphonic, not so bad that it can be heard when music is playing at normal volume, but annoying between songs or when there are quiet passages in the music. I'm hoping that aspect diminishes. If not it may just have to be the trade-off I make for better overall sound.
 
I still need to try these balanced with my Pono player and also my Liquid Carbon, which I will likely do later tonight or tomorrow. So far I think it's worth it to get a balanced cable for the Spartans if you have balanced amps. It steps the game up noticeably.

 
Glad you're enjoying them! Please shoot Ken an e-mail! He brought over a beta low gain version specifically for our iems. He may be able to hook you up!

 

[boblauer]

 None I have noticed what so ever but I was playing heavy loud music last night and doubt I would have heard an explosion(Megadeth, Dio, Rainbow etc.) I do use these only at home at my desk hence the paracord on the bottom half so the impact if any would be so minimal to me. 

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

Glad you're enjoying them! Please shoot Ken an e-mail! He brought over a beta low gain version specifically for our iems. He may be able to hook you up!

Ken had a low gain beta of the Rx MKIII-B? Or of a different portable amp?

 

[Jack Vang]

Ken had a low gain beta of the Rx MKIII-B? Or of a different portable amp?

Honestly not sure. I'll ask him. Every photo I took shows him covering it (facepalm)

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

Ha, no worries! I have a Leckerton like I said that has a dead silent background with the Spartans. I was just hoping to use the MKIII with them since it's a balanced amp.

 

[AxelCloris]

Ken had a low gain beta of the Rx MKIII-B? Or of a different portable amp?

 
That'd be the new ALO Rx.
 
http://www.aloaudio.com/amplifiers/rx

 

[GrouchoMarx1933]

That'd be the new ALO Rx.

http://www.aloaudio.com/amplifiers/rx

Ah yes, that makes sense. Shame that Ken has dropped the balanced option from the Rx amps. The MKIII sounds amazing with full size headphones.

 

[klove4252]

My pair of Zeus Universals came in last week. They have such a unique and amazing sound. I've mostly been using the QP1R on low gain as a source. My KSE1500 are now just collecting dust.