So I’ve had my Final Audio B3s for about 2 months (and recenty acquired some TOTL IEMs (Earsonics Grace and Jomo Flamencos). I figured it might be a good idea to have a thread about the Final B series IEMs.
I have yet to hear the B1 or B2.
The B3s are phenomenal IEMs imo. V shaped, clear, detailed, and impactful sound. I would charaterize them as slightly bright and slightly fun IEMs. They have great treble extension, good amounts of air and sparkle, an average soundstage, good imaging, great holographic imaging for the price, great mid detail, ‘natural’ timbre, everrrrr so slightly less than appropriate note weight (but still better than anything less expesnive that I’ve tried), decent bass detail, and decent bass extension. Cohesion of the FR / signature is great with no real obvious peaks or valleys while listening. Detail is presented appropriately, without being shoved down your throat or pushed into the background. Probably the most well rounded IEMs I’ve yet tried. Where they lose out is the sheer resolution, impact, bass, sounstage, imaging, and detail of the totl stuff I’ve tried. But for the money? Great imo. Consummate all-rounders.
The packging is phenomenal. Accessories are appropriate. Final E series tips are just amazing. Cable is the best stock cable I’ve gotten so far (including totl iems). Does not dissapoint for the price.
Comfort wise these are divisive. Sharp ridges on the outer edge can be fatuguing, but if your ears aren’t weirdly shaped like mine, these have an angelic fit. Super light, fit all the way into the ear, and are just comfy af with the stock final tips.
I played the B3s off of both my desktop setup (RS-08 + Ares II), my portable setups (QP1R and Shanling Q1), and my phone (blackberry keyone). They sound good off of everything, but they really show their true colors with the desktop source gear, as they scale quite well. They definitely aren’t super sensitive or source picky, but the addition of competent source gear really brings out the impact, dynamics, and imaging capabilities of these things. I also upgraded the stock cable with a custom silver cable, which did make a good improvement to clarity / separation imo.
In regards to my personal opinion, I love these things. They are natural sounding with great overall performance and no real flaws except for a little muddiness in comparison to totl iems. Where for me, the Sundaras represent what you should buy if you have < $400 to spend, the B3s represent what you should pick up if you have less than $600 to spend.
Heartily recommended.
Some other review of the B3s for cross-referencing https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/final-b3.23706/reviews