Koss “Spark Plug” Xt
Posted by Notcot on Jul 1, 2010 in In-Car Technology |
5 CommentsReply |
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I bought the Spark Plugs after I had misplaced my Plugs (the 1st Koss version), which were very good. I thought that the new updated Plugs would be better, however for me, they weren’t as good. The white plastic speaker part is too deep for me, and protudes further out of the ear than the Plugs, which people can live with, and they ARE white, yey. However for me the biggest difference was that Koss had promised a better sound than the old version Plugs, but IMHO (I realise I am no expert), they’re very bassy, almost too much so, with not enough treble and mid. You can however, remedy this by adjusting the sound qualities on your generic MP3 player, ie treble boost, which I didn’t need to do for the original Plugs.
I suppose what I’m saying is if you’re buying something like these for the first time, I’d seriously consider buying the Plugs, rather than the Sparkplug. What properties DO share though are incredible comfort, very light weight, good sound insulation and good bass. I hope this helps.
Rating: 3 / 5
This product feels a bit like a missed opportunity.
The good:
-Good noise insulation: have you ever tried those spongy earplugs they give you on planes? They REALLY reduce external noise. Well, this is the kind of noise insulation you get from these headphones. So, from this point of view I agree with other people. If you commute on a noisy train like me you will like this
-Good music reproduction: this headphones are good quality and LOUD!! Combined with the good noise insulation it means you can really turn down the volume on your mp3 which means more linearity, more battery life and safer environment for your ears. On my mp3 volume goes from 0 – 100. With this headphones I could reduce the volume by 20 points with respect to the provided phones. Not bad!
The not so bad:
-Booming basses: as other have reported, these phones really have some deep basses. I imagine that is because low frequency get through the spongy material itself “resonating” in you ear. I guess drum&base lovers will like it. Also I have to say that if the music does not contain too many basses (classical, jazz) , you don’t notice the effect. Probably you have a problem if you music is full of basses but they are not meant to be predominant. For example, the guitars of some modern metal bands are full of basses and they sound muddy with this phones.
The bad:
-In my package I found 4 plugs. 2 already fitted and 2 spare ones. Well 2 of them are unusable. That halves the life of the phones! One was crashed due to the poor packaging and did not recover. The second one is victim of the big defect of this product:
-Bad quality of the plug sponge: the problem is that it sticks to itself. So, in order to ensure that the middle hole does not remain closed when you crush it to put it in you ear, a hard plastic tube is fitted in the hole. Unfortunately, one of the plugs is missing the plastic tube so that the first time I tried to fit it in my ear the hole closed and did not open again. I don’t quite understand such a silly flaw. The noise reduction plugs you buy in drugstores are extremely cheap but they are better insulator than these plugs and the sponge does not stick to itself. How such a poor material was chosen is a mystery.
The verdict:
If your commuting is noisy and you want to stick to small earbud phones, I think this are worth considering. Definitely, they are worth £7. Especially if you are lucky and all 4 plugs are in good state. If you pay the delivery fee on top of the price maybe they are not so good value. Personally, I am moving to foldable earpad phones. They are bigger but they are a better solution to noise. This plug phones have potential but the design needs improving.
Rating: 3 / 5
I bought these about 4 months ago and they are fabulous. I was looking for something to replace the dreadful things Ipod provide with their quality player. I have found that the Spark Plugs stay in well whatever I am doing and the sound quality is very, very good. I’m sure what I’m doing that the guys who found them uncomfortable aren’t but I have had them in for a four hour flight and never found them in any way uncomfortable in fact my only beef is that after about 2 hours you need to refit them. As for the sound qulaity the treble is quite natural and the bass is tight and controlled. The reason I think some people may find the bass a bit heavy is that for most other ‘phones you need some bass boost in the equalisation and if your Koss’s sound bass heavy turn the boost off. You will be thrilled with the results.
Rating: 5 / 5
Just received these headphones and have to say so far they are proving to be excellent! Bought them to replace ipod earphones which rattled at any hint of bass, and these are great for bass, if a little too much!! But this can be fixed by reducing bass etc. They are comfortable, if a little tricky to fit in the ear, but once in are great! They will not come out easily and are hardly noticeable! Overall excellent for the money!
Rating: 4 / 5
I recieved my headphones today and they are great. I have liked them so far. they have these foam things that you sqeeze before you put the headphones in your ear, they retract so that the headphones perfectly fit into your ear, like a mould. It blocks out sound that you don’t want, the bass is amazing and they come with a spare pair of foamy things. One disavantage is that the cable is weak, or could easily be broken, so be careful.
Rating: 5 / 5