[vladstef]

I just found this slightly weird thing on the KZ official aliexpress store, it's about ZS5.
It looks like they made a revision and decided to put both BA in the bore. I though I was going crazy for a moment questioning whether one of the BA was even in the main body.

Maybe the safest thing to assume about ZS6 is absolutely nothing at this point.

And here is the original one:

Spoiler: ZS5 v1

 

[groucho69]

I just found this slightly weird thing on the KZ official aliexpress store, it's about ZS5.
It looks like they made a revision and decided to put both BA in the bore. I though I was going crazy for a moment questioning whether one of the BA was even in the main body.

Maybe the safest thing to assume about ZS6 is absolutely nothing at this point.

And here is the original one:

Spoiler: ZS5 v1

Maybe the first pic was wrong all along?

 

[vladstef]

Maybe the first pic was wrong all along?

Nope, it wasn't. Sorry for using the photo which is frowned upon here, right now we are using it as a confirmation that there was a revision, that balanced armatures weren't always in the nozzle, that is, both of them.

Spoiler: ZS5 - proof of BA in the body

 

[Aevum]

Ok...

Everyone was going nuts with the 2nd armature on the ZS5 since "its in the middle of the body, how can it make a difference, its all wrong"...

There was a period in time where a company decided to make an experiment, instead of using stairght shooting armatures they used side shooting armatures, That was the Phonak PFE 100 series, a IEM that with a single armature was able to go toe to toe with many high end IEM´s that were even double its price.
Then the Phonak 200 series came, that with a Dual armature was able to go against triple and even some Quad armature IEM´s and come out on top,

And even UE used that design for the Super.Fi 5VI which was a great IEM at a good price, later renamed as the UE600 under the logitec naming change.

Im just saying, the armature dosnt have to be right on the nuzzle, It can be all over the place and dosnt have to shoot directly, Phonak was able to make a superior IEM putting the armature further back inside the IEM and using the body acustics of the IEM itself as a tunning tool. It showed innovation and skill.

 

[vladstef]

Ok...

Everyone was going nuts with the 2nd armature on the ZS5 since "its in the middle of the body, how can it make a difference, its all wrong"...

There was a period in time where a company decided to make an experiment, instead of using stairght shooting armatures they used side shooting armatures, That was the Phonak PFE 100 series, a IEM that with a single armature was able to go toe to toe with many high end IEM´s that were even doble its price.
Then the Phonak 200 series came, that with a Dual armature was able to go against triple and even some Quad armature IEM´s and come out on top,

And even UE used that design for the Super.Fi 5VI which was a great IEM at a good price, later renamed as the UE600 under the logitec naming change.

Im just saying, the armature dosnt have to be right on the nuzzle, It can be all over the place and dosnt have to shoot directly, Phonak was able to make a superior IEM putting the armature further back inside the IEM and using the body acustics of the IEM itself as a tunning tool. It showed innovation and skill.

Yes, and everyone here agrees, we used similar arguments when 'issue' of BA not facing the nozzle was first mentioned. This doesn't change the fact that KZ decided to change things with ZS6 and apparently ZS5 as well (do we call it ZS5 v2 now?).
This will have an effect on the sound, firstly, 2nd BA is different (smaller) now.
Perhaps KZ decided that replacing tweeter BA with another one which is a super-tweeter resulted in better sound, and positioning it is a whole new conversation. It will leave less room for the sound to go through in the nozzle, effectively having a smaller nozzle which also changes sound from DDs.

 

[VinceHill24]

here's a proof from my ZS5. It is indeed just 1 BA at the nozzle. Now i really wonder are they really changing it all in their future batches ?

Maybe they hear those complaints of excess glue and non - existent BA ?? Hmm ...

 

[Podster]

here's a proof from my ZS5. It is indeed just 1 BA at the nozzle. Now i really wonder are they really changing it all in their future batches ?

Maybe they hear those complaints of excess glue and non - existent BA ?? Hmm ...

You would think by now KZ realizes the handy dandy Chi-Fi iem lovers on HeadFi are going to crack their wares open and valid-afy I mean seriously

I still contend for the price KZ consistently puts out a bargain product Just amazes me what you can get today $35!!

 

[vladstef]

The only issue with KZ changing ZS5 is that they give us no warning, no name change, like nothing happened. As a result, if the sound is changed in some drastic way, what happens to comparisons, how will we know whether someone really is comparing ZS6 with the old ZS5 everyone is familiar with? Also, someone who wants to buy ZS5 now has no idea what they are getting. The only way to be sure is to remove mesh and look to see what's in the nozzle (potentially damage it in the process), obviously after you've received your pair. This behavior is not new to KZ, but it will have to be corrected if they want to become something better. The thing is, this is not a crazy demand, just make some sort of a mark when you change a product and you are all set.

 

[Lawstorant]

Just got my ZSE's from Gearbest. They are out-of-phase...

You guys think that Gearbest would send me another pair or refund my money?

 

[Carrow]

Just got my ZSE's from Gearbest. They are out-of-phase...

You guys think that Gearbest would send me another pair or refund my money?

At the price I'd say it's hardly worth the refund, I think your best bet would be to explain the situation and ask them to send a replacement pair

 

[vladstef]

Just got my ZSE's from Gearbest. They are out-of-phase...

You guys think that Gearbest would send me another pair or refund my money?

Yeah, ask for another pair and try to fix the one you have, easiest way is to cut it at the Y split and rewire it correctly. They sent a damaged unit, you are not robbing them by fixing your first pair.

 

[HiFiChris]

I just found this slightly weird thing on the KZ official aliexpress store, it's about ZS5.
It looks like they made a revision and decided to put both BA in the bore. I though I was going crazy for a moment questioning whether one of the BA was even in the main body.

Maybe the safest thing to assume about ZS6 is absolutely nothing at this point.

And here is the original one:

Spoiler: ZS5 v1

Oh boy, those people at Knowledge Zenith revise their models way too often without informing the customers about the changes - I was told the same was true for the ZS1 and ZN1 (crossovers and stuff), so this sounds very plausible.

 

[vector84]

The only issue with KZ changing ZS5 is that they give us no warning, no name change, like nothing happened. As a result, if the sound is changed in some drastic way, what happens to comparisons, how will we know whether someone really is comparing ZS6 with the old ZS5 everyone is familiar with? Also, someone who wants to buy ZS5 now has no idea what they are getting. The only way to be sure is to remove mesh and look to see what's in the nozzle (potentially damage it in the process), obviously after you've received your pair. This behavior is not new to KZ, but it will have to be corrected if they want to become something better. The thing is, this is not a crazy demand, just make some sort of a mark when you change a product and you are all set.

While this isn't a new thing for KZ, it does seem like a pretty big failure on the part of their marketing department...

If they called it the ZS5 mk2 or ZS5s or ZS5n or something, enthusiasts would be rushing to buy a new one and see what's different instead of critiquing their lack of transparency about revisions.

 

[Lawstorant]

Yeah, ask for another pair and try to fix the one you have, easiest way is to cut it at the Y split and rewire it correctly. They sent a damaged unit, you are not robbing them by fixing your first pair.

Yeah. I'll do that. Good thing that I bought mic'd version so i can rewire them very easily. I should be done in about thirty minutes.

 

[Skullophile]

The fit kit that came with UE900s:
If @KZ Audio included a kit like this it would be nice imo. The upside is there might be less varying SQ impressions among members in their next iem if they included a kit like this. (Variance in impressions of ZS5 could also be explained by how many KZ fans are at various stages of their audiophile journey). Where we have $2 Timmy and $1000 Thomas commenting on the same Iem. The downside is it'd cost a few bucks more. Some of us have thousands of tips and some don't. But if they were high quality tips in 6 different sizes for a few bucks more I think it'd be a win and the world would almost be perfect....
Wait. The world would be perfect.