The Westone W20 certainly are a cut above basic in ear headphones. They generate quite stunning detail but you must provide them with an excellent source to begin with.?Anything else will be ruthlessly exposed by the clarity and insight they deliver. Only gripe is the difficulty removing the cables from the units when changing the cables over

These are amazing earphones. I have used Shure earphones for the last 4 years but decided to have a change. I am glad I did. There is a better soundstage with excellent separation and an ambience I have only experienced with expensive closed ear head...Read morephones. They are lightweight and comfortable sat over your ears.. Only criticism is I have not been able to remove the cable to try the alternative cable supplied. I would not score them down for that!!

I have been using the cheap end of the earphone market for years, mainly because I'm tight, or careful, depending on your point of view. After my last pair of Sony's bit the dust I thought I'd take a chance and spend a few bob (quite a lot of extra b...Read moreobs actually) more on these. I used the rational that these must be considerably better quality than the stuff at the bottom end of the market or they wouldn't sell. And being a mail order purchase I could always return same.

I am by nature, a very sceptical person, so I wasn't expecting a huge improvement in aural pleasure but boy, was I wrong. Everything about these little fellers is right, the design, the packaging, the choice of buds (so many) and above all, the quality. I was not expecting the massive improvement. I'm no spring chicken and have a music collection that I started in the sixties and is very catholic (note the small c) in taste, ranging from Tallis through to Travis with a lot of stuff in between. I have heard inflections, detail, breathing and parts I have never heard before. I was amazed. My only regret is waiting so long and missing so much.