vii_haven
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Double post.
Livewires - California Dreamin'
- Thread starter Kosmic
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I pulled out my Freq Show Music Makers Triple Driver for another listen after a long time not listening to them, and I still find the Freq to be disappointing sounding vs my Livewires or SE530 in Livewires shell, or other top custom IEM like Westone 3 and Phonak PFE. I still think LW are great, even though they can't keep up with my Westone ES3X (which cost over 3x more anyway, so not direct competition).
Khanate
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I received my livewires from repair (first received by them on october 16th 2008), with the promised check for impressions and shipping I paid to ship my impressions after they had "lost" my impressions.
First impressions, before assembly, and there are slight differences with before. The 3.5mm jack is not as bulky and is 70 degrees from vertical instead of 90. The wire is silver and feels a bit higher quality and black connectors. The connectors are painted black by the way. The casing is smaller and does look good, stiff but nylon, so more transportable.
Overall I like the ameliorations to the visuals of the product. Customer service was exceptionally BAD, and it took over half a year to get my livewires back from repair. I hope the fit is okay or I'll go into mental breakdown.
First impressions, before assembly, and there are slight differences with before. The 3.5mm jack is not as bulky and is 70 degrees from vertical instead of 90. The wire is silver and feels a bit higher quality and black connectors. The connectors are painted black by the way. The casing is smaller and does look good, stiff but nylon, so more transportable.
Overall I like the ameliorations to the visuals of the product. Customer service was exceptionally BAD, and it took over half a year to get my livewires back from repair. I hope the fit is okay or I'll go into mental breakdown.
davtse
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Quote:
Triple Driver Customs From LiveWires...
it appears that the livewires have triple drivers as well? hmmm something to be considered
| Originally Posted by PeterDLai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes, nice! It keeps crossing my mind to give them a try for my first custom IEM but I'm glad now that someone else will be the guinea pig. 
What other IEMs have you listened to before besides the ones in your profile (Sennheiser IE8, LiveWires, Future Sonics Atrio m5)? |
Triple Driver Customs From LiveWires...
it appears that the livewires have triple drivers as well? hmmm something to be considered
Khanate
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If both company have triples, still order from TN...
Khanate
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Excellent fit so far, I asked my audiologist for a tight fit and specified on my order form I wanted a tight fit.
At first the bass was very boomy and sloppy, it has however rectified itself and pretty satisfied with the product (and only the product, as I do not ever want to deal with this company ever again).
I realized that I got their "clear" cable, I kept own so I now have both. Black one is better to fit in my amp and it goes under the LOD cable though. Though I do not know if they changed the connecter on the new black cables.
At first the bass was very boomy and sloppy, it has however rectified itself and pretty satisfied with the product (and only the product, as I do not ever want to deal with this company ever again).
I realized that I got their "clear" cable, I kept own so I now have both. Black one is better to fit in my amp and it goes under the LOD cable though. Though I do not know if they changed the connecter on the new black cables.
Quote:
Did they do a good paintjob of the connectors? I vaguely remember someone requesting that they do it and it didn't seem to come out so great.
| Originally Posted by Khanate /img/forum/go_quote.gif The wire is silver and feels a bit higher quality and black connectors. The connectors are painted black by the way. The casing is smaller and does look good, stiff but nylon, so more transportable. |
Did they do a good paintjob of the connectors? I vaguely remember someone requesting that they do it and it didn't seem to come out so great.
Quote:
From david's "review" over there:
"why did i name it the triple threat? the first two threats would definitely be it's price/performance ratio, and sound quality. the third threat however, is the build quality."
Looks like customer service is not included in the triple threat.
Perhaps with the release of the LiveWires 3 the CA office will improve in this aspect? Who knows, but there's plenty of warnings from users here that one will have to consider before deciding to go with LiveWires as opposed to Fidelity Custom Earphones.
What I'm curious about is who designed the LiveWires 3 now that the lead audio engineer/developer of the original LiveWires, Earl Neal, is with Fidelity Custom Earphones. Perhaps since he had been working on it since the release of the original LiveWires that they're based on the same design (drivers, crossover, etc.)?
| Originally Posted by davtse /img/forum/go_quote.gif Triple Driver Customs From LiveWires... it appears that the livewires have triple drivers as well? hmmm something to be considered
|
From david's "review" over there:
"why did i name it the triple threat? the first two threats would definitely be it's price/performance ratio, and sound quality. the third threat however, is the build quality."
Looks like customer service is not included in the triple threat.
Perhaps with the release of the LiveWires 3 the CA office will improve in this aspect? Who knows, but there's plenty of warnings from users here that one will have to consider before deciding to go with LiveWires as opposed to Fidelity Custom Earphones.
What I'm curious about is who designed the LiveWires 3 now that the lead audio engineer/developer of the original LiveWires, Earl Neal, is with Fidelity Custom Earphones. Perhaps since he had been working on it since the release of the original LiveWires that they're based on the same design (drivers, crossover, etc.)?
Khanate
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Quote:
Looking hard the lower edge is still copper colored so isn't perfect, but I find it satisfying as no one would notice it imo.
Honestly not only do they always hide the truth and give you false estimates just so you don't complain, but if you get a fit issue (as you risk with any company, not only livewires) you would have to go through the whole process a second time.
| Originally Posted by PeterDLai /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did they do a good paintjob of the connectors? I vaguely remember someone requesting that they do it and it didn't seem to come out so great. |
Looking hard the lower edge is still copper colored so isn't perfect, but I find it satisfying as no one would notice it imo.
Honestly not only do they always hide the truth and give you false estimates just so you don't complain, but if you get a fit issue (as you risk with any company, not only livewires) you would have to go through the whole process a second time.
hyperous
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Collecting my Livewires today. Will keep you guys posted!
Quote:
It's been a long wait for you, I hope they fit just right for you the first time around!
Interesting, if you search "LiveWires" at Google, there's a sponsored link that says that the LiveWires are on sale for $229.00. Not sure how long that has been there, but it does link to the new LiveWires site.
Can LiveWires in CA redeem themselves in the customer service department?
| Originally Posted by hyperous /img/forum/go_quote.gif Collecting my Livewires today. Will keep you guys posted! |
It's been a long wait for you, I hope they fit just right for you the first time around!
Interesting, if you search "LiveWires" at Google, there's a sponsored link that says that the LiveWires are on sale for $229.00. Not sure how long that has been there, but it does link to the new LiveWires site.
Can LiveWires in CA redeem themselves in the customer service department?
superfishal
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I saw that, then went with Fidelity for $30 bucks more. How much is customer service worth to me? Well, at least $30 that's for sure. So far my e-mails have been answered very fast and the staff at Fidelity (Catherine) has been excellent. Now, I just have to wait for the product.
Khanate
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Quote:
From the people here, their estimates in time are rather accurate.
| Originally Posted by superfishal /img/forum/go_quote.gif I saw that, then went with Fidelity for $30 bucks more. How much is customer service worth to me? Well, at least $30 that's for sure. So far my e-mails have been answered very fast and the staff at Fidelity (Catherine) has been excellent. Now, I just have to wait for the product. |
From the people here, their estimates in time are rather accurate.
D20
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Well, I finally received my Livewires from the CA office. It took over 4 months to receive them ( I was told it would be 2-3 weeks when I ordered). I must say that I did not enjoy the sound of these monitors. While the fit was fine for me, the sound lacked the clarity I desired. I ordered these to be my main stage monitors- if I had ordered them just for listening I might have liked them better, but I did not enjoy performing with them. I called the company and set up a refund. The refund was issued quite promptly I have to admit. I guess you can say what you want about this company, but very few manufacturers out there are willing to give you a refund just because you don't enjoy their product. From a customer service perspective I would not deal with the CA office again, but I do appreciate the chance to try their product at little to no risk.
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Quote:
Glad it turned out okay for you in the end, but sorry they didn't sound good for you. I am baffled about the sound issues, because my LW are extremely crisp and detailed and musical, reminding me a lot of my re-cabled Grado RS-1.
| Originally Posted by D20 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I finally received my Livewires from the CA office. It took over 4 months to receive them ( I was told it would be 2-3 weeks when I ordered). I must say that I did not enjoy the sound of these monitors. While the fit was fine for me, the sound lacked the clarity I desired. I ordered these to be my main stage monitors- if I had ordered them just for listening I might have liked them better, but I did not enjoy performing with them. I called the company and set up a refund. The refund was issued quite promptly I have to admit. I guess you can say what you want about this company, but very few manufacturers out there are willing to give you a refund just because you don't enjoy their product. From a customer service perspective I would not deal with the CA office again, but I do appreciate the chance to try their product at little to no risk. |
Glad it turned out okay for you in the end, but sorry they didn't sound good for you. I am baffled about the sound issues, because my LW are extremely crisp and detailed and musical, reminding me a lot of my re-cabled Grado RS-1.
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