Which Image?

[MattAdams]

Hi all, First out, apologies if my question has already been raised. Bear with me, I'm a newbee.

After countless hours of pouring through numerous reviews, forums and any other info which I could find I have decided that a pair of Klipsch Image headphones are for me! The question is, should I go for the S4, X5 or X10?

Unfortunately , as there is nowhere in Leeds, UK which stock them for me to try in the flesh this is my next best option. For info, I use a 3rd generation iPod Touch and all my music is encoded at 320kbps. To give you an idea of my musical tastes, at present I'm listening to a lot of Kings of Leon and The Strokes. My biggest priorities are probably sound isolation, comfort and a wide sound stage.

Basically, if all my music is in a lossy format would I be wasting money buying the X5 or X10's as compared to the cheaper S4's which are supposedly more forgiving of your source? The last thing that I want to do is pay more for a higher end headphone which is more transparent and end up with a worse sound than just opting for cheaper the S4's (which I seem to recall somebody saying on this forum are 'designed' for lossy format files)?

I suppose my only alternative is to order all 3, take the hit on returning the 2 that I don't keep and decide for myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

[BLSamuel]

Image X5 IMVHO

search the headphone section

Also click the options button in Headphones and select to see all posts as defaults to most recent 2 months.

Also see Professor Thump's blog in Blogs for a lot of info.

Here's a couple to start ...

Image X5 vs X10 I think I commented "better highs" probably more accurately "better" mids or more forward?... I've had the Custom 2 (RIP) since they first came on the market and Image X10 a bit over a year later. With brief auditions of all the models the Image X5 are my favorite... though the Custom 3 (RIP) have the best sound.... though I'm not sure I noticed much of a difference in (very brief) comparisons.

Good Boomy Bass / Rich Detail "good" boomy bass?

Custom 2 to X5 or X10

[MattAdams]

Thanks for your help blsamuel. Much appreciated.

After much consideration I think I'm going to try the S4's initially as I'm hopeful these with provide a noticeable upgrade to my current Sennheiser CX300's.

No doubt once I've got a taste for better quality headphones I'll be trading up within a few months!

[usrockband]

You should be able to note the difference between the two pairs. I too upgraded to the S4's (after reading cnets raving review, and i too am in love) from the CX300's and the clarity of the sound of the Image S4 vs that of the CX300's is uncomparable; Image S4 takes the huge win there. The S4's have a much more clear and tighter bass sound compared too the CX300's, and make the Seinheisers overall sound very muddy.

Enjoy your new headphones! (Ive never listened to the X5's and therefore made no refference towards them)

[Gliderguy3]

I now own Custom 3's, Image X10 and X5 as well as S4. I tried some side by side testing of the C3 vs X5 and C3 vs X10. I used a headphone splitter with my computer and some lossless FLAC files. I put the left headphone of one of the test sets in one ear, (for example, the C3) and at the same time had the other model (lets say X5) in the right ear. I listened to some music and some test tones, then alternated ears (C3 in right ear with X5 in left) and went back through the same sample tracks to allow for some high frequency loss in my left ear.

The bass on all three units is very close. I have test tones at 200, 160, 140, 100, 83, 60, 50, 40, 31.5, 25, 20 hz as well as 1khz. Sarah McLachlan's "I love you" has a crazy strong bass line that sounds muddy on most speakers and headphones, I think it really shows how bad something with high harmonic distortion sounds. Klipsch products make it sound clean. I listened to some Chicago just for the horns and midrange.

The X5 has a reputation for less bass, but I cannot really hear much difference. The C3 seemed to have a just noticable boost vs the X5 between 30 and 60 hz, but above and below that it seemed remarkably close. If there was some way to ABX tests headphones I think I would fail to discern the difference. At 1khz, the X5 was detectably louder no matter which ear. Treble on music did not seem to have much difference, but my hearing is sketchy above 8khz in my left ear. the 1khz boost I noticed with the X5 is probably where it gets its "forward" midrange reputation.

I then compared the C3 to the original image (or X10). The bass was very similar again, but big difference at 1khz. the C3 was louder by quite a bit. the C3 has a sensitivity rating of 115 dB/milliwatt vs 110 dB/milliwatt over the X10. Looks like the X10 might be flat (but 5-6 dB below the C3) from the upper bass on up but with maybe a 5dB boost midbass down putting total bass output on par with the C3. I am not sure how sensitivity is rated but it looks like the upper bass and above must be the primary consideration.

Finally I compared the two Image products. Almost deja-vu from C3 vs x10 - big difference at 1khz.

If I could custom mix and match to build my perfect headphones, I would put the sound characteristics of the C3's into an X10 body and magically add a few dB more sensitivity (just because...). Since that doesn't seem possible, I think the x5's are just about perfect. If Klipsch could eq down the X5 midrange just a hair, I don't think most people could tell them from the C3's. I would take the bass from any of the three. After trying them head to head like this I think the differrence is really up higher and not down in the bass region. One thing I noticed with the C3 that I have yet to be able to duplicate with the X5 is they subjectively seem to be a bit more dynamic. Some recordings that I hadn't really thought much of in the past really took on a "live" feel, the snare and bass drums, as well as electric bass guitar sounded a lot more dynamic and live than I have ever noticed with any other headphone.

the X10 remind me of some classic Polk Audio speakers I used to have, RTA12's. They were old when I got them, and may have needed some crossover caps replaced, but they sounded very smooth and were easy to listen to. If I were going on a 15 hour flight halfway around the world the x10 might win out over the x5 just because I think they would fatigue the ears less.

I haven't done the S4 in this comparison, but back to back normal comparisons I am certain they have more mid bass than any of the others. Almost too much. I have found the reduced bass setting on a classic Ipod brings them close to the rest of the Klipsch family.

Someone with better hearing than me will have to comment on the treble end of things. I am physically not capable of discerning a describeable difference with my current limitations.

[BLSamuel]

The X5 has a reputation for less bass, but I cannot really hear much difference.

I couldn't either when compared to the Custom 3 and Image X10 but was only a couple of minutes with each. Not sure I can tell a difference between the Custom 3 and Image X5 in that short comparison.... but hte Image X5 is my favorite though we own the Custom 2 and X10.

I've had no problems with Custom 2 cords. Really like the cloth covering. No problems with X10 cords per se but strain reliefs are splitting.. [:'(]