Custom-1, worth the money?

[videoCWK]

I recently lost my pair of Sony headphones at school, so it's time for new ones. Now I'm probably going to get the same pair of Sonys again (I think my old ones were stolen, and since losing a pair of $25 headphones isn't much of a loss, I want new ones for school), but for when I'm out of school I'd like something dramatically much better. I could definitely save my allowance for a pair of Custom-1 headphones, but I only found one review, and it said they were just OK. I like reading multiple reviews when it comes to something I'm going to spend a lot of money on though, so what I want to know is if it's worth the $120. The one review said that when multiple instruments were playing in a song, they'd sorta blend together. Does this actually happen, and if so is it that noticeable? I'm sure they'll be much better than that old Sony pair, but that doesn't change that I'll want to know if it's something I'd really want to spend all the money on. Especially since I get just $10 a week for allowance, so I'd be waiting 12 weeks to get the money, so it's a bit of a wait and would suck if it was for less than I should get. Any help is appreciated, thanks for reading.

[dtel's wife]

Welcome to the Klipsch Forum. I think you will find this is a very friendly place with lots of knowledgable folks.

We had the chance to audition Klipsch headphones last year at the Pilgrimage. We were actually sort of "test dummies", as the headphones had not yet been released for sale.

The headphones were by far the best of any I have ever heard.

They are worth saving for the twelve weeks. Maybe you could earn a few extra bucks during this summer to obtain them quicker!

[dtel's wife]

This thread will give you a lot of details about Klipsch headphones. Many of the replies in the thread were written by those of us who were fortunate enough to test them at the 2007 Pilgrimage in Indy.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/94657.aspx?PageIndex=1

The thread is about eleven pages long, but has lots of valuable information within the replies.

Good luck!

[videoCWK]

I've been here before, it's nice when a message board is helpful rather than full of idiots.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys. These look very promising, I'll pick up a pair as soon as I have the money. I like how they have the behind-the-ear bit, since I won't always want noise cancelation so I could use that to let it hover in my ear instead of make a seal, without it falling out. The only problem is, I can't decide if I'd rather get these or a pair of Promedias first, since I'm anticipating both. Probably the headphones, since I have some pretty decent Logitech Z4 speakers at the moment. They come through pretty clear, but miss some detail in songs. Probably the worst part about them is that a lot of notes lack fullness due to the satellites having absolutely no bass, so even though it's got a pretty good subwoofer, a lot of notes sound empty. Then again, if they were perfect I wouldn't need Promedias, would I?

[dtel's wife]

Glad to see you came back.

This is a really cool forum and actually the only forum my husband and I actively partcipate in.

I have never heard Pro Media speakers, but I have been told they are great. I think Pro Media will be the next speakers we purchase for our computer. If you have a decent pair of speakers at the moment I would definitely go for the headphones.

Every pair we tried at the 2007 Pilgrimage sounded great....no kidding.

Where are you located? Have you considered attending the Pilgrimage in Indy...especially if you are close enough.

[videoCWK]

New Jersey, and I'm 14 so I couldn't easily convince my parents to take me to a meet up of people we don't know so I could listen to some speakers. Though if I could drive I'd probably find a way to show up, since it sounds like a fun event that I could really get into. I have a friend who has Promedias, they sound incredible. If you played them loudly in a smallish room you'd almost think you were listening to home stereo speakers, and they include more detail than anything. For example, once that friend and I recorded ourselves talking with a nice microphone of his, when we played it back it sounded exactly as it did when we were saying it, no detail was lost. Music sounds really full and detailed as well, in fact even with the subwoofer turned down all the way you'll still get pretty good performance from the satellites alone (we did this once when his mom was asleep so to not wake her up). Those speakers were actually what got me into Klipsch in the first place, before he got them I was a Bose person. I'm all Klipsch now though, the only thing Bose is good for is minimalists or people who simply have no space for anything.

[dtel's wife]

Strange enough....I am 48 years old and my husband is 49. When we first joined the forum we thought it was a really cool place. We actually were going to make a trip to Hope, Arkansas and meet up with some other forum members in September '05....but Hurricane Katrina had other ideas.

Then....the 2006 Pilgrimage was announced and it was being held in Hope, Arkansas. I am so glad we attended. We met a lot of forum members, as well as Klipsch employees from Hope and Indy. We toured the plant where all the Heritage speakers are built. Oh yea, one other really cool thing...we won a brand new pair of Cornwall IIIs. We were able to pick out our veneer and they were custom built. We went back to Hope six weeks later and picked up our brand new Cornwall IIIs direct from the factory.

Since then, we have made another trip to Hope, a trip to Indy for the 2007 Pilgrimage and are returning to Indy again this year. We also plan to visit Hope again later in the year. I really like it in Hope, it's kind of like the town we live in. We also had the opportunity to meet Ms. Valerie, Paul Klipsch's wife.

All in all, as a parent I think the same way your parents do. I wouldn't want my kids or grandkids to go off and meet some people I didn't know either. It's a shame because these are some of the greatest people I have ever met in my life. That goes for the members and the employees of Klipsch. We have made lifelong friendships on this forum. We look forward to getting together with the friends we have made every chance we get.

Several members have visited our home and we have visited them as well. Colterphoto1, Groomlake and his family have visited and stayed overnight. Colterphoto1 spent a week here and photographed a triple wedding for us.(daughter and son in law, neice and her husband and dtel and I renewed our wedding vows) Groomlake and his family gave our seven year old grandson a pair of Heresy II's in beautiful condition. We were overnight guests of IndyKlipschFan, Mark 1101 and Colterphoto. Each made made us feel so at home. In July we will be going down to Groomlake's "neck of the woods" and staying a week with him and his family.

If every place on the Internet was like this place parent's wouldn't have to worry about their kids.

This is place is truly a family of friends.

[BLSamuel]

Too bad you don't live closer to Indy so that you could make it to the Pilgrimage. New Jersey is quite a ways a way. I think a college student took a VERY LONG bus ride from New Jersey to get to the Pilgrimage last year.

I'm 46 and cant' stand ear buds. I also tried the in ear phones as prototypes at the Pilgrimage last year and was just blown away as in ear phones was a TOTAL surprise. I rave a lot about the Image, now dubbed the Image X-10 as Klipsch has announced the new Image X-5, a $100 less then the Image X-10.

I spent most of my time in the 'phones room listening to the Image prototypes. I think I tried a Custom 1 prototype and they too were a lot more comfortable than expected and still sounded really awesome. Glad you heard the Promedia before you got too deep into the little cube speakers. I think they just don't even come close to the sound quality of Klipsch products.

I've been using the Custom 2 since they were first available and they are amazing. The list for $199. The new Image X-5 list for $249. Assuming they maintain most of the comfort and ease to get a good seal for the best bass as the Image X-10 which list at $349 I might have held out for them if they had been available. The Custom 1 listing at $129 are not inexpensive but are considerably more affordable then the other models.

Be sure to sign up for the Klipsch newsletter and watch this section in case there are any headphone promotions. I think I was able to get a 25% discount when I got my Custom 2. You may want to watch the adds if any stores in your area carry Klipsch products in case they carry the headphones and have any sales. I think I've occasionally seen the Promedia 2.1 for $119 instead of the $149 list price a few times in the local Best Buy ad. Maybe even less once or twice.

Are they worth the money? Well, only you can answer that question after you get them but I'd think the answer would be yes as you obviously care about sound quality and it will still be amazing compared to the normal ear-buds. I'd still much rather listen to music using speakers but my overly sensitivve ears can tolerate the Custom 2 pretty well and they sound incredible. I can hear a lot of things I've never heard before from my mp3 player at lower listening levels. Dtel and others have made the same comments. In all fairness that may have been abou the Image (Image X-10) but I think the Custom 1 would be hard to beat for $129. I think comparing them to the Bose in-ear phones readily available for $99 would be similar to your Promedia experence.

Maybe you can find a summer job. At 14 that's easier said than done. There's always mowing and yard work. Some youth soccer leagues if you're into soccer hire kids to referee though will probably require some training. Our local PAL (Police Athletic League) provides their own training and pays several dollars a game though I think they now require you buy a referee uniform.

I'm suspecting all the models will be available to try at the Pilgrimage so hopefully some more information comparing all the models will get posted hear.

Good luck.

Ben

[BLSamuel]

In July we will be going down to Groomlake's "neck of the woods" and staying a week with him and his family.

Groomlakearea51 cooks up some of the best alligator I've ever tried. A lot better than what I had in a restaurant. For my daugher really as she has this thing where she always wants to get alligator at least once on our trips to Florida to visit her grandfather.

Dtel's wife is right. The people here are very wonderful people. But yeah, as a parent I wouldn't send my 14 your old child off to spend a couple of days with a bunch of strangers either. Now if you could convince them they need to come .... I know, probably not a chance.

[videoCWK]

To be honest, the Bose ones just plain look like they would be bad. Not necessarily quality-wise, but comfortability-wise. Bose's overall sound quality isn't bad if you ask me, the reason it's so expensive is because of how much work they put into making them microscopic, and I'm sure they tack on some extra money for the hell of it. If they'd lower their prices to still be higher than the competition (because Bose speakers will still sound better than most Sonys) but be less expensive than right now, they'd probably have a bit more of a place in the world of audiophilism.

I can't stand earbuds either, they never stay in my ears and always sound like crap. That's why these appeal to me though, the behind-the-ear thing will keep them in my ears, and being from Klipsch I expect great sound quality.

And I actually own a surround system of Bose cubes. It's about 9 years old though, we bought it when it was new and when we never set it up in the den when we moved into this house, my mom said I could use it on my basement video game setup until it was needed elsewhere. I'll eventually replace it with some Klipsch somethings, probably bookshelves and a sub and a Technics amp if I can find one, since I had one a long time ago that broke. It was pretty nice, except for that it broke completely out of the blue. Might've just been because of how much I used it, since I had a pretty good pair of JBLs. Technically it was all my dad's stuff, but I was the only person who ever used it.

[Lilfurbal]

That's great seeing someone at a young age get into Klipsch. I wasn't too familiar with speaker brands myself at that age, I just knew that my dad's home theater system was JBL.

At one point, my first set of surround sound computer speakers was from Boston Acoustics, which were great. Eventually I upgraded to a Klipsch 5.1 promedia system, which was my first experience with Klipsch back in about the year 2002. Of course I couldn't just stop there though, those speakers convinced me to get the Klipsch Synergy Quintet II speakers with a KSW-15 sub and receiver in 2003. Those have become my computer speakers now. If you search them up they look almost just like the Promedia speakers, but they are considerably heavier in weight, and amazingly sound even better. I'm still using that same theater system as my computer speakers now, sold the promedia's to a friend. My new family room theater system because a Klipsch reference series system. Fell in love with Klipsch.

[videoCWK]

Sounds nice. You mentioning someone my age getting into Klipsch reminds me of a funny story involving a girl I know and La Scalas. Instead of saying "She said this and I said that," I'll show you the IM log.

8:10:01 PM videoCWK: I wish I had some La Scalas

8:10:03 PM videoCWK: Two of them

8:10:08 PM Her: What's...that?

8:10:19 PM videoCWK: http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/la-scala-ii.aspx

8:10:21 PM Her: I'm guessing soda.

8:10:25 PM Her: Ah.

8:10:57 PM videoCWK: The only thing better is the Klipschorn, which is incredibly huge and requires to be put in the corner of the room. Plus the room's dynamics play a role in how good it sounds. This doesn't require a corner and doesn't require a fancy room

8:11:01 PM videoCWK: They're still big thoguh

8:11:03 PM videoCWK: though*

8:11:13 PM videoCWK: And $2750 for one

8:12:52 PM Her: You could just get a 10 dollar iPod dock.

8:13:07 PM Her: Or wait, you want the table thing too?

8:13:24 PM Her: You can make one of those kinds of things in Woodshop for free

8:13:47 PM Her: These days it seems like the more people have the more people want.

8:14:12 PM videoCWK: The "table thing" is part of the speaker

8:14:25 PM Her: The 10 dollar one I have works fine.

8:14:33 PM videoCWK: The whole thing is a speaker, it doesn't have to do directly with iPods.

8:14:44 PM Her: Speaker, for what?

8:15:22 PM Her: That thing is pretty neat.

8:15:39 PM videoCWK: Speaker to hook up to your stereo

8:15:41 PM videoCWK: You know, a speaker?

8:16:06 PM Her: I know.

8:16:50 PM Her: I don't get why you'd need that if you had an iPod dock/radio. It takes up like less than a half a foot of space.

8:16:59 PM videoCWK: This is a high quality speaker

8:17:03 PM videoCWK: Like, really super mega ultra high quality.

8:17:12 PM videoCWK: Hence the price, for just one of them.

8:17:37 PM Her: This one has just as good quality as my ipod does with it playing its mp3s.

8:18:31 PM videoCWK: The quality you hear has to do with the speaker you play it out of, you know. And I'm sure it doesn't. Klipsch speakers show parts of your music that you simply don't hear in other speakers. I've used them, I know.

8:19:08 PM Her: Wow...Neato.

8:20:31 PM Her: I think the one I have suits my needs. Also I usually listen to my music through my iTunes Library or my iPod (even if I'm right at my computer I sometimes use my iPod because it's easier to multitask with an iPod)

8:20:59 PM Her: In my opinion

8:21:04 PM videoCWK: These stereo speakers are really only for supercrazymega audiophiles, and people with lots of money.

8:21:15 PM Her: Audiophiles?

8:21:32 PM Her: As in, people with fetishes for sound?

8:21:33 PM videoCWK: No

8:21:49 PM Her: It was a good guess though <<

You can imagine how lost for words I was during parts of that.

And if you're curious, "videoCWK" isn't my AIM name, it's DreamCaster12000. Adium just displays it as videoCWK.

[BuyOtherSoundEquipment]

Oh man, that conversation is pure gold!

8:12:52 PM Her: You could just get a 10 dollar iPod dock.

8:13:07 PM Her: Or wait, you want the table thing too?

8:13:24 PM Her: You can make one of those kinds of things in Woodshop for free

8:14:25 PM Her: The 10 dollar one I have works fine.
8:16:50 PM Her: I don't get why you'd need that if you had an iPod dock/radio. It takes up like less than a half a foot of space.

That emphasizes so well just how mislead the average member of the general public is as far as audio quality. "Works fine" and "good enough" are the key terms that are used. If only they would wake up and find out just how subjective those ideas really are.

[videoCWK]

She started to see the light when I told her to change her iTunes audio compression from 128kbps to 320. Though the concept of giving a speaker some unusual design to achieve better sound is a little "out there" for most people. Most would never guess that things like room design or a "table thing" would be able to change a speaker's sound, let alone think that a speaker would depend on these things, but being in the Klipsch haven, I don't have to elaborate on this.