Closer Examination

There is not much information online about the cable which ships with the Elysian Pilgrim, which I suppose also points to the apathy from the brand towards the accessories provided with the set. When you place an order for the Pilgrim, you need to choose whether to go for the 3.5 mm single-ended termination or the 4.4 mm balanced option, or both if you want two cables. This is not a modular cable thus, which is slightly disappointing for the overall user experience. I have the 4.4 mm version here, and we see the plug leading to an aluminium housing given a beaded finish—no branding here. The cable itself maintains the silver aesthetic with the use of silver-plated copper conductor in two relatively thick strands; I wasn't a fan of the feel of the cable in that it came off loose and cheap. It's functional, albeit there were minor microphonics when brushing against my shirt or the desk. The splitter is low in profile and has the Elysian logo on it, with the cable cinch doing a good job in helping keep the two section thereafter in place as you use it in front or behind your head. On the IEM side, we have pre-formed ear hooks leading to Pentaconn Ear connectors, which are quite rare in the IEM world and were not actually installed flush with the housing—thankfully nothing which will really matter for functionality. Pentaconn claims this is a more durable connector that is easier to fit and remove than MMCX, but please note that the two are not interchangeable and thus there are far fewer replacement cable options too. There are subtle L/R markings on the housings to help identify the left and right channels, respectively, and the metal plugs on either end are gold-plated for oxidation resistance.


While the accessories may not be the best in the price segment the Pilgrim competes in, I will give Elysian Acoustic Labs a shout-out for going with metal shells rather than the usual resin. These are more expensive to manufacture and also end up feeling more premium to look at and hold, albeit some may not prefer the added weight and feeling in the ears. The Pilgrim uses CNC-machined aluminium shells as well as faceplates, which in turn have concentric circular patterns cut into them for aesthetics. The goal here is to remind you of rolling hills, or knolls. Note also the holes in the faceplate which end up acting as vents for the dynamic driver, this is a clever way of doing so rather than having holes in the shells. Branding comes in the form of the Elysian logo in the middle on both sides which are otherwise mirror forms of each other.


Here's a closer look at the faceplates, which may seem sharp to the touch but have rounded corners to be quite comfortable to hold and use. In fact, the Pilgrim also has ergonomically shaped shells, as expected, so functionally this is still very good. The Pentaconn ear connector juts out slightly past the surface of the shells, so this is the only "sharp" point to be seen on the Pilgrim. It's otherwise very clean looking from the sides with a similar beaded finish as on the cable hardware. The inner side touching your ears has the IEM name, the serial number, and L/R markings. The nozzle is made of 304 stainless steel, which is why you can see it welded in place and looking/feeling different from the shells. It's close enough to not be an issue for me, and will not even be visible with the ear tips installed anyway. The nozzle is thicker than average at 6.08 mm at the end and 5.7 mm elsewhere. It's also relatively short and not angled as much as I'd like, so there is a possibility you may not be able to get a deep fit. This is especially so when you consider the pivot point on the provided Spinfit ear tips is just at the end of the nozzle, meaning the flange may not actually pivot as well into your ear canals. There is a metal filter on the end of the nozzle to prevent contaminants from entering the acoustic chamber, this would have been accounted for when tuning the set too. We also see what appears to be a damper placed on one of the acoustic tubes, presumably leading from the balanced armature drivers.


I do recommend tip rolling in case you have similar fit/seal issues with the stock tips as I did. The next step is to connect the cable by carefully identifying the matching channels and orienting the ear hooks around your ear when connecting the IEMs. Doing so is extremely simple since you just push the male ends of these Pentaconn Ear connectors into the female ones on the IEMs, at which point I realized this is a hybrid of the 2-pin and MMCX plugs in that it is a push or friction fit as with the former, but has free rotation as with the latter. There is no click as with MMCX plugs, and I felt more comfortable connecting and disconnecting these, too.