EarAcoustic Audio SPA Pro Max- Audio Jewelry worthy of 5 stars?

Pros:

V-type tuning done to perfection

 Jewelers standard build quality

Wide soundstage

Beautiful aesthetics

Very technical and capable

Fast transients for a big driver

Full Range sound

Cons:

No cons for me

EarAcoustic Audio- SPA Pro Max

I am audiophile from sunny South Africa and I have to admit that this is one of the first products that I was looking forward to reviewing the most as I have never heard of the brand or seen a review about any of their products. With zero bias or knowledge about the brand, I head into this review blind and it is very exciting for me. The service was top notch and the EarAcoustic staff are very friendly. I received my parcel in under two weeks.

Unboxing:

The SPA Pro Max sounds for $219 and the packaging definitely reflects the price. Almost looking like a box, a jeweler’s watch will come in the brushed silver color and txt also in silver comes together very beautifully. The box splits in two and when you lift the top part of you are greeted by the really exquisite looking faceplates. When you lift the faceplate housing out you find another pull out section with your cable and narrow and wide bore tips in three sizes each. There is also a small accessory that scored big points for me that I will mention in my conclusion. At the bottom you will find your denim fabric round carrying case. Everything looks greatly thought out and the effort in the design and packaging can be realized easily. Sometimes when you sit listening to an earphone I don’t think we realize how much time and effort goes into the planning and implementation of these products. It is not just someone has a color in mind and out of thin air you have a sellable product. The design team at EarAcoustic Audio thank you for the effort. The package as a whole is top notch.

Look & Build:

I will start this section off by saying full marks point. EarAcoustic Audio ticked all the right boxes for me in this section and it has never happened with any other earphone I have reviewed before. As a workshop owner I love everything metal and chrome and the mirror silver electroplating finish on the shells makes me think of chromed out bits on a high-end engine build. The shells are also not prone to fingermarks as with most shiny surfaces. Despite the heavy metal look the shells are really light and the fit is as perfect as I have ever felt. I Think I am in the minority but aesthetics plays a really big part to me when deciding on buying an earphone. The faceplates are a resin design with a snake logo and art that resembles snake skin and also reminds me of the Shelby Mustang Gt500 my favorite car. The design comes so well together and is done perfectly. Sometimes when done wrong these designs can come forth as too much bling like a rapper’s chain or something. For once I can rave about the cable. When you read back almost every review I hate the cable. Not this one. It is bulkier than most cables new earphones come out with. It gives off a beautiful pearl effect. The cable hooks really nice behind your ears and I never felt the need to use the chin slider. Although chin sliders are cool, I really don’t like using them. Metal connectors finish of the looks of the cable and I am impressed.  The tips are the normal silicon wide bore and narrow bore tips and no faulting with fit on these. I love the silver denim fabric on the big round carrying case. It ventures away from all the pleather we always see from the more expensive earphones.

Specs:

Model: SPA-Pro MAX

Unit: 11.4MM Ultra Clear Analysis Graphene Diaphragm Dual Magnetic Circuit Dual Chamber Dynamic Coil Unit

Sensitivity: 111dB

Impedance: 30 ohms

Frequency response range: 5-40000Hz

Wire specification: 0.78MM dual pin LITZ coaxial bundle oxygen free copper and silver-plated wire braided 1.20M

Connectivity:

The SPA Pro Max came standard with only a 3.5mm termination and not once did I feel the need to upgrade to a 4.4mm balanced cable as the SPA Pro Max was so easy to drive from my Oppo A78 phone, laptop and Hiby Dap. You can basically hook it up to all the plethora of devices that have a 3.5mm available.

Sound:

I really hope I get to review the SPA High End Max as well because I would love to compare the sound of both. I listened to the SPA Max for two weeks on end with the two different tips provided and will reveal my sound impressions with both. Obviously, the narrow bore tips I will use with music that I like more bass like rap and Edm. The wide bores will be for my more audiophile music like Jazz, Blues etc. I have to say I preferred the sound of the wide bore tips more as it did not take away from the bass but rather added to the Treble and Mids.  

Wide bore tips:

There is an authority over the sound and I can only describe the sound as listening to a big full range speaker like The Tannoy Monitor Gold. On Hotel California- The Eagles, the technicalities of that first fast picking of the guitar in the beginning I immediately realized that this big 11.2mm driver can keep up and it must be the nano-graphene material used to make the driver super light. The soundstage is also very wide and on Take Five- Dave Brubeck I could easily place all the instruments and it extended beyond my ears. When listening to Jazz the cymbals stood out and accompanied the high notes of any trumpets beautifully. With this wide stage the instruments sound big and very well represented in their own space. Being a V-shape tuning the vocals is a bit recessed but that did not put me off one bit and it is weird because I prefer a mid-centric tuning style. The number of details the SPA Pro Max is capable of digging out astonished me as it is the first time I could hear the artist breathing throughout the whole song on Tori-Nicolas Parent trio. There are also some bass heavy drum passages in the song and with the bass not taken away by the wide bore tips the whole presentation sounded incredible. There really is an incredible element of elegance to the sound. There is also a warm analog feeling when listening to music like Bob Dylan- Hurricane. It sounds like when you are listening to vinyl. The background is warm and not black at all. I found the SPA Max to not be very source dependent as it kept the warm tone even when I switched to more sterile ESS dacs.

Narrow bore tips:   

If you want a less fatiguing sound then the narrow tips are for you. The in-your-face type of sound from the wide bores switches places with warm, mellow, thick sound. I listened to a lot of rap music in high school and still listen the older artists. I started the bass tips journey of by listening to the D.R.E-2001 album and it is very evident that these are the tips for non-critical listening and just enjoying yourself. I listened to the whole album while doing some work and this combination kept me going as I found this combination great for background music while working on projects. Also, the driver keeps up beautifully with all the different beats and effects mixed into songs. The driver also digs very low and sub-bass is very well represented and it is one in like the last twenty Earphones I reviewed where the Midbass does not overwhelm the sub-bass. This is your choice for EDM Music as you need a driver that can reproduce the bass with authority and also be fast enough for punchy Midbass slam. The SPA Pro Max does both to perfection. Being a light nano-graphene driver, I think it is the perfect material for a one driver configuration. Also, with no crossover interference what you get a smooth thick sound. Joel Fletcher-The Den has a fast deep bassline and if you have an earphone with the Midbass dominating the song sounds thin. On the SPA Pro Max, it sounded like I was in a club with the DJ mixing in front of me.

I can’t fault the sound in anyway. There is nothing I could want to ad or take away. For me these are a pair of professional earphones. The SPA Max is also so easy to drive the max I went on my Hiby dap was 45/100 and I had club banging sound at that level. Also, I found that for live concert music I preferred the narrow tips. I watched Tomorrowland Belgium 2024 DVD on my pc with the SPA Max hooked up to my Lint Audio Revival headphone amplifier and I what a life like experience the SPA Pro Max made it.

Conclusion:

I had my scoring on 4.5 stars as to give an earphone full mark everything really has to be perfect for me. One little accessory that pushed me over the edge was the included pleather cable organizer. Man, just a small thing like that, if you get lots of earphones like me. Almost every single one of them comes with this irritating thin and small Velcro cable that sticks to everything including your shirt and is really annoying. EarAcoustic Audio thank you for being different. For me the package as a whole with this full range sound and looks to match is just the perfect earphone. Who should buy this in my opinion? If you are new to the hobby and want to skip the bottom and not start with budget offerings and work your way up then the SPA Pro Max is for you. There is no need to upgrade further and you can spend your money on a better Dap or Dac/amp or somewhere else in the chain. If you are a professional then the SPA Pro Max is for you as well. Also, if I would to offer a first-time listener a choice of earphone, I would give them this SPA Pro Max first. In my opinion EarAcoustic Audio is a company that came into my life with an in-your-face bang.