Just replaced my ex71's with a pair of shure ec4's and thought I would let you know my initial impressions.

In a single word, WoW

Gone are the muddy basslines and harsh trebles with no mid-range of the ex71's and replaced with tight controlled bass sweet hi's and a mid-range that has replaced my interest in my music collection that has been long missed.

no chance of these corkers falling out of my ears and the thick insulation around the wire should see me through some years of happyness unlike ex71 threads I have read on here.

And how much did I pay for them brand new...

£80+ carriage from a nice chap called wind130 on e-bay.

If you're looking for some decent earphones give him a try he has the lot er4/6's shure ec2/ec3's and more all at bargain prices

sorry don't want to sound like an advert for him but I am well chuffed and thought he deserved a mention.

great..i saw this guy in the bay but wasnt too sure if his products were legit cause his prices were so much cheaper than anywhere i could find them!!

will be ordering them then...

[Ed Selley]

Well my E4's showed up today. Once the smart but unsuitable rubber domes were removed and replaced with the ubiquitous foam bungs they have impressed from the off. The scale and soundstage have all improved over my E2's and they are smaller and more discrete to boot.
The downside is that 192k WMA's are just about still listenable but I'm really going to have to up my encoding rate as you can start to hear the nastiness on some of the files.

[kevH]

Just as another recommendation for "wind130" ive bought a couple pair Shures off him and been nothing but pleased with both him and the Shures E3 & E4's.