Home > Consumer Reviews > Sleek Audio SA6 In-Ear Earphones

I got a pair of SA6s several months ago, not from Amazon (they weren't for sale here then), and I have to say, after more than a dozen purchases and resales, these phones are simply the best value in sound quality around. In fact, some very experienced headphone fans tout them as if not equal, better than more expensive in-ear style portable phones from more well-known companies such as UE, Shure, Etymotics, etc.

In fact, I had some Ety ER4Ps, which while they deliver a very high-quality sound, lack the overall balanced (mids, bass, highs) that the SA6s deliver.

Some reasons to buy these phones if you are in the market for a phones that will make your DAP sound its best:

1. While the cost may seem high, they are a bargain compared to more expensive phones.
2. They have a modular design that lets you adjust SQ to suit your individual taste, without having to use EQ on your DAP (you can do that too, of course). Also, no portable amp required for quality sound, as they are very efficient and generate plenty of volume).
3. They can be worn hanging down or over the ear (I use the former), so you are not locked into an over the ear design, which many of the higher-end phones require.
4. They can be used with several sleeve styles, including foamies from Shure (the black olives work best), so you are not stuck with silicone flanges. The Sleek flanges are very comfy, but if you prefer foamies, you can use them too.
5. SQ-wise, they are very balanced, and really deliver mid/highs, depending on the treble tip you choose. That's good for fans of vocals, jazz, acoustic music, etc. No rolled off mids or highs. Bass-wise, they are fine. Maybe not as pronounced as other IEMs, but perfectly fine.
6. Removable cables, bass modules and treble tubes, so if something breaks, you can easily replace it at low costs(they do have a two-year warranty).
7. Sleek offers customer service on par or better than any other vendor I have ever done business with, bar none. They are a small company, eager to make their customers happy.
8. Future upgrades include a wireless option. It will cost extra, but will allow you to use these without a cable. Of course, will have to wait and see how it sounds, cost, etc. But that would be an amazing upgrade if it works.

Enough on this review. Needless to say, the SA6s are an outstanding product in my view. I highly recommend them.

I have only had the earphones for a short period of time. I am still breaking them in. I have to say that this headphone is not the first that I have experienced that allows you to adjust the acoustics, but it is more easily done with this headphone. Pioneer makes a headphone that allows you to adjust the acoustics, but I have not been able to adjust both the bass and treble at the same time. It appears that you can only do so one at a time. It is also more difficult to accomplish. Lastly, this headphone is more comfortable to fit in my ears. The Pioneer headphones are only available in Japan or you have to go to an importer. In short, they are easier to use, easier to find in the United States, and more comfortable than the Pioneer.

A good fit is absolutely essential in an earphone. Without a good seal, you have no idea what the earphone actually sounds like. This design with the three sizes of flanged earpieces works well for me. Another reviewer suggested that the ear pieces marketed by Shure will fit too. This earphone is designed to fit by inserting directly into the ear or after wrapping the cord over the back of the ear. In short, it is well designed to fit well. This is even more important with this phone because I found that the sound is much better if the earphone is really inserted far into the ear canal like the Etymotic 4P or 4S. While the sound is not as crisp with treble as in the Etymotic, it has more bass presence that is resonant.

Finally, the replaceable cord is a great feature since cord degradation is among the most common reasons for earphones to fail over time. You should be able to purchase another chord if necessary without purchasing the entire new assembly. The little case that comes with the earphones to put them in when not in use is not really very practical and hard to use. I buy the Shure nylon cases to store my earphones that do not come with a practical case. The Klipsch Image is probably the most comfortable earphone that I have ever worn. If you could use one of their "mushroom cap" earpieces on the Sleek Audio, you might have one of the most comfortable of headphones that I believe are likely to be more sturdy than the Klipsch--especially the wiring. I must say that the headphones really benefit from using a headphone amplifier along with the Sendstation (or some other brand)Pocket Dock that allows a listener to listen out of the "line output" function of the Ipod rather than the earphone jack which relies on the Ipod's internal headphone amplifier.

This headphone sounds very good for the money spent. It is also an innovative product that I am happy to support. When I spoke to the support people at Sleek Audio, I was very pleased with how friendly and willing to help explain the unique qualities of their product. Their enthusiasm made the purchase of their product even more pleasant.

As a post-script, I still enjoy these headphones. I have put T-100 Comply Comfort Foam Tips in lieu of the multi-flanged tips. I find the foam more comfortable. The sound is really quite good-particularly for the price. I do not use these earphones that frequently. I have many different earphones and switch around a lot. I cannot comment on durability of the wires.

I bought these just a couple of days ago when amazon had them for 193$ and as I'm posting this review the price is now 249$. I got a good deal, but even $249 is worth it for these phones.

1. The pictures are misleading, they are much smaller than u think they are.
2. The flanges are comfortable and the sound isolation is excellent.
3. The idea of customizing your bass and treble output in the headphones itself is an excellent idea, and it works ridiculously well.
4. The sound is fantastic, I bought these to replace my Shure E2C and I don't think I can ever go back to listening to them because these are better in every way.
5. Sound quality is excellent across the spectrum and the sound detail that you experience is amazing. I heard things in my music that I hadn't heard before.
6. The bass is just right for me. I felt that the E2C was lacking in bass and my VModa Bass Freq earphones were too much. This slots in right in between the two.
7. The 2 year warranty and the removable wires give this a lot higher endurance than comparable earphones.
8. The wireless upgrade that is coming soon make this an even more attractive buy.

CON
1. The only con I have is that the case is bulky and very unintuitive. I'm using my Shure E2C case with the center spool removed because thats more convenient.

My suggestion,
BUY IT and you'll see why I gave it 5 stars

After more extensive use, it seems Amazon allows me to change the wording of my review, but not the number of stars. I now give this product two stars due to repeated cord durability issue.

I am a detail-oriented person who has used the wireless bundle a few months now.

Concept A+

Options for various tonal qualities via included interchangeable tips. Compact and thus highly portable. If wire becomes damaged, buy replacement cord instead of whole product, and just snap the monitors off the old one and onto the new. Wireless sound option if you pay extra. Various ear flange sizes included.

Product likely uses a lot less battery power from portable devices than much larger drivers in over-the-ear headphones. All three components of the wireless option are low profile, instead of big and bulky. Wireless option uses Kleer Audio, which is almost surely the best & clearest wireless format available (there may never be a better format).


Comfort: A

Comfortable for long term use. In-ear monitors may tickle occasionally inside the ear compared to over the ear type. But they do not have the bulk on your head, and do not cause the head sweat of over-the-ear types when exercising, or when ambient temperature is warm or hot. Wireless option (extra) is very lightweight and battery hangs via very short wires under your chin or behind your head; very comfortable.


Wired Sound:
A (compared to other in-ear monitors)
A- (compared to quality over-the-ear headphones)

High quality over-the-ear types have more actual, physical, bass boom feel, but that physical bass likely sucks down the battery of portable devices much much faster than in-ear monitors. Bass is good; but the treble, mid-range, and overall tonal balance are all excellent. One can moderately compensate by using an equalizer (such as in the View menu of iTunes) to boost bass with in-ear monitors, and thus make bass very good.

Guessing all in or over ear monitors have annyoing sound when moving head, as both wired and wireless rub against your body, clothes, etc, transferring the noise of that rubbing into your ear canal.
Flanges seal out ambient sound well.


Wireless Sound: B+ (compared to other wired IEMs)

Wireless bundle is an extra cost option.
Manufacturer included yet another set of tips for extra-high frequency to compensate for possible slight high-end loss with wireless use, so I use these tips exclusively, along with the maximum bass tips.

Wireless sound is wonderful if you are listening to mid and high tempo music. But I give it below an A because of a slight fuzz sound that can be heard on slow, mellow music that has quiet spots. This may or may not depend on how much electronic interference is in your area. If you rarely listen to quiet music, you'll love the freedom and sound of the wireless function.

In order to charge, turn on, or turn off (in order to conserve battery) wireless function, must open small hatch in each of the receiver and transmitter, use tip of earbud jack (as most peoples' fingers too big) to move tiny switch on each to on/off position, press a button on each of them to sync them on, unsnap the monitors from the wires, then snap them onto the wirelesss receiver. Not overly time-consuming if you really like the wireless function, but I wonder if they can come up with way that reduces a bit the time needed to use the wireless function, and still keep the battery from draining as fast as if it were left switched on? And from too many experiences, I am sceptical about the long-term durability of tiny plastic switches and other plastic parts.

Battery life is good, and very good considering its lightweight comfortable size.

Useable distance from transmitter with a clear line of sight might be 30-40 feet? Less with items blocking signal between transmitter & receiver.

Durability of very short cord for wireless function is excellent so far.

Customer Service: A-

After several attempts at getting e-mail responses from Sleek Audio, a few responses were not forthcoming, so had to try again and was then successful. They sent me replacement parts on two occasions free of charge under warranty (clear ear flanges and listening wire).

At least one of the staff does not send confirming e-mails, ie: 'Got your e-mail, and I shipped your ear flanges today.' So left to wonder status until item arrives.


Durability: C

The number and size of small parts is not a negative for me as for other reviewers; I view this as an asset to model the sound as I wish.

Semi-clear ear flanges repeatedly come off ear bud too easily. One may either be left in your ear occasionally (not a big deal) when you are done listening. Or will fall off onto the ground; sometimes in dark situations, to be found when there is light, or never. Or fall into some unreachable crevice. Ear flanges are lost this way, and only one set per size are included--annoying.

On the plus size, this looseness may sometimes keep the cord from being damaged when stretched at its length. But maybe just a slightly snugger fit? Or how about a durable auto-retractable mini-spool or springy cord dropped into a long cylindrical carrying case when done? Or two style of cords included, with an explanation why?

Sound cable covering started coming off the wire above the Y-split, so I taped it while waiting for Sleek to send me a different style replacement. New style a few inches longer, which I like, and has a permanent-on moveable pre-splitter, to take pressure of the splitter--nice touch. New one they sent me is thinner and so even more flexible. If they are going to continue to ship with the stereo cable that came with mine, they need to reinforce the Y-split and add the moveable pre-splitter to take pressure off the Y-split. And maybe make the original cord a bit longer.

BUT--new style they sent me has a straight-out jack, instead of 90 degree angle as the original, so this makes it much more likely to be destroyed. And the new wire is not reinforced at the jack with hard molded material as the original is, making it even more likely to be destroyed. Worse than annoying--PO'd. Don't know which style of stereo cord current orders ship with.

Update: Now that I have had this replacement cord a month or two of normal use, I can see metal wire just below one of the reinforced plastic portion of the cord, near the ear. They REALLY need to durabilize their cords. I'll just put electrical tape around this too, and just live with it.

Substantial percentage of these monitors covered by childish "Oh look--shiny object!" chrome plate finish, which likely means chipping, maybe flaking, and/or rub-fade. Like when you are in a hurry and neglect to put it into its bag and your keys rub up against the chrome plate. Maybe save the shiny chrome plate for cheap teenager earbuds?

For this much money, you would think that the wireless bundle would come with a very hard protector case to throw in your backpack--wrong. It doesn't even come with one of those hard plastic cases that eventually crack under pressure from other objects in your bag or when dropped (or pops open and everything comes flying out). Not only that, it doesn't even come with a stiff bag to protect everything inside. Not only that, it doesn't even come with a closeable bag. Not only that, it doesn't even come with a bag big enough to hold all the wireless components one uses every day: wireless receiver, wireless transmitter, wireless charger, monitors, and stereo wire. So that means charger is separated from its sibling components, maybe being left behind or lost.

Instead, it comes with a soft, open-ended bag, with no flap to keep things in. Though in fairness to them, compression has only once allowed anything to fall out of the bag, AND it is fast to put away and pull out.

When I brought these things up to Sleek, they just said that the hard plastic case (which doesn't even hold everything used daily in the wireless set) only comes with the wired set, but I could pay extra for one if I want.

If it were not for the lack of durability of both cord styles, and to a lesser extent the wimpy and too small case that came with, I would love this product. These concerns are also common to other high end brands' IEMs. But for this much money, who wants common? If and when they decide to improve the issues listed here, they will have a world-class product.

I researched heavily on forums such as head-fi.org for the best IEM around $200 and the SA6s were highly recommended. You just can't get the same kind of isolation with cheap ear buds as you can with IEMs. That is why I was willing to spend the money. If you listen to your music in public places, the biggest improvement in sound quality will come from isolating background noise out so that your signal to noise ratio is high enough to really capture the nuances of your music. Isolating IEMs will block background noise better than the best noise canceling headphones. I really like these headphones because I can clearly listen to all my music and audiobooks without having to crank my volume. People don't realize how dangerous cranking your ipod volume is to your hearing. Go into a quiet room and adjust your ipod to a comfortable listening volume. This volume will probably be around 60-70 db. If you go into a crowded public place, you will probably raise your volume to 80-90 db, levels which can cause hearing damage in less than 2 hours. With my SA6s, I don't have to raise my volume above 40% to clearly hear my music. These headphones can even be worn in environments which would otherwise require earplugs.

The other thing I really like about these headphones is the replaceable cord. That was a major selling point for me. You don't want to drop $189 on headphones and then have to scrap them because the cord is frayed.