| Product: |
Koss The Plug |
| Date: |
21/05/02 (10731 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: First class sound quality
Disadvantages: Need to replace ear cushions
Personal stereos are quite often far from personal. If you spent an hour on the train next to the guy with techno music thumping out of his earphones, you'll know what I mean. I have just discovered The Plug and hope all my fellow travellers will do the same soon !
Unlike some personal stereo earphones, The Plug doesn't leak sound and annoy anyone else. However, it works both ways. These earphones will block out even the loudest background noise, leaving you to enjoy your music without being disturbed by the man on the next seat with the chesty cough, or worse still - the guy with the techno music blaring on his personal stereo !
Sound quality is excellent. Not only will you enjoy good reproduction of bass, unusual on personal stereo earphones, you will find that you are able to keep the volume control lower and thus avoid sound distortion.
Before buying The Plug, I read a number of reviews and fear that it has had a bad press. To achieve great sound and isolation from the outside world, Koss have designed The Plug to fit directly into the ear canal. Sounds painful, doesn't it ? Don't worry, cushioned rubber ear pads make this design comfortable. Basically, before you place them in your ear, you scrunch up the ear pads. Once inside, they expand to fit your ear and provide the seal that aids the quality sound. Some reviewers have reported discomfort, but I find them comfortable enough. The other major advantage of The Plug's design is that they stay in your ear.
One word of warning - the sound isolation provided by The Plug really is effective, so watch out for traffic as you probably won't hear it coming !
UPDATE - Well I thought I would provide a quick update on The Plug. I have now completely used up the spare ear pads and have had a great deal of trouble finding replacements. I visited the difficult to navigate Koss website and eventually found that the "Lifetime Guarentee" does not cover ear pads and replacements can be ordered from Koss in the USA for $15 plus postage. Whilst I still think they are great earphones, I decided that it would probably be cheaper to buy a new set from a UK supplier. Luckily, I found a supplier of foam earplugs (intended for motorcyclists !) which provide a cheap and adequate alternative (£5.00 for a box of 50) to the official Koss ones.
To summarise, The Plug is excellent - shame that Koss don't support it very well
Summary: Excellent earphones, but difficult to get replacements parts.
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Last comments:
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- 31/07/03 I've just bought a pair from 7dayshop.com for £12.95 + £1 p&p which after much trawling the internet I found to be the best price. Just hope they live up to my expectaions :) |
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- 21/05/02 Aimee - thanks for your comments. Glad to hear it was of some use. Actually, I didn't know if I was allowed to advertise/give specific details of where they can be purchased from. They are quite easy to get hold of and they retail around £19.00, although a quick search on Google found them cheaper from one supplier in the UK !
Happy listening ! |
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- 21/05/02 Good opinion, although you didn't mention where you could purchase these from. I know exactly what it is like to have someone behind/next to you that is obviously so deaf they feel the need to test everyone else's hearing. Sounds a great product, especially if you are aware of other people being affected by your own sounds (those embarassing songs/artists you daren't let any one else know about!)I have to admit that it did sound slightly painful to have something inserted into your ear canal, but you reasured me that it wsan't as bad as it sounds!
~Aimee~ |
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