Klipsch S4 earphones: iPhone accessory review

Posted by Bill on June 7th, 2009 at 08:52pm Comments

iPhone/iPod Accessory Review: Klipsch S4 earphones
Reviewed by: Bill Henderson
www.klipsch.com
Price: $79.99

What are earphones worth? I mean, come on, let’s be real here. $50? $100? $500? (I hope you realize that I’m asking an impossible question)

There are people out there who will not spend one dime extra on earphones. They reason, “The iPhone/iPod comes with earbuds and hey, they’re free! Why spend money on something you don’t need?” And there are those who will not put anything in their ears unless they are custom made $1000 pro models that only professional musicians use on stage.

And then… there is reality. The rest of us. The ones who appreciate good sound and are willing to spend for it but will not or cannot spend their life savings on it.

And in these tough economic times, there are smart companies out there who realize that this ‘middle ground’ of consumers - the rest of us - make up a decent sized chunk of people who are willing to shell out at least a few bucks for a decent pair of earphones.

If you are in that group, say hello to Klipsch.

Klipsch is not typically known for bargain-priced speakers and earphones. And they’re still not. Well, maybe that’s not entirely true. What Klipsch has done is produce a pair of earphones that sound way better than their $80 price would indicate. For the rest of us… get it?

OK, we are still talking $80 vs free included earbuds. So, let’s say you hate those awful included earbuds and wonder how good $80 earphones can sound? Glad you asked.

There is bass here and plenty of it. Now, it’s easy to make earphones sound like your sitting at a red light next to a car rudely thumping everyone around them. Sure, you can hear that bass, but do you really want to? On the S4s however, the bass belongs. It compliments rather than intrudes. And while that may be easy to do in earphones costing hundreds of dollars, doing it for 80 bucks isn’t.

I spent time listening to In Search of the Lost Chord (Mobile Fidelity CD) by The Moody Blues, Kate Nash’s Foundations and Brian Eno’s Bone Bomb from Another Day On Earth, all ripped at high bit rates.

The Moody Blues mix is so 60s in its stereo separation, but the sound was clean and easy on my ears. There was little muddiness one gets with older recordings. Although the Kate Nash song handled the bass well, the treble came off a bit harsh, something I also noticed in the Etymotic hf2s. Now, Eno’s Bone Bomb will test any speaker with its use of very low bass notes. It buzzes the heck out of the speakers in my car, but on the S4s, it’s sheer bliss. The bass sounds downright ethereal.

One of the reasons the bass sounds so good in these phones is that the silicone tips are not round. Klipsch states that our ears are oval, so the silicone tips are, you guessed it, oval. And once you align the tips correctly according to the directions (which Klipsch needs to make clearer), you know everything its correct and the seal is perfect.

And speaking of these tips. Klipsch touts these earphones as some of the most comfortable you can find. It’s true. I have used them for hours at a time with no discomfort. However, I did notice that when I push them into my ears, I could feel part of the housing poke me in a certain spot on my outer ear. Once I got them in place though, it wasn’t an issue. (Note: I did bring this up with Klipsch in a phone call and they were extremely responsive and helpful. Kudos to their customer service)

What about the quality? While these phones are not cheap, they do seem much better built than the $80 price would indicate. The glossy black housing offset with chrome accents is not as classically minimalist as their more expensive X10s, but it still looks good.

As I’ve written in previous reviews, one reason earphones like these are important is hearing safety. I’ve used these mowing my lawn which I consider the ultimate noise cancellation test. I could still hear my music and audiobooks without having to crank up the volume to dangerous levels. Try that with Apple’s pathetic earbuds.

With the S4 earphones, you also get an earwax cleaning tool (ick), 3 different sized silicone tips, and a metal case to hold everything. I’ll be honest here - I ditched the case. The lid wouldn’t stay closed, so I use a larger, cleaned out Altoid mints tin. It works so well, I now use other saved tins for all my earphones!

I really enjoy listening to the S4s. A good test for me is whether I listen to them even when I “don’t have to”. I do. A lot.

Score:
9.5/10

 

Related posts:

1. Klipsch X10 earphones: iPhone accessory review
2. Atrio M8 earphones: iPhone / iPod accessory review
3. Etymotic hf2 Earphones + Headset: iPhone Accessory Review
4. Klipsch Image S2m headset
5. Klipsch iGroove SXT : iPhone/iPod Accessory Review

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