Amy's helping me find out whether there's a distributor somewhere around me, but I'm still hoping to jump on the Image bandwagon.  And now my wife is talking about "waiting for my birthday" which isn't till the end of March.  Suffering succotash.  I've already posted a notice on my company's forums about selling my Senn595s, so now I have to kind of hope the people that have already responded to that fall thru, or I'm going to be reduced to using my little Koss KSC75s as my primary headphones.  Which are fine for what they are, but they ain't no 595s... and they certainly aren't Images.  

 This post has been almost entirely content-free.  And low in sodium.

So this is me just piping in to say:  keep the info coming, it's all I have for now.   

 Oh yeah, and would it be possible to add a little bump to the mold for the casing, Thump?  I don't know how hard / expensive that would be... could someone just take a hammer and a nail and pop a little dent in the mold or something?  Bound to be better / nicer than glue.

Hi Baglunch,

Thanks for the low sodium but I am not sure about the content free dialog.  You must have high BP or cholesterol...Now it is time for all you jelly bellies to have your morning stretch, especially if you have been blogging all night long. 

I will talk about the speed bump on IMAGE at Klipsch.  I am concerned that most adhesives will not pass our reliability tests when glued to the anodized aluminum.  That surface is very slick and when the material shrinks and swells the blue bond may break.  But there are certainly other options.  I just thought that seeing the L/R as it is now would be acceptable for most users. 

Thought for the day:  If your IMAGE image was backwards while you were resting on your back would sleeping on your stomach solve this problem? 

...Don't think about it too hard.   Have a great day!

 Professor Thump,

Couldn't you mold a small ridge or bump on the cable strain relief coming into the aluminum body?

Being able to identify which side was which in the dark would be great for all models (probably can with the Custom once remember how the wires connect but that'd require some thinking).  I'd think a small bump or ridge in the molding would do the trick, strategically placed but still easy to identify as the left (or right) in the dark.  

The drop of glue, while a workable idea could also damage the finish or the strain relief I suspect if it wasn't compatible with the materials or cause discoloration.

I was thinking something like this:

Click the image for a larger version... the forum is shrinking it down.

Keep the bumps on the inside of the curve to maintain the exterior aesthetic.

Or have them on the rear-facing side wall of the IEM (don't have a suitable image for that, but the side that faces the back of your head whene you have them on, instead of the underside).

I suspect a small little ring molded around the bottom of the strain relief would work well also.  I think it could be small enough so that it wouldn't interfere with the exterior aesthetic. 

The Klipsch logo could be molded in on one side but that might interfere with the aesthetic as one would look different but it could be subtle enough to be better noticable. 

I kind of like the small ring around the black cable strain relief - I think one could feel it no matter what angle the IMAGE was picked up to insert into the ear.  One might have to feel for the bumps or the ridge though I think either on the head side would work better than the bottom or top and maintain the aesthetic better. 

With the IMAGE, LOOKS are VERY important and need to be maintained. 

The small ring idea reminds me of what EarPeace did with their LiveWires custom IEMs. Notice the little red block on the cable signifying the right channel:

Source

Hi Peter,

That looks like a little piece of shrink wrap tubing.  Could be an option... good point!

I'm not sold on the shrinkwrap, though.  You'd have to grope up and down the length of the wire to feel where it is in the dark, and easy to lose track of the wire as you grope your way back to the top again... or if you had it near the earpiece, it'd (maybe) be unsightly or look like an earing dangling from it... wouldn't fit the streamlined profile.  Bumps for the win!  Or, there's always epoxy.

I was thinking more a small little ring molded into the strain relief of the same color where one (at least I think I did when trying the prototype) picks up the IMAGE to stick in the ear. 

A ring or bumps around the strain relieve would enable it to be felt no matter the angle it was picked up.  And I think would be unobtrusive enough that it would not be visible without looking real close, though I could be wrong - highly visible if a different color.  If that were too conspicuous, the bump(s) or a small ridge on the head side would be a better option but if picked up top to bottom as opposed to side to side might not be able to feel.  I suspect any such molding could be quite small.    

The IMAGE are so small and sleek that the look probably has to win out over absolute user friendliness from a marketing standpoint.  As their name implies, IMAGE is very important.  But to most of us, COMFORT and SOUND are more important and they've got to be the most comfortable IE's there are and the sound is not lacking that I'm aware and may be hard to beat at the price, except for the Custom 3. 

People are amozed at the size of the IMAGE when I direct them to photographs but I don't think they really understand just how tiny they really are.  In this case, if a picture is worth a 1,000 words, sticking 'em in your ears has got to be worth at least 10,000 

You inspired me to pull out my camera again blsamuel!   Maybe this will help with the understanding.... 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How small are the Klipsch Images?"

"Do you know what it feels like when you put a Q-Tip in your ear?"

"Yes.... ?"

"You've answered your own question, thanks for playing!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hehe...  

 Disclaimer:   If I see a Klipsch Image commercial or ad featuring a Q-Tip, I want a cut!   (another pair of Images will do!)      

Dreven,

The Qtip probably does a little better than the photo of the IMAGE in the hand in showing how small they are.  I still think sticking a set in one's ears is more powerful to really understand how tiny and comfortable they can be.  

Thanks for the pic 

Now if  I could just afford the IMAGE.... but the Custom 2 I settled for back in November are quite comfortable and the sound is nothing short of AWESOME ....     ... Just not as comfortable as I remember the IMAGE and the sound isn't quite to the IMAGE level but not sure how much I'm missing... 

I hope I can try all 4 models at some point in the future...   

mcqueene,

 New to the forum, just investigating purchasing the Image phones. At least for comfort comparisons, and taking into account that I may have small ear canals, I owned a pair of Shure E530's for a year. I travel all the time and no matter which foams, or gels I used, after about an hour my ears were killing me. I bought the Bose QuietComforts; great sound and unbeatable comfort, but when you travel for a living, way too bulky to carry all the time.

 As far as sound quality, I can't imagine anything better than the Shure's with the three drivers. The Bose didn't sound any better to me; but I just couldn't get past the pain of the Shure's so I sold them a couple of months ago and have been looking for something else and it looks like I may take the plunge for the Image.

I will write a comparison between the Image and Shure 530's when I decide to purchase the Image pair.  

Professor Thump:

From what I can tell, the custom 3s are sonically designed to be top of the line, while the Images are more designed for small size and comfort.  Sound quality of the Images falls where in the Custom 1/2/3 continuum?

Am I right in what I'm taking away from the product page descriptions on the Klipsch website.  My question boils down to 2 items:

Which of the 4 models has the highest sound quality?

Are the Custom-3s nealy as comfortable and easy to get a good seal on as the Image?

Thanks,

Kimball

Loud&Clear:

Professor Thump:

From what I can tell, the custom 3s are sonically designed to be top of the line, while the Images are more designed for small size and comfort.  Sound quality of the Images falls where in the Custom 1/2/3 continuum?

You are correct Kimball.  C-3 is currently the top of the line audio quality for Klipsch headphones. IMAGE follows slightly behind that. Some may actually prefer IMAGE since the position and fit may be a different experience for the user.

Loud&Clear:

Are the Custom-3s nealy as comfortable and easy to get a good seal on as the Image?

The second question depends on your ears.  For me it is as easy to get a good seal on Custom 3 as IMAGE, but Dr. Cochlear and I designed that family of products so of course it would fit us.  Our focus group studies have indicated that IMAGE is easier to use and to get a seal.  It is just simple to use.