Alltechrelated reviews SA1
Starting with the design, definitely no faults here! I’ve always believed earphones with wooden casing seem to sound that little bit better, and the SA1s are no exception.
The winners of the innovation award for headphones at CES 2011 Sleek Audio contacted us recently wondering if we wanted to review one of their high quality pair of headphones. Naturally, we obliged and were sent a pair of their SA1 in-ear headphones for us to check out. Read our thoughts after the break!
The packaging is fairly regular, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts. In the package, you will find the earphones themselves (with the detachable cable already plugged in), a hard carrying case, a wide variety of ear-tips (3 x coned shaped & 3 x double-flanged) and the additional pair of VQ treble tips (I’ll explain about these later on in the review).
Design
Starting with the design, definitely no faults here! I’ve always believed earphones with wooden casing seem to sound that little bit better, and the SA1s are no exception. The earpieces themselves are surprisingly small, and have a classic feel to them. They feature a siam rosewood body with a metal ring adding variety to the earphone’s look. The earpieces look and feel solid, giving me the confidence to say that’ll they last for a fairly long time, unless seriously abused.
A unique element mixed in with these earphones is the detachable cable. This is beneficial for 3 key reasons. The first being that because of it, the SA1s support Sleek Audio’s patented wireless technology, which allows you to enjoy cable free music. Their wireless W-1 bundle doesn’t use bluetooth, unlike it’s competitors, but rather wi-fi as there is much less loss of sound quality.
The second reasons is if the cable breaks or the headphone jack starts to malfunction, there is no need to replace the whole shebang, only the cable. The third reason, one that Sleek Audio came up with, one that I find unique, is to use them as ear-plugs. And you no what? With their small size, I think it would work well! I was originally against the idea, but have come round.
The cable itself is thinner than average, is semi-sweat resistant and is 1.3m in length. The cable features a straight headphone jack, meaning it sticks straight up from, in my case, my iPhone. I prefer a straight jack, but I guess that is down to preference.
Comfort
As I mentioned, Sleek Audio have included 6 pairs of silicon ear-tips, 3 being doubled flanged and 3 being dome (treble) shaped. I have rather large ear-canals so I settled for the largest doubled flanged tips, which fitted perfectly. Not only were they comfortable, but they felt safe and secure in my ears. This factor is, of course, unique for each person, but if you spend the time and try all the available tips, I’m confident you’ll find a fit.
Sound Quality
Onto the section that everyone cares the most about, the sound quality. Before I go into specifics, I would just like to point out that I believe the bit rate of the songs that you are going to pump through the drivers seems to be more important than for other headphones that I’ve tried. Songs that I own from Eminem’s Recovery album are all 320 kbps, and because of their good quality, the broadness of the music is apparent giving you a surround sound experience (though perhaps not as broad as earphones like the Klipsch S4). When I listen to a song with a 120 kbps, naturally, the broadness is reduced, but by a larger margin that I’ve noticed on other headphones. I don’t know if it’s just me, or if it’s my song choices, but it’s something I felt was important to point out.
As mentioned earlier, these earphones include Sleek Audio’s VQ sound tuning technology, which involves have interchangeable treble tips. Out of the box, the earphones sport the treble tips which give more emphasis on the mids/highs of the spectrum, however included in the box is a black pair for the bass lovers like myself. Therefore, I quickly switched the tips and turned on some music.
25 to Life by Eminem sounded excellent coming through the earphone’s tiny 6mm drivers. They has no problem bouncing up and down the sound spectrum, producing a punchy bass, and despite not having the mid/high treble tips installed, clear highs. There is no distortion in the music, every single part of the song is distinguishable from the rest, whilst still remaining together and not sounding out of place.
Tuning to Exceeder by Mason I am once again greeted with an impressive, pronounced bass. Even the bass is clear, and doesn’t mesh together into some sort of a mess. The bass is best described as punchy, as there is no wash on it, it does it’s beat on cue and stops.
When switching to a more vocally prominent song Hurt by Christina Aguilera, I once again noticed that slight lack in broadness. When listening to this song on, for example, the Thinksound ts02, Christina’s voice completely invades (in a good way) my head so that I feel enveloped by the music. The SA1s don’t quite give the same affect. Don’t get me wrong, it’s far away from being Apple’s stock earphones, just not quite as good as some of the other earphones I have tried.
Overall, a very good listening experience.
Other Notes
The SA1 earphones do sound isolation very well. You could definitely miss your phone ringing if you were wearing these.
Specifications
- Impedance: 25 ohm
Ratings
- Design 5/5: The wooden body coupled with the metal accent and the detachable cable earn these earphones a 5/5 score on design.
- Comfort 5/5: No problems here! Sleek Audio offer a wide variety of ear-tips ensuring that there wil be a pair that suits you.
- Sound Quality: 4.5/5: These headphones have great sound, are very versatile (can be personalized to your music likings), but don’t seem to have the same ‘surround sound feeling’ as experienced in similar earphones of a similar price.