BQEYZ Spring 1 Review (2) – A Second Opinion
BQEYZ Spring 1—quirky fit notwithstanding, BQEYZ’s BQ3 is as refined a tuning as you can find for $50, and I was mildly stoked to hear their TOTL, $139 Spring 1. The Spring 1 immediately register as full-bodied and expansive-sounding, with and a lot of space between instruments, the stage having more width than depth. Imaging is especially impressive on these. Signature is generally balanced, albeit with a slightly forward midrange and a discernible dip in the upper mids. In contrast to the brightish BQ3, the Spring have a warm tone, in part because (as Durwood notes) the midbass tends to diffuse towards the midrange, albeit pleasantly.
Unlike Durwood, I don’t find the Spring lacking in bass depth or quantity (note that low end perception will vary wildly with different tips and degree of insertion). However, I do agree that compared to the BQ3 or the NX7 bass notes are less sculpted and boomier, which makes the Spring sound slightly incoherent, as if listening to a less-than-perfectly integrated subwoofer. Mids, however, sound exactly as I like them—full bodied and punchy, especially with male voices. High end is not hyper-extended, but neither is it strident or artificially smoothed-over–it maintains a very effortless transparency, with fast transients; cymbals and piano keys are reproduced very accurately.
Compared to price peers like the Kanas Pro, the Spring actually sorts out instrumental timbres more accurately, although the Kanas has better overall coherence; the Spring presents less detail but sounds less artificial than multi-drivers like the Nice HCK HK6 or Simgot EM2. Again, though, the Spring’s wooly low end remains something of its Achilles’ heel and detracts from its impressive musicality. Others have found that removing cloth mesh under the grill materially tightens the bass—since these are on loan I didn’t attempt. Sans such modification, BQEYZ’s lower-priced offerings are smaller-sounding but may represent better values overall, although the Spring 1 is nonetheless an intriguing proposition which warrants further listening.
Disclaimer: Durwood purchased these and loaned ‘em to me for a second opinion.
More of the BQEYZ Spring 1 on audioreviews.org:
