Hi Amy, thanks for checking into this.  I got mine "from this lady on Amazon whose husband got them as a corporate christmas present", so I don't expect I have any warranty through anyone.  I just wanted to see if anyone else was having this same problem, find out if there's any remedies.  And just to document it if it continues getting worse (it hasn't yet).  I look forward to seeing how this resolves.

i've clipped the end of the rubber back now. they sound awesome and my feedback is that you might want to use a more resilient material on the connectors. but they're still nothing short of awesome and credit to you for a fantastic product.

royhendo:

i've clipped the end of the rubber back now. they sound awesome and my feedback is that you might want to use a more resilient material on the connectors. but they're still nothing short of awesome and credit to you for a fantastic product.

 

Thank you.  I'm sure we're looking into all options, and we'll keep you posted.  If you have further trouble, please do not hesitate to contact us!

I'm so glad you are enjoying them!   

I just inspected mine and the R has the same notch. Due to my physiogomy I wear the R a bit deeper than the L. The L is fine, BTW.

Sometimes I use mine in a demanding work environment...high-rise window cleaning. A few times I've pulled an earpiece out abruptly by catching the lead on my rappel device or some such, and I've not been particularly careful about how I store them. They've proven themselves more rugged than I would have thought.

Mine are doing that every so slightly too. I carefully wrap the wire loosely around two fingers before tucking them away in the large hardshell case with my iPod Classic.  I noticed it a while back, it's not getting any worse and performace is still AWESOME!

 

May I suggest that the fault may lie in the extreme thinness of the strain relief on the far end. If a slight ridge were molded at that point around the circumference of the strain it might resist the splitting force better. Or just leave the end thicker. 

The problem on mine has not gotten any worse, and hasn't affected usability or audio quality at all.

 I think the problem is seen often enough, and each instance is similar enough to each other, to allow the possbility that it's not user error, but more likely a batch or design defect.  It does not affect how much I like them, but it will DRAMATICALLY effect their resale value if I ever decide to do so, which sucks.

They were engineered to be pulled on. NOT PUSHED.

 

Klipsch Headphones:

They were engineered to be pulled on. NOT PUSHED.

 

Who are you responding to?  What are you referring to?

I wasn't so sure in who I was responding to. I didn't read the post very good. I'm referring to the tears on the images. I think they were designed in a way that when you pull on them they will last longer than most ear buds, but when you push on them, which is the opposite may cause problems.

 So if I understand you right - I should pull my Images out and never push them back again? Very sofisticated design

my first pair developed a problem with a loose connection in the curved strain relief near the jack, and hey presto, i've got the same 'splitting' problem in the replacement pair. i've just gone and bought some adhesive rubber tape this time and wrapped them to reinforce it - it looks rubbish but nobody can see it cos they're inserted deep enough that all you can see is the cord.

i love them but i do think this is a genuine flaw and as noted above, it does affect their resale value (which is an issue for most who experiment with various earphones when trying to find the right one for them).

great product - i reckon you just need to work on your product's reliability overall.

I have purchased two pair of image 10s.  My son got one set.  My set has the slight slits that have been discussed previously.  I have slits on the upper side and the bottom side of each wire.  The top slits appear to follow a seam from the molding process.  The seam is on the top and the bottom of each earphone.  They still sound great.  I will wait to see if it travels anymore before contacting customer service.

 I also found the same splitting on my image. oh yeah btw, i don't know whether this is the reason. But starting today, I have been hearing distortions in the right part of the earphone. Does anyone here now how to repair this??? and i'm quite afraid that I don't have warranty since i but this earphone as a second owner.... 

Hi would a dab of silicone or heat shrink tape help this problem i would like to buy some but not sure now. To bad we cant get some heat shrink tubing down to that spot.Rick

hanssm:

But starting today, I have been hearing distortions in the right part of the earphone. Does anyone here now how to repair this???

 

Make sure the nozzles are clean.  I've gotten dried flakes of lotion in the nozzle of my Custom 2s and it adds a nasty raspiness to the sound.  Take that little cleaning tool and get to work.  I would recommend doing that on  a regular basis as small flakes or bits can be hard to clean and even see in the gels but can be a real pain in the rear to get out of the nozzle of the earphone itself.  

If a thorough cleaning of the gel and nozzle doesn't work you might try sucking on it as you would a straw.  

I know from experience that a small amount of dried lotion and I suspect ear wax can really wreck the sound.  I try to clean my Custom 2 everytime before I put them away including cleanin the gels with an alcohol prep swab.  

Good luck.   There are more posts on cleaning but most are older so you'll have to set your options for Headphones to display all as by default only the latest 2 months of posts are shown.