home entertainment 2007

Westone UM56 custom earmolds
In my March 2007 review of Shure’s
E4 earphones (p.118), I described my
preliminary experience with the custom
earmolds Westone makes for
Shure’s E2, E3, and E4 series of in-ear
’phones, as well as for Westone’s own
UM-1, UM-2,
and the new 3
’phones (which I
plan to review).
Westone’s earmolds
are made
from silicone
material impressions
of your ear
canals made by
your audiologist.
Westone’s literature
suggests that
the fit should be
positive—when
it’s in right, they
say, you’ll know
it. That wasn’t
my experience.
The right side,
especially, didn’t
seal well, and
wiggled loose
when I exercised.
I had a replacement
made for
the right earpiece, but it was only a little
bit better. The fit on the left side
wasn’t the greatest, either.
Turns out there was a good reason
for that. “Westone recommends open
jaw ear impressions taken to the second
bend of the ear canal,” Westone
says at www.westone.com. “If you ask
your hearing healthcare professional to
take your impressions this way, we’ll
have the best possible starting point
for crafting your monitors or musicians’
earplugs.” When I mentioned
this to my audiologist, who is very
experienced in most matters audiological
but not in making custom earmolds,
she disagreed. I’m not going to
be listening to music slackjawed, she
reasoned, so why should she take the
impressions that way?
Why, indeed? When she called
Westone to find out, she was told that
Westone makes earmolds primarily for
musicians who perform on stage, and
FOLLOW -UP
Jim Austin & Brian Damkroger
musicians on stage often sing. That
didn’t apply to me, so we went with
the relaxed-jaw approach. As I wrote in
the March issue, I wasn’t satisfied with
the result.
But when I submitted that review,
John Atkinson told me that both he and
Shure E4 earphones with Westone custom earmolds, in blue.
Wes Phillips had been told to keep their
mouths wide open while the silicone
hardened. “Maybe that’s why yours didn’t
work so well,” he suggested. So I set
up another appointment with my audiologist,
who, to indulge me, once again
took a few minutes out of another day of
helping hearing-impaired school kids.
Audiologists have rubber “bite
blocks” that help you keep your mouth
open without tiring your jaw muscles,
but bite blocks aren’t made big enough
for my mouth. (No jokes, please.) So I
opened wide and toughed it out as the
silicone was injected and hardened.
I’ve been using the new earmolds
for several weeks now, and I’m very
pleased with the result. There’s a nice,
positive fit, they seal out outside
sound, the bass response is strong, and,
when attached to my Shure E4s, they
sound great. As I wrote in my review
of the E4s, the combination of Apple
iPod, Shure in-ear ’phones, and custom
earmolds from
Westone falls well
short of the transcendent
musical
experience delivered
by the finest
high-end gear, but
for not too much
money, it allows
me to listen to
music with pleasure
during time
that would otherwise
be wasted—a
major improvement
in my days.
At $125/pair,
Westone’s earmolds
are a real
bargain by hi-fi
standards, and satisfaction
is guaranteed:
there’s no
extra charge for
AUDIOLOGISTS HAVE RUBBER “BITE BLOCKS” THAT
HELP YOU KEEP YOUR MOUTH OPEN WITHOUT
TIRING YOUR JAW MUSCLES.
remakes, for me or for you. Highly recommended—but
open wide. —Jim Austin
VTL TL-7.5 Series II Stereo
Reference preamplifier
When it was introduced in 2002, the
VTL TL-7.5 Stereo Reference line
stage sent a huge ripple through the
high-end world. Paul Bolin and John
Atkinson contributed to the commotion
with raves in the October 2003
Stereophile, and I repeated their superlatives
in a “Follow-Up” in December
2005. I also echoed PB’s conclusion
that it was nearly impossible to attach
any specific sound to the TL-7.5. With
20/20 hindsight, it’s now clear that the
www.Stereophile.com, May 2007 115