[mvw2]

Well, at least this one.

I just grabbed a pair from another Head-Fi member.

These are probably the coolest, little IEMs I've bought yet. I do see the fragility of the design, and even though I have an 09 pair, these aren't exactly to be taken for granted. They seem durable enough for normal use, but you may try not to sit on them to often. There is a solid, metal casing that does provide structural strength where needed though. They're more sports car then tank.

I spent the morning running through the various tips which was an enjoyable experience, well for me at least...cause I'm nerdy like that. It's interesting to hear the variety in response that you can get simply from filter and enclosure design. I'm still up in the air about which combination I prefer. They also seem relatively tip dependent providing another aspect of tuning.

Overall sound quality is middle of the road. I think I'm getting spoiled now after having IEMs like the TF10 and UM3X, so I might be overly critical against the SA6. For a single BA design, it does function well with relatively broad and decently smooth response. There's good cleanliness and detail, but dynamics and articulation of note are middle of the road. There's good separation and things don't muddy together in terms of stage presence, but there also isn't great location and space and little actual imaging to speak of. Initial impressions are putting it as a widely adjustable, middle of the road product. It's neither junk nor ground breaking. This may not sound great, but this is an IEM that can be had now on the open market for under $150. The adjustability is ground breaking and a welcome break from the vast sea of very static headphones. It's a cool idea that's pretty well implemented and does add value to the design. I think I've heard actually better BA drivers though in other single BA products like the ER4, old I know, and the PFE which sits at pretty much the same price point. While the SA6 isn't oh my god type of impressive, short the engineering side, it does make me wonder what Sleek might be able to do with a 2-way or 3-way configuration where they would be unbound by a compromise single driver setup and still retain the tunability options.

 

[Hentai11]

Great write up!

Soundwise, how do you think it stacks up against their competitors? And what type of listener needs to short-list these phones?

 

[mvw2]

Well, I think it fairs well at its price point. Being available for about $150 on the open market puts it in the range of the Phonak Audio PFE, Shure SE310, Sennheiser IE6, Etymotic ER4, Ultimate Ears Super.Fi 5, and whatever other brands I'm missing, basically a lot of other single armature earphones.

Out of the list, I've only used the PFE and ER4S, so I can't really comment on the selection at its price point as well as I should in order to make a good judgement call.

Standing in it's own right, Sleek does seem to used a decent BA driver that does offer a decently extended response range in both directions. It does roll off up at the very top, but that's very common with these single armature earphones. The bottom end is decently robust and well controlled. Both bass and treble presentation vary a good bit depending on the filtering used. About the only thing against the SA6 is that it is king of nothing. A number of the other products are kings of their respective traits. The PFE is vary dynamic and precise in note. The ER4 is kind of stage presentation with outstanding location and space. The Super.Fi 5EB is a bass monster. Many of these excel at some aspect. The SA6 doesn't really excell at anything.

Now this isn't bad really. Excelling isn't really a requirement of a good earphone. The requirement of a good earphone is not doing anything badly. Many of these earphones typically have something they do poorly on, some major fault. The better earphones are the ones that have less faults. The SA6 really don't do anything terribly wrong, and that is a good thing.

A lot of these earphones have their own particular sound characteristic. You'll either like it or you won't. The SA6 on the other hand can be shaped to better suit your tastes, so it can become what you want. It's nice not to have to rely on EQing to get the job done.

I will have to make a point that the SA6 is definitely not a workhorse IEM. It is something that requires a little extra care. It is tiny. It is light. It is complex in design. There was a certain minimalistic approach to this IEM's design, stuffing a lot in a very little package. The earphones are pretty tiny. The cabling is thin and light. Plastic is used where metal isn't needed. There are stress reliefs on the cabling but short and just enough. Everything is engineered in a "just enough" fashion. It's a mechanically interesting earphone in this regard, high tech but delicate. My early analogy of a sports car is a good representation. It's like an Acura NSX where a lot of other earphones like the ER4 are more like Jeeps, rugged, overkill. This isn't bad really. It just requires a little understanding. These aren't earphones you're going to beat on, go to sleep with, or let your careless friend borrow.

Who should have these on their list?

Well, I guess anyone looking at this price point, someone who wants adjustability without having the software capability, and someone who can take decent care of their headphone. There is a certain look aspect as well. Just like a sports car, it's for a person who also desires aesthetic accents.

I'll make an odd note. The case that it comes with is pretty neat, but it's geared to hold the IEM with a stock or comparatively short tip. I have Shure Olives on it, and I can't use the case with the tip on because the Olives stick out too far. It's just an odd point I ran into with the design.

Oh on a side note as far as adjustment. Right now I'm using the green -- treble tip and no rear filter. I'm switching between that and the Bass+ toying around. The -- treble is just for more midrange emphasis and warmer presence. You still get top end but it seems to less readily dominate. The complete lack of rear filter just makes the system IB rather then an enclosure of X volume. Certain filters made a peaky midbass response, and although no filter does make for a somewhat heavy bass response, it comes across well balanced and well extended. I prefer a little excess over a humped response I guess. Bass -- is well balanced and light with good depth. Bass - makes a smaller enclosure which gives a good midbass thump. Bass + is an aperiodic enclosure, maybe partial porting effect. It gives more low emphasis but also has a higher bass peak. No rear filter makes IB, although, I doubt it is an intended option. You see straight to the back of the BA driver.

The treble filters just add more and more top end. You too can go all the way to no filter. You tend to switch them in pairs to even out both ends. Right now, I'm running the -- treble port to give a warmer, more lushious type of sound. I do kind of wish Sleek Audio would provide frequency response charts. I think it would make selection quicker from the start. I wouldn't mind seeing some attempt at porting the enclosure too, basically use a piped exit of various lengths to choose port frequency. It seems the enclosure is well sized and some real functional porting options would really open up bottom end options more so then simple box Q of a small, medium, and large (leaky) sealed enclosure. If I knew where to get some good tubing to play with, I'd try a couple options.

I wish I had all the above mentioned IEMs lying around, but I don't. Most I just haven't used. I'll just go with the ER4S and PFE that I've owned. Would I buy the SA6 over the ER4S if I had the choice between the two. No. It is personal preference, but I value stage presence a lot, and the lack of good locational cues and space is off putting to me personally. Would I buy the SA6 over the PFE? It's a toss up. I probably slightly prefer the PFE largely because it shares a similar response to the ER4S which I do like. As well, I personally favor good dynamic range and an effortless, energetic, and transparent sound. I think the BA driver used in the PFE is really quite good. It's one I'd like to see end up in a 2-way/3-way IEM at some point. The SA6 is more mild mannered. However, the tuning power of the SA6 does make it more broadly likable by the masses, more so then either of the other earphones. A random person could more readily pick up a SA6, spend a little time picking out their preferred tuning, and generally like the earphone. This can't be said quite as easily about the ER4S or PFE.

 

[mvw2]

New testing, this time trying original bi-flange tips.

These tips exit right at the end, and using the small tip allows for deep insertion.

Initial impressions point me to that these were designed to be used deeply inserted. The frequency response appears much better balanced doing so versus a tip that extends out past the port and holds the IEM out farther in the ear canal. Running other tips and having the unit sit farther out from the ear, there was a kind of unusual response curve. Deep in the ear, things smooth out.

Right now I'm using the small bi-flange and am using zero filters, open treble ++ nozzle and no bass adjuster inserted, think IB or bass ++ basically. Bass - offers a milder, well balanced presentation with a slightly early roll off. Bass + gives the depth bit a touch more medium bass much.

Overall presentation is slightly warm in tone, good top end clarity but slightly in the back ground versus lower midrange and bass. Bass presentation is authoritative and well extended. Right now I'm listening to Three Six Mafia, Late Night Tip.

These do great on the bottom octaves as long as you get a good seal.

Really, the farther these go in the ear, the better they keep sounding. Quality of seal determines bass extension. A slightly leaky seal will give a very weak bottom end. A strong seal and it'll pelt out the bottom octaves with sub like authority.

A good comparison to the SA6 is the V-Moda Vibe. The presentation is relatively similar running no filters, but the SA6 fixes the main issues of the Vibe like the muddy bass, clarity, etc. It's a cleaner version of the Vibe, fun, a little midbass hump, extended and emphasized bottom end.

Tip choice and insertion really seems to play a big roll with these earphones. They seem to be more specifically geared for deep insertion. The design also seems to be geared around the stock tips, mainly for designed depth of insertion.

I'm beginning to like these better.

Now I still feel these aren't really analytically geared. They're more of a fun geared earphone and seem to lack some of the ability to create a good stage presence like the ER4 for example. There's also some lack of dynamic range and articulation of note, not muddy or sloppy, but compared to better earphones (much pricier earphones), they don't match. Something similarly priced like the PFE spank it in terms of diamond etched definition of note and dynamic breadth and effortlessness. For the going rate on these, I like them a lot as a fun earphone to bump to.

I'll make a small note. These aren't the most efficient earphones out there, and some amping always helps. They don't need a ton, but you might just grab a FiiO E5 for cheap just to give them that little extra push.