Intro
There is nothing quite like the Kiwi Ears Quintet. The Quintet immediately became my new all-time favorite. I’ve been intentionally listening to this set almost exclusively for over 5 months. It is so good that I kept looking for some sort of hidden flaw that I was missing before making a review. I looked hard for that problem area and couldn’t find anything – sure, there are some very small nitpicks, but nothing that is stopping me from thoroughly enjoying the Quintet.
So what makes the Kiwi Ears Quintet so special? There are two main reasons for this:
- It is a quadbrid. What does that mean? It utilizes 4 different driver types across the 5 drivers per side (dynamic, balanced armature, planar magnetic, and piezoelectric).
- The tuning is the perfect equilibrium of balanced and fun.
Normally a tribrid (3 different types of drivers) with tuning this good would clock in around the $1,000 mark – a good example of this is the Thieaudio Monarch mkii and mkiii. However, the Quintet has 4 different types of drivers, great tuning, and only costs $220.
Jaw drop. Let’s dive into the details.
Tech Specs
Driver Configuration: 1 Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) dynamic driver, 2 balanced armature (BA) drivers, 1 planar magnetic driver, and 1 piezoelectric (PZT) bone conductor
Sensitivity: 106db/v@1kHz
Impedance: 32Ω
Frequency Response: 20 – 30,000 Hz
Connector: 0.78mm 2 Pin
Price: $220
What’s in the Box?
The Quintet comes with a fairly average, if not bordering on sparse, amount of extras. There is a soft carrying case, that while perfectly average, isn’t fancy either. It gets the job done and is plenty big enough to fit the cable and IEMs.
It comes with a 3.5mm cable that connects to the Quintets themselves with a .078mm 2 pin connection. The cable is light, flexible, and doesn’t tangle easily. It’s basic, but somehow a very nice cable anyways. I really like it.
The Quintet also comes with two sets of eartips: a narrow bore set (SML) and a wide bore set (SML). I quite liked the wide bore tips; however I wish there was one more size in the lineup, as the small was just too big for the perfect insertion depth of my ears.
The build of the earbuds themselves reminds me of almost all Truthears, which is a good thing. They have a nice plastic/resin shell and some metal faceplates. The look is subtle and tasteful – as opposed to the trend of being overly flashy and bordering on gaudy.
Fit, Comfort, & Isolation
When it comes to the fit and comfort of the Quintet, this is where I was let down slightly. The nozzle comes out of the shell with less of an angle than almost any other comfortable IEMs that I’ve used. Because of this, the Quintet became slightly uncomfortable after a short time of listening. This was easily fixed by tip-rolling; however the sound signature was easily modified by different eartips. Finding the correct eartips with comfort and correct sound signature provided some extra effort. It wasn’t impossible, but it did require a lot of trial and error, along with owning lots of different styles of eartips. Eventually I settled on the Spinfit Omni MS and all was right with the Quintet again. This is my experience and my ear canals, so your mileage may vary. Isolation is very average for an IEM.
Sound
Overall
Usually, cheaper IEMs with multiple driver types sound disconnected as each of the drivers stands out in a different way. You wouldn’t be wrong to initially think that the Quintet would also suffer from this type of issue, being that there are four different driver types across the five drivers – and it’s not in the kilo-buck price range. However, you’d be dead wrong.
Unbelievably, the 4 different driver types all are incredibly synergistic together. It sounds like one very natural planar driver. I cannot tell where one driver starts and the other ends. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone took the Quintet apart and only found a really good planar driver in there – it’s that cohesive.
How in the world did Kiwi Ears do this?
More jaw dropping.
But before I go on and talk about the overall sound signature, there is one big problem with the Quintet.
One Big Problem
In my years of listening to IEMs, I have never, ever come across an IEM that is this susceptible to sound signature changes from IEM tips and placement within the ear.
Get it right and the Quintet will reward your efforts ten times over. But get it wrong, and the Quintet will sound appallingly bad and ear piercing. The combination of wrong ear tip and insertion depth can have a dramatic impact on the sound signature.
To my ears, I found that wide bore eartips helped to reduce boomy mid bass, didn’t have a weird spike in the upper mid range (vs narrow bore eartips), and increased the instrument separation, sound stage, and detail retrieval.
From here, insertion depth played a major role in fine tuning the, well, tuning. A shallow insertion depth resulted in the ear’s natural pinna gain cranking up the upper mids and lower treble, causing the Quintet to be very shouty in this region, and also resulting in reduced upper treble. When inserted too deep, the piezoelectric (bone conduction) driver is way too intense and results in the mid treble and air to be way too intense, buzzy, grainy, and ear piercing. For my ears, a medium insertion depth is the perfect placement, resulting in an amazing sound signature. The wide bore eartips and medium insertion depth are what this review is written from.
The sound signature is what I would describe as a wide “U” shape. There is sub bass emphasis, a very neutral mid range, and mid and upper treble emphasis as well. It rides the balance of a “fun” sound signature and a neutral one very well. It’s exciting and definitely has that “x-factor” of sound signature that keeps you coming back for more and more and more.
Bass
The bass here is very fast and tight – almost planar like but with a slightly more natural decay. It has amazing control and texture, resulting in very clean bass. The sub bass is the main emphasis, but it has more mid bass than what the frequency response graph would indicate. It doesn’t have a lot of slam or punch, but it is very realistic. Kick drums and bass are absolutely phenomenal (any Mono Neon song and “Bass Solo” by Greg Spero) and very realistic.
Mids
The midrange is very clean with a hint of brightness, which helps bring a sense of resolution in this area. With the right insertion depth, the timbre is very natural and clean while still being very resolving. The upper mids are very transparent and have some airiness to them, no doubt thanks to the piezoelectric and planar drivers here. I find nothing to complain about here – it’s a nice place to be.
Treble
Yet again, if you spend the time to figure out eartips and insertion depth, the treble is brilliant. It finds the balance of intensity without harshness. The Quintet has the most detailed and airy treble that I’ve ever heard. While super resolving, this can make some instruments’ timbre sound just a little bit off – very similar to planar treble, if you’ve heard that. It pushes right up to sibilant and uncomfortable territory but doesn’t cross it. This is top-notch treble. and I doubt you can get this quality of it at this price or cheaper.
Technicalities
While I’ve been comparing the Quintet to other planar drivers (ie: S12, Dioko, Timeless, PR2, Stellaris, etc) most of this review, this section will be no different. In terms of technicalities, it is 90% of what other planar drivers have…in a good way. Those planar driver IEMs mentioned above are so fast and detailed that they have a weird metallicy and planar specific sound to them. They also can have exaggerated and unnatural separation, imaging, and sound stage.
This is where the Quintet shines. While having around 10% less technicalities than the planars, it sounds much more natural. Separation and imaging are incredibly good, but not over separated. It’s more lifelike than exaggerated, almost like you’re right there watching a band record on stage. The soundstage is in the same boat of being very natural and not overly separated or too massive.
Detail and resolution are superb, making this one of the most resolving IEMs, especially in this price range. However, you will need to be ready for the Quintet’s intensity. This isn’t an easy-to-listen-to type of IEM, like the Aful Performer 5. There is so much detail and resolution that it’s almost hard for your brain to take it all in.
Basically, when it comes to technicalities, this is the best I’ve heard.
Conclusion
How many times can I say it? If you put in the effort to fine-tune the Kiwi Ears Quintet, it will reward you masterfully. If you don’t, it will poke your ears out with piercing-piezo treble.
I noticed that many big IEM reviewers didn’t like the Quintet like I do. But there is a reason that it’s become a cult-like favorite among non-reviewer audiophiles. I think the big Youtubers out there didn’t spend enough time and energy to figure out how to get the best out of the Quintet. They seemed to be too focused on knocking out the next review and the next review and the next. I have no doubt that if they spent a little bit of time finessing the Quintet, it would be the next mega-hit.
I’ve spent too long trying to find the flaw in the Quintet and haven’t really found it. It’s the perfect balance of fun and neutral tuning as well as incredible technical performance. This ticks all of the boxes of what I want in an IEM. When I want an intensely detailed listening session, the Quintet is the first and only set of IEMs that I reach for.
You’re not going to find another “Quadbrid” out there for anywhere near this price, so you might as well add it to your collection – it also helps that the Quintet is outstanding in every way. Clearly, the Kiwi Ears Quintet is highly, highly recommended.
Teaser
If the Quintet is too intense, but you like the overall sound signature, the next review will be up your alley.