Back in 2024, Kefine released their 3rd iem called the Klean. It was their most budget offering at the time, featuring 1 dynamic driver with a DLC diaphragm. It has gained a lot of popularity due to its sound value. And now, in 2026, Kefine has released a revision – a further improved version – of the Klean, called the Klean SV.
You can find more info about the Klean SV here: kefineelec.com/en/ProductDetails.aspx?iProId=27
Disclaimer: I would like to thank Mr Collin Yang from Kefine for making this review possible. I did not receive any financial benefit from him. Everything I said in this review will be my subjective opinion only.
Packaging
The package of the Klean SV is quite minimal. It’s virtually the same packaging as the Klean OG. It arrives in a small rectangular box. The content of the box include:
- The iem themselves
- A cable
- A carrying case
- 3 pairs of normal bore silicone tips in 3 different sizes
- Two pairs of screwing nozzles
- A user manual
- Warranty certificate
Design/Build quality/Comfort
The Klean SV also has near identical shells as the Klean OG. The Klean SV has a full metal shell and faceplate. It feels quite heavy and dense on the hand. The faceplate has the Kefine logo on it. The silver paint finish doesn’t attract fingerprints as well as fine scratches. There’s also a single hex screw on the inside to secure the housing in place. The Klean SV is an iem with changeable nozzles, similar to nozzles of Simgot EA’s lineup. You have a total of 3 nozzle options to choose from.
The comfort is only so-and-so. It doesn’t have the most ergonomic shape to them. It has a sort of industrial design language to them. The housing is on a smaller side, so it doesn’t impede too much against the outer ears. Isolation is only average.
The stock cable is a dual core, SPC cable with 3.5mm connector. It’s soft, neither too thin nor too thick and has very little memory. Other hardware of the cable is made out of metal too. Overall, this is quite a decent cable for the price.
That said, Kefine also has 2 other cable options to choose from. One is the 4.4mm cable and the other is a Type-C cable. Both of these cables are identical to the stock cable, other for the end terminations. They are 2$ more expensive than the simpler 3.5mm cable option. As for how well the stock type-C cable performs, well, I’ll talk about it in the sound impression.
Sound impression:
*Test gear:
Source: Poco F3, Dell laptop
DAC/amp: Ibasso DC Elite, EPZ TP35 Pro, Hidizs AP80 Pro Max
Eartips: Stock clear tips.
Cable: Stock cable
Tonality: Warm-neutral / Balance / Harman-ish
Bass
The Klean SV has an above-neutral amount of bass quantity. It has a subbass over midbass presentation. The bass feels very balanced overall, ever present yet not overwhelming. I wouldn’t say the bass here is enough to satisfy some basshead out there, but for the vast majority of music genres, it’s more than enough.
With “Why So Serious” – Hans Zimmer and “Chameleon” – Trentemoller, the Klean SV shows me a very deep subbass rumble with good air movement as well as a very nice tactile feedback. The subbass trip feels controlled and vibrant, yet not overwhelming. Midbass wise, it feels very rounded and full bodied, with decent texture to them. Kick drums have enough weight and physicality to the hits. Bass guitar plucks sound very natural. Contrabass and cello feel dense and heavy yet not overly warm. With aggressively fast paced metal tracks like “Sugar Daddy” – Brutal Truth or “Distress Rehearsal” – Every Time I Die, the Klean SV has shown a valiant effort to keep up with the drummer, however, it’s still not up to par. On slower paced genres, the drivers perform just fine.
Midrange
In general, the midrange of the Klean SV is very natural. It’s what I expected from a 60$ 1DD iem in 2026, and that’s what Kefine has delivered. It has a pleasant amount of warmth and lushness to the lower midrange, but not so much that it makes the midrange sounds too muddy or too colored.
Regarding the upper midrange, it’s mostly where the 3 different nozzles interact with the frequency response. Ordering from the most dampened to the least dampened, it’s Black > Silver > Gold. The silver nozzle is the most balanced sounding one, which is also the one that comes with the iem OOTB. It’s adding just enough pop in the pinna gain region, for vocals to sound lively but not overly shouty. The black nozzle adds a bit more energy from 1.5kHz to 5kHz, making female vocals sound more energetic but also a bit more shouty and in your face. The gold nozzle on the other hand, tames down this region by a few more db, giving you a tamer, a bit smoother presentation without sounding too lifeless. The differences between the black and gold nozzle is a lot, so I applauded Kefine for adding these tuning options for the consumers to pick.
I enjoyed the stock silver nozzle the most, so that’s the one that I focused mostly on. When listening to Frank Sinatra, Michael Bubble and GIMS, they sound lush and velvety yet not husky, having just enough grunt to their voices. Whereas for female vocals, like Adele’s “Set Fire to The Rain” or Celine Dion’s “All By Myself”, Ariana Grande’s “Break Free”, they sound quite clean overall with a great degree of liveliness and energy to them. Sure it’s not the cleanest midrange or the most natural yet, but I'd say it’s more than 90% there and it’s compatible with a wide variety of genres out there.
Instruments have a very natural timbre, as far as “natural” goes. Piano sounds very pleasant with a good note weight. Violin feels fairly smooth, lively and has a great bite to them. Horn instruments like saxophone have a good chestiness feeling to them, sounding rounded and full overall.
Treble
The Klean SV has a pretty good treble performance I must say. It has a great treble extension with a decent amount of air to it. The lower treble feels balanced and not too metallic. Granted it still has some of its flaws, being not very refined or occasionally piercing at higher volume with a peak somewhere after 12khz, but it’s well done for the most part. Electric guitar distortion sounds crunchy and not… fizzy, not having a lot of graininess. With “Caravan” – John Wasson, cymbals sound crisp with a good bite and clarity to them, with a nice audible metallic sheen.
Tech
The Klean SV has an above average technical performance. The stage is still average in size, with good width and height, slightly lacking in height. But the thing that raise the overall point are the imaging and layering. Instruments feel very easy to pinpoint around – nothing feels out of place – and the layering feels fairly sharp.
- What about the USB-C cable?
Measurement wise, the Klean SV’s graph, measuring with the USB-C cable did not show any differences compared to the 3.5mm/4.4mm version’s. However, in real life listening, I think there are still some minute differences. Compared to the DC-Elite (overkill, I know), the USB-C cable gives you a much more low-fi listening experience, a bit less resolving and slightly warmer overall. That said, I also think the USB-C has managed to convey at least 90% what the Klean SV are capable of. I think it’s much closer to the sound of the TP35 Pro. So for on-the-go listening, where you don’t want to fiddle around with a dongle, I think the USB-C cable is the perfect pairing option. There’s also no background noise with the USB-C cable.
Comparison:
Vs Kefine Klean OG
The Klean OG and Klean SV have an almost same build quality, other than the color and the fact that the SV has 3 changeable nozzles while the OG has 2 changeable screws. The SV sells for a few $ more than the OG, but they are more or less in the same price bracket.
Sound wise, I think the SV has a bit more of a refinement – differences here and there – while keeping most of the DNA of the Klean OG. I will compare both of these iem using the silver nozzle.
The OG has a bit lower bass quantity compared to the SV while retaining the same bass quality. As for the midrange, the SV is a bit more emphasized on the upper midrange. Vocals sound more forward, slightly more energetic and cleaner on the SV. Instruments still have a very natural timbre on both sets. I’d say the OG set is a bit warmer than the SV, but it’s not that noticeable.
Most of the differences are in the treble, where the SV has a bit better treble extension, more air. Cymbals sound a bit crisper and snappier. As a result, the SV feels more detailed and resolving than the OG.
Technicalities wise, they are on a similar level for the most part, though I’d say the SV have just a slightly more open stage due to having a bit more air, as well as having better detail retrieval.
Conclusion
The Klean SV is a very nice iem for the price. For a beginner, I’d say the Klean SV can cover quite a lot of music genres out there. Not to mention, there’s a lot of cable options, along with nozzle options for the buyer to choose, to better fit their preferences. If you’re looking for a new iem to enter the hobby before going into a more expensive, above 200$ option, the Klean SV is a pretty great option to go with.
That’s it for my review and thank you for reading.