I paid the full $199 at a local store in July because I fell in love with them right there, and they were so new that I didn't think there would be online deals yet. (I didn't know they came out in Feb 07).
Also, I don't feel that they completely "soften the thump because they are slow". Even using Shure Orange Foam tips I played some drum solo's and they hit almost as quickly as my other IEM with balanced armatures. Previously I had spent a lot of time listening to one track in particular for a buyer right before I sold my SE310 and had compaired them back then (Tord Gustavsen Trio, Being There album, Track 7 "Karmosin"), and they seemed to be close to the SE310 in speed, with a little more amplitude.
I tried them again this morning vs my E500 now that I don't have the SE310's to compare to, and they Denon are just as good as I remember; but while they could beat the SE310 in a lot of things I feel the E500 still stomp the Denon. The C700 still hold up very well vs the new competition with the hit of the bass drum and string bass, although the E500 do have more of everything (speed, punch, thump, depth).
I put on some electronic music with synth bass (Jean-Michel Jarre, MTV music maker trance music), and the C700 give me all the bass impact I need but again, the E500 hit harder and feel more visceral, while the C700 are certainly not lacking. They C700 go quite low with synth bass, certainly below 32hz. Again, this is with Shure Orange Foamies.
The Denon silicon tips speeds up the bass a little, but I am not taking them off now to try that again because I always detroy the orange foamies trying to get them off.
HERE IS ANOTHER EYE OPENER - MY 3G IPOD NANO KICKS BUTT ON THE MACBOOK FOR ITUNES SOUND QUALITY, INCLUDING BASS IMPACT. OMG!!! I can't stand the Macbook without my iBasso D1 DAC/AMP anymore - using the macbook and itunes as a source makes the C700 sound like poooo
So, make sure you have a good source before you complain about the headphones.