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S4 vs X5 soundstage/imaging?


mancpg

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Hi,

I had the pleasure to listen to the Image S4s the other week and was greatly impressed. In fact, I loved them! I really loved their sound, their energy and their emotion. It really brought out the best in all the music I had listened to on them and made me feel things like horn sections and guitar riffs on music, where I previously only just heard them. I was really looking to get a pair, but the only thing I would have liked was a little bit more clarity in the treble for classical music and jazz.

One of the things that also impressed me was the imaging and soundstage. The soundstage was wide and I could accurate pick out instruments in the mix. I thought of trying out the X5s instead of the S4s, because of the good reviews they've received on this forum regarding a more clear response across frequencies.

I was wondering if they had the same quality of imaging and soundstage as the S4s? I haven't liked balanced armature earphones in the past because of their imprecise imaging (the music sounds like it all over in your head, without being able to pick out the location of the instruments or vocals very precisely). I'm wondering if the X5s are different.

Thank you very much!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi mancpg,

The X5 is a superior headphone for accurate response...Hi SPL...Low THD! Does it sound like Klipsch? [:)]

As far as imaging this will probably differ between users. Part of this is the geometry of your ear canal and the distance inserted into the canal. I suspect you will find that the S4 will have wider imaging. This is the nature of the beast.

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Thank you Professor Thump. I guess I was a little concerned about what I read in PC Magazine with regard to the X5. Based on their testing, they claim that the X5 earphones are not well matched, leading to some frequencies being louder in one earphone than the other:

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l%253D234777%2526a%253D234085%2526po%253D3,00.asp

I was wondering if this was indeed the case, or if this was just an off pair. Would this be the case in the S4s as well? I was wondering if this could lead to imaging problems?

Thank you again!

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