[bmichels]

Plus5 or SHURE KSV1500 electrostatic IEM ... difficult choice !

 

[AnakChan]

Plus5 or SHURE KSV1500 electrostatic IEM ... difficult choice !

 
Get both - they're both different. (BTW it's KSE1500, not KSV1500).

 

[Kiats]

Agree with AnakChan. Different creatures.

 

[bmichels]

Get both - they're both different. (BTW it's KSE1500, not KSV1500).

Thanks. Could you elaborate how they are different ?

 

[AnakChan]

Thanks. Could you elaborate how they are different ?

To my ears the Plus5 is a very warm lush rich  sound that focuses on building that hall-like space presentation. Trebles are neutral but extended, midrange & bass has a rich bloom. The Plus5 is very holographic.
 
The KSE1500 to me focuses on technical excellence. To me it's a flat-like signature...rather UERM like but more spacious. Bass it impactful and tight, midrange to trebles are clear and very transparent. More a studio-like surgical knife accuracy. If mastering is bad, the KSE1500 will pick it up and shoves it in your face - it's that dead obvious.
 
Some folks can listen to the KSE1500 for long long hours, for me not so much but for that short periods that I do listen, I do like. The Plus5 OTOH, is laid back lush rich and non-intrusive.
 
That's to my ears anyway. Others may feel differently.

 

[spkrs01]

Thanks Anakchan....very similar to what I am hearing from the 380Cu stack too...........I think one aspect of commonality is that we are listening to the Velvet Dac chip from AKM in the 380....this Dac chip does what it says on the packet, rich, effortless, non fatiguing, velvety sonic signature. Totally immersive and atmospheric, and absolutely addictive for the listener.......at least, for me definitely.
 

 
 
At the same time, It would be especially interesting for me, how H20fidelity hears it with his sources too?
 
 
I await, patiently.......

 

[edwardsean]

 
To my ears the Plus5 is a very warm lush rich  sound that focuses on building that hall-like space presentation. Trebles are neutral but extended, midrange & bass has a rich bloom. The Plus5 is very holographic.
 
The KSE1500 to me focuses on technical excellence. To me it's a flat-like signature...rather UERM like but more spacious. Bass it impactful and tight, midrange to trebles are clear and very transparent. More a studio-like surgical knife accuracy. If mastering is bad, the KSE1500 will pick it up and shoves it in your face - it's that dead obvious.
 
Some folks can listen to the KSE1500 for long long hours, for me not so much but for that short periods that I do listen, I do like. The Plus5 OTOH, is laid back lush rich and non-intrusive.
 
That's to my ears anyway. Others may feel differently.

I own the Ref. 1 Too and really thought about moving to the KSE1500. I got a chance to spend some time with it at Axpona, and I would say something similar to AnakChan comparing the KSE and Ref.1 Too. The great strength of the Shure is that pristine electrostatic clarity. If you value transparency the KSE vanishes in a way that I don't know that BA's will ever match. There is a spectrum of clarity among BA (+dynamic) IEMs, but this is different technology and there's no mistaking what they've achieved. However, dovetailing from what AnakChan posted, it can be more surgical than musical and, for me, sometimes I found it more interesting than enjoyable. The Shure gets out of the way so much so that the mids seem almost missing. The mids on the  Ref. 1 Too may seem almost cloudy by comparison, but they are present with a pleasing velvety texture. 
 
The biggest difference for me personally between the Shure and the Tralucent house sound was in the presentation. They are both spacious in a way, but very different ways. When I was listening to the KSE I never forgot I was listening to an IEM. It does sound spacious but that's due to its clarity and transparency. You get the feel of the studio/hall where the track was recorded. The soundstage dimensions in and of themselves are pretty standard IEM size. Gavin, on the other hand, always seems to be reaching for the presentation of full-size headphones and so the field of sound seems more enveloping to me. This is hard to describe exactly, but it's like with the KSE you have speakers right up to your ears and you clearly hear the recording room beyond the speakers. With the Ref.1 Too the sense of the recorded space is not as clear, but the field of sound produced is larger and more full, as if you are in a room with speakers in front of you.
 
If intimate transparency is your preference the KSE are at the IEM pinnacle right now. If you like a more full, lush, full-size phone presentation, I think Tralucent is at that peak. 

 

[H20Fidelity]

My first impressions are somewhat in line with Anakchans. 
 
After listening to Plus5 for a few hours I'll say Gavin created something extremely different from his previous line-up, notably thicker note weight, deeper tonality verging towards quite fat around the mid-range. Those who know Tralucent for rather vibrant on the edge presentations Plus5 takes moderate alteration. Its smoother, calmer but throws out some extremely detailed music. At first, when I heard Plus5 I was confused at the tonality because it isn't something I'm familiar with owning other previous Tralucent products.  I thought Gavin might have been on green herbs or something.. (again) 

 
When spinning a few tracks I was hearing coughing clearly in the background from the audience on a live recording and quite surprised how much detail really is coming out from each earpiece  despite the full-bodied heavy note weight . Its just at first Plus5 even sounds darkish to me and there's definitely a unique presentation I've not heard from any other earphone before. How Anakchan says it kind of resembles listening to music in a hall or small stadium, its intriguing and very different all at once.
 
This was using an iBasso DX90, then I switched between PAW 5000 balanced and iBasso DX50 (which is a favourite of mine) and all of sudden we clicked. I understand what Plus5 was about, it took me some source juggling and a little learning curve but I think we're starting to agree with each other. Still a lot more to learn from Plus5 as its has a deep story to tell. 
 
 

 

[bmichels]

To my ears the Plus5 is a very warm lush rich  sound that focuses on building that hall-like space presentation. Trebles are neutral but extended, midrange & bass has a rich bloom. The Plus5 is very holographic.

The KSE1500 to me focuses on technical excellence. To me it's a flat-like signature...rather UERM like but more spacious. Bass it impactful and tight, midrange to trebles are clear and very transparent. More a studio-like surgical knife accuracy. If mastering is bad, the KSE1500 will pick it up and shoves it in your face - it's that dead obvious.

Some folks can listen to the KSE1500 for long long hours, for me not so much but for that short periods that I do listen, I do like. The Plus5 OTOH, is laid back lush rich and non-intrusive.

That's to my ears anyway. Others may feel differently.

Thanks a lot AnakChan for this détailled explanation. It looks like they have opposite sound signature that therefore can justify to have booth.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Tomorrow I'll grab some macro shots of the housings, cable, try and show the unique shell curves you can't really see from normal pictures. They're quite a bit smaller than the previous Tralucent IEMs, kind of stream lined and the finish is spotless, build is top notch.

 

[Kiats]

Glad you are enjoying it, H20! I'm sure it was worth the wait.

 

[H20Fidelity]

Here's a quick one to put across the size difference between the orginal 1Plus2 and Plus5.
 
Quite a bit smaller hey? You can see part of that curve I mean on the front angle of Plus5.
 

 
 
 
 
Not hard to see who's been eating all the pies. 

 

 

[Wyd4]

How so the shells on the 2.2 compare to the original?

 

[H20Fidelity]

How so the shells on the 2.2 compare to the original?

 
I will do a similar shot comparing the newer and older 1Plus2 shells tomorrow in their thread.

 

[Wyd4]

Awesome

Those plus 5 shells have a stage diver vibe going on