Ultimate Ears by Logitech - TripleFi 10

Although well-known stateside, Ultimate Ears luxury audio products have only recently arrived in Europe, following Logitech's purchase of the company. The TripleFi 10 high-end universal earphones have a sleek, contemporary design that houses some top-of-the-range technology. But are they really worth shouting about?

Design: small ears beware!

Jays had better watch out, as Ultimate Ears earphones also come with an impressive range of accessories. In fact, when you buy the TripleFi headphones, you also get a fairly compact metal case, which despite being quite thick does fit neatly into a pocket, as well as three pairs of silicone ear-buds, two pairs of spongy ear-buds, an in-flight adapter to protect your ears on aeroplanes, an extension cable (which isn't strictly necessary given the length of the standard cable), a ¼-inch adapter jack and a cleaning tool.

The headphones cable can be easily detached and replaced if it gets damaged to save you having to shell out for a whole new pair of earphones. That's a really nice touch! The cable itself is fairly rigid, and features directly integrated cable-guides right next to the earphones that help keep them firmly in place in ears of all shapes and sizes.

A word of warning though: the tube-style earpiece the ear buds fit on to is very wide, and anyone with smaller ears might find the TripleFi earphones uncomfortable (if not impossible) to wear. I'd recommend you try a pair out for size, if possible, before you take the plunge.

Audio quality: they'll blow you away

UE has a well-deserved reputation for being one of America's top audio accessory manufacturers. As expected, sound is full, loud and powerful with lots of bass and fantastic treble. Although the TripleFi headphones are definitely generous in the bass department, they aren't the most extreme earphones we've ever tested either. In fact, UE hasn't gone overkill on the bass and it doesn't drown out the rest of the spectrum. This is almost certainly thanks to the inclusion of three drivers per earphone.

A surprising feature of the TripleFi headphones is their ability to give an excellent impression of spatial sound: you'd almost think there was some kind of reverberation going on in there. Audio reproduction is accurate, and the detail and intricacy of the sound isn't drowned out by the playful, bouncy nature of the earphones.

The TripleFi earphones are very pleasant to use. They work incredibly well with lively, energetic music, a bit like the Klipsch Custom-3, for example. Anyone looking for neutrality, however, may want to look elsewhere.