First of all many thanks to Pritam for recommending these to me. I actually gave him a lot of option to choose from like the Aful performer 5 and 8, Blessing 3, Kiwi Orchestra Lite and the Timeless. He asked a lot of questions about my preference and the gear I use before settling on these.

You can read his review on the Quintet as its on point.

Now we audiophiles come in all shapes and sizes, we have the bassheads, trebleheads, vocal enthusiasts, details and resolution freak and some like to have a very big soundstage. And then there's me who would like to have a bit of everything and that has been difficult till now as we would always have to sacrifice one thing or the other even in IEMS surpassing the 1 lakh price, well not anymore.

Let me describe the sound to you, well atleast I will try

Bass- The bass is detailed and plentiful and digs very very deep, like I am able to hear frequencies that were unknown till now. though its nowhere basshead levels of bass but I was never left wanting more. The bass is very punchy and slams decently hard, theres a good physicality to the bass though it decays a bit slower than a pure planar set like the S12 pro which in my books makes it a bit more natural sounding.

Vocals/mids - Both male and female vocals sounds excellent and correct. It doesn't force the vocals to be upfront in the music rather it depicts where they are supposed to be. In some tracks the vocalist will be upfront in your face and in some they will be a bit far away and in some tracks you would be able to visualize them moving closer and far away with the music. The vocals doesn't sound lean or thin or emotionless as some have reported though I guess its obviously not upfront like some vocal forward IEMs could be. Again I was not left wanting more.

Treble- The treble response is very very smooth, it rarely gets sibilant and only on poorly mastered tracks or something that has sibilance baked into it, otherwise I found it pretty forgiving. It is very airy and that lends to a very big soundstage.

Resolution and Details- The resolution and details that is offered here can only be rivaled by the TOTLs, I am not saying its better than something like the Elysian Annhilator or the ThieAudio Monarch Mark 2 or 3 or maybe it is, but I think that this is at the level of B3 or the Variations atleast. Its transparent and throws so much details at your face that I often feel overwhelmed on complex tracks.

Soundstage, Imaging and Instrument Separation- The soundstage is huge, its very wide and the sound is presented in such a way that you will feel like you are on the stage with the musicians, which is unique to say the least. Instruments are well separated and you can pinpoint where each instrument is. It feels like each instrument/notes are presented in their own bubble and they are all interacting with each other to produce music. I find the experience divine.

Tonality/Timbre - Its natural and correct, thats all I can say, I didn't find it metallic and neither artificial, its like the truthear hexa with a bit more energy which makes it more engaging and fun to listen to it.

Since this is a mishmash four different drivers and the more controversial PZT driver many are worried if the IEM is coherent or not and let me tell you that you won't be able to detect the individual drivers.... like at all.

Coming to some of the nit picks and tips that I have.

1) Burn in is a thing on this IEM. I personally don't believe in burn in but it did sound better after 12 hours that I left it playing random music.

2) Tip rolling is required. This IEM is very ear tip sensitive. The eartip that worked out for me were the KZ star tip. My review is based on those only. Without proper ear tip and a proper seal the bass will feel hollow and insufficient and yes you will feel the infamous piezo zing in all its glory.

3) Deep insertion is a must. The nozzle on this IEM is long that means you have to insert them deep not deep like the etymotics but still a bit deep for the optimal sonic performance.

4) The packaging is a bit too spartan for the 20K that I spent. Anyways won't complain too much I guess.

5) Get a decent DAC to power them, I would suggest something that will also give you the option for a balanced terminal like the Moondrop Dawn Pro or the FiiO KA1

In the end remember that the audiophile hobby is a very subjective one and what I may love you may not. For me this is truly an endgame IEM, but for you it maybe not but all I can say is that this an exceptionally affordable quad-brid and if you own TOTLs you can also consider adding this to your arsenal. If you are someone new in this hobby and you like a balanced tuning and haven't spent too much money in anything else I will suggest saving up and getting these.

Thanks to the audio store team and Pritam for bringing such exceptional IEMs in our life.

Quintet is the first IEM I have tried from Kiwi ears. Coming from Hexa I was looking for something with better bass in both quality and quantity, a bit more presence in upper mids and an even more extended treble. Heard Aful P5 - too laid back, Moondrop B3 - Bass was unengaging, and then Quintet - Almost faultless. Quintet is the only IEM that has sounded so complete and perfect ever since I got into this hobby, nothing to complain about even If I try, maybe a bit of sibilance but that subsided quickly once I got used to these. The bass is well-defined and powerful, still doesn't bleed into mids AT ALL despite being there in a decent amount. The mids are very slightly warm and very clean, with spades of detail to be found here. Treble is smooth and airy, just the perfect amount not too much not too less, treading a fine line for treble-sensitive folks like me. The sibilance even when it occurs doesn't sound distracting for some reason like it does on other sets, it has presence but is not grating, you know it's there but it never becomes the focus, the music just keeps you involved enough to not notice it. Everything is rendered with precise pinpoint imaging, with unreal crispness to note edges. Vocals are extremely detailed and lush though at times can sound a bit distant(very rarely). The soundstage is decently big, but here's the only place I'd say B3 edges out Quintet. All in all, I don't remember the last time I was this engrossed in listening to music. Quintet just makes me want to go through my entire library again picking up tracks I might have forgotten to see if they come back to life with this amazing set.