First, I need to address an obvious problem. The cable that came with my Lea, while very pretty, was unusable. I’m not being dramatic when I say that. The cable produced a continuous crackle noise that became even worse when the cable was moved around in the socket, or even slightly touched. I don’t expect a great cable with budget iems, but I do at least expect something that will work. Fortunately, I have other cables to use. But this of course raises concerns about tripowin’s quality control in general.
Otherwise, the build, shape and fit seem really nice. It’s a very small iem, that sits very comfortably and flush with the ear. Has a nice long nozzle, and the included tips are standard silicons but work well with this set.
I do enjoy this set, though I’m not blown away – but I didn’t expect this $25 set to kill any giants. I do think this is an excellent budget set though, and I plan to keep this one in my budget iem stable.
When I first put these on, I was struck by the sense of space, which is wider than I expected, though only side to side. Imaging is not great, with very limited directional nuance, and almost no sense of front and back. But the width does provide enough stage for good separation between sounds. Even if all the parts are kind of coming from the same direction, they all sound distinct.
Detail is adequate. This sounds about as detailed as I’d expect from a budget set, with all my other sub $50 sets dancing somewhere near the same level, though Lea does have a slight edge. Lea doesn’t quite impress me there, even though it is showing up some of its counterparts in this price bracket. It does have good detail for its price.
It has a fairly pleasant/polite tuning. There’s not much tuning wise to object to – but if I had change something, it would be to bring down the upper mids a bit. The bass is tight, with more emphasis on midbass than sub bass, which makes it punchy, but it’s lacking some rumble and tactility/texture. Overall bass is feels coherent and balanced with the rest of the frequency response. The upper mids are energetic - on the cusp of being a bit too forward at times, but generally they are on the right side of that line, lending energy to the sound as opposed to closeness or shrillness; they tend to be clear without sounding overly close to you. These are definitely on the energetic side of the spectrum, which makes them a good set for commuting. I probably wouldn’t pick these for relaxing/zoning out though. Treble is really well done on these. Good extension, and airiness, but without grabbing too much attention. Hats and crashes sound balanced, present, without attacking the listener.
Overall this set has very balanced (not neutral) overall sound with decent credentials in all areas, but never really stuns. Which is a great thing to be at this price point. But at this point in my own audio journey, I’m seeking a wow-factor that the lea doesn’t really give me. It’s definitely a worthy rec for the budget bracket though. I haven't been buying in this price range for a while, but this is definitely a set I will rec to newcomers to the hobby.
Some Quick Comparisons with other budget sets I currently have:
Tin T2
Detail: Lea Wins
Stage: Lea Wins
Imaging: T2 Wins
Separation: Lea Wins
Tuning: Lea Wins
Coherency: Lea Wins
Comfort: Lea Wins
Build and Accessories: T2 Wins
Blon BL03
Detail: Lea Wins
Stage: Bl03 Wins
Imaging: BL03 Wins
Separation BL03 Wins
Tuning: BL03 Wins
Coherency: BL03 Wins
Comfort: Lea Wins
Build and Accessories: BL03 Wins
QKZ VK4 (before they changed the tuning)
Detail: Lea Wins
Stage: VK4 Wins
Imaging: Vk4 Wins
Separation: Lea Wins
Tuning: VK4 wins
Coherency: VK4 wins
Comfort: Lea Wins
Build and Accessories: both lose
CVJ CSA
Detail: Tie
Stage: CSA wins
Imaging: CSA wins
Separation: CSA
Tuning: Lea wins
Coherency: Lea wins
Comfort: Lea Wins
Build and Accessories: Tie
