X5 headphone--my review

[4tay]

Review: Klipsch X5 headphones

The thing that first drew me in was the armature technology, the fact I wasn’t dealing with just another dynamic earbud. Not to mention the frequency response: a whopping 10hz to 19khz. It wasn’t that long ago that you had to plop down $500 or more to approach that capability. I am not a big fan of designs like Grado and Sennheiser that do not isolate. I want headphones to hear the music, not my external environment. And no one needs to be able to monitor what I am listening. I’d rather not bother anyone anyway. Sure, there are etymological designs (ultimate ears) that use individual drivers that pass $1K a pair and are orthopedically fitted to your ears. But come on… cost IS an object with me at this time. Besides…can you imagine accidentally damaging or losing $1,200 headphones?

In real life…there is bass!

Back to the real world. One comment actually upset me about the Klipsch. “Response just as the recording artists intended.” Ok, where have I heard this before? Oh yeah. My Etymotic ER-6I. My ety’s cut off instantly at 80hz. They are gutless, unrealistic and do not reflect what the recording artist intended. Since when is cutting off the bottom two octaves fidelity? I read one silly comment “OMG, it makes other headsets sound slow and bloated!” Well, it makes other headsets sound REALISTIC by compare. In real life…there is bass! I will give one nod to my ety’s: no dynamics below $500 a pair have the same clarity and articulation. And they isolate fairly well.

Mid-fi fun

My 2^nd set, is a pair of $145 Bose triport around the ear headphones. These isolate pretty well, so long as you are not in a high noise environment. They do a pretty good job with music, though they are hard to drive (88 or 89db efficiency) so they sound like pure mud with small devices. Don’t even bother with an ipod shuffle…epic fail. When driven correctly, they are like the Bose of headphones. They are unapologetically mid-fi fun. They are pleasant to listen to and have a lot of bass power…more so than pretty much any sub $300 cans I have tried. They are less boomy and muddy than some cordless types I have tried as well. Ever try Koss cordless? Yeeeuck.

Reference headphones?

Then, there is my Grado RS-1 and headphone amp. Arguably, musically articulate and flat responding. This rig costs me $750 a few years ago. They represent a trade off in abilities between the Senn HD 600’s. But also, fall short of what Denon has done with the stunning and beautiful mahogany-cupped AH-D7000’s. The AH-D7000’s represent to me, probably the best around the ear type dynamic on the market. Up from there, we start into electrostatic ear speakers like Stax Lambdas. (Those cost as much as a nice used pair of Klipschorns BTW). In some ways however, the Grados are less satisfying than the Bose. They don’t isolate, and really do nothing exciting. They are like the Vandersteen 2ce of headphones. Mid stage, low coloration, sweet and musical…but not impactful or overly exciting. They spread their shortcomings out so as not to have any one glaring flaw. Polite! Yes…that’s it! Not something to plug directly into an mp3 player anyway.

X5’s Compared

I ordered a pair of X5’s from Audio Advisor based on the universal acclaim. From the reviews I have read, they are considered more accurate than the X10’s. I like that: less costly, more accurate. Seems like a good deal to me. I dug out a variety of classical, rock, prog metal and jazz recordings to listen to. I used everything from a stereo system to a laptop, desktop and a creative x-fi as a source.

First: compared to my Ety’s: The ety’s do an admirable job of resolution, and musicality above 80hz. They are unsatisfactory to me, in fact as frustrating as near-beer. These ety’s simply clobber any dynamic under $400 for clarity, but leave me wanting for some body…any body at all. The Klipsch X5 eat these for lunch. The X5 can match them everywhere above 80hz, and crush them below 80hz.

Second: compared to Bose triport: The Bose triport are fun to listen to, but inarticulate, and wooly. Not as bad as most under $300 cans, but they don’t have much on top---kind of like their speakers—but not grainy. The Klipsch’s bass is infinitely more realistic and articulate. The X5’s top end leaves Bose deeply in the dust. And they isolate just as well. Bose aren’t so fun anymore.

Third: Compared to Grado RS-1 & amp: Ok.. $750+ worth of gear that doesn’t isolate. The grados by compare are BORING and polite. They respond well to higher frequencies, but in a way that is polite. The Klipsch reach up there and deliver startling clarity. Grado’s bass is pretty nice, but again, doesn’t seem as defined as the Klipsch. I feel bad now. The X5 didn’t exist a decade ago when I got the grados, but for the $145 I paid, the X5 just curb-stomp the Grados, and don’t need an outboard amp to do it. In this case, modern microelectronic technology makes $145 > $750 (or whatever the combo of rs1 and amp costs now).

In short, the speed and articulation---not to mention superb dynamic range of the X5 have shelved dynamic headphones for me. I am considering some X-10’s, but I have read across the board that the bass accuracy isn’t up to the X5. I see no need to spend more to compromise. I may not spend much more in the future, but the X5 have set a standard (price and performance) that I won’t go below…ever.

Finally, don't limit your listening to compressed mp3's. If so, at least try 320k. Better yet: FLAC. Listen to some Uncompressed PCM music that hasn't been crushed into audio swiss cheese by a compression algorythm. Never mind Nyquist. Listen to what music can do on these X5's. They are not some run of the mill headphones you slap on for that casual listen to fiddy cent at 128k. Put on some Sonny Rollins, or Miles. Maybe some Mussorgsky or Vivaldi. Enya or Eva Cassidy. The better the source material, the better the experiance. Where most sub $300 headphones really don't extract the detail and provide the musical experiance, the X5 sure can. The X5's are not the best out there, but for $145, I can't justify spending more for something that provides this level of performance.

[lgrocks01]

klipsch image are awosome i got s4 and crush bose speakers and other brand. And darn the x5 that good that crush Etymotic ER-6I, Bose triport by the way all bose are overprice, Grado RS-1 & amp and one last thing how much does headphones amp cost

[4tay]

It's been a long time, but the Grado amp was between $350 and $450. Not worth it. There are $100 amps that are just as good. If I was spending more than $250 for a headphone amp, I'd look into a vacuum tube model.

The websites headwize and others have reviews and recommendations for headphone amps.

One of my favorites (blows away the grado) is a Musical Fidelity x-can.

[lgrocks01]

i am also looking to upgrade my s4 to our x5 because the single balanced armatures with Tuned Bass Reflex Woofer System anyway how is the soundstage because i want the artist to be in front of me performing his music and can you compare to eytomic research, bose, grado product like you did i am just asking about the soundstage