Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9 and ATH-ESW9A Appreciation Thread - Page 25

 

Follow this link to some "lovely glamor shots" of el fakos!

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/658434/audio-technica-ath-esw10-japan-headphones#post_9357565

Edited by Chris J - 6/4/13 at 9:30am

Esw9 fakes does exist in eBay, at least in the past. If you do a search on headfi for fakes you will see sample of people who did get fakes. Maybe now there aren't as many as they aren't as popular now. I know the first time I bought the esw9 back then people were getting them, heck there were fake m50 back then during te m50 craze.
Edited by soundeffect - 6/4/13 at 11:47am

Hey everybody,

 

Just wanted to post a warning for you guys! Be careful when ordering from Adorama. Even though they are an authorized dealer, they sent me a used and damaged pair of ESW9A. 

 

They shipped my pair in a paper bag lined with a thin layer of foam. When I got the headphones, the paper box that the ESW9's came in was all crushed up, and even the plastic window on the front was all scraped and scuffed up. Personally, I was going to let it go, since I don't really care about the external packaging; however, there were more issues when I finally opened the box.

 

This is my 2nd pair of ESW9A. I bought a pair a year or two ago, but sold them due to curiosity of what else was out there. I know how the headphones are supposed to be packaged, and mine were not packaged the way my last pair were. For one, the "left" and "right" labels on the side of the headphones were not covered with the clear plastic sticker. Furthermore, the wooden cups were not even covered with the plastic film, which they were last time. The cups even have little scuffs/scratches, and pits on them, almost like someone dropped them, or dropped something on them. The thing that irritates me the most, is that the left wooden cup has a visible hairline crack in it. Not cool.

 

I've contacted Adorama and demanded a refund as well as a return shipping label, and they want me to send them pictures of the damage, but my point and shoot camera (best camera I have unfortunately) can't pick up the damage on the wooden cups. :(

 

edit: I just took another look into the box and noticed that the headphone cable in incredibly half-assed wrapped back with the twisty tie... clearly not done by the factory... unless the worker was having an incredibly bad day. =/

Edited by PANGES - 6/4/13 at 1:12pm

I have ordered two ESW9A from amazon.com in the last six months and both are genuine:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATHESW9A-Portable-Wooden-Headphones/dp/B0030O0Q2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370389303&sr=8-1&keywords=esw9

 

Anyone not wanting to worry about real vs. fake should have some confidence with that link (though I see their price is still up...I got mine for $40 less from them).

Anyone worried they can grab mine by PM. I'm not going to post on the for sale forum quite yet as I'm not 100% sure I want to sale yet. But if some one is interest I probably would let it go. I'm having one of those seller moment where I don't want to let it go but need funds.

 

I've been watching amazon.com for months, and have yet to see them drop below $200. :(

@ PANGES:
They should not be giving you excuse for pics and if you just got them they should accept return.
also check you should have protection however you bought them...
credit card charge back,
or through pay pal or amazon.

I am convinced this unit does not sound like my old pair.
Besides the visual difference of the presence of a black felt covering most of the driver surface under the pads...

My old pair were more recessed and laid back .
This newer unit has mids more three dimensional or deeper rather than laid back.
This give impression of being more musical and inviting.

This unit treble seems brighter and more detailed while older unit was sweeter in treble.

The bass is deeper and clearer and larger and more impressive on this unit while the older pair had flabbyer bass.

It sounds so good I am hesitating to do the mod to increase soundstage..
Edited by Maxx134 - 6/5/13 at 12:58am

 

I'm in the same place.  I like mine so much I've been reluctant to upgrade the cable...

Your description seems to match what I think the newer esw9 sounds like according to memory that is.  My first pair I owned was sometime in 2010 where as my new pair are bought about 5 months ago.

 

Yeah, I called back and complained more and they sent me a return shipping label within seconds. Shipped them off already. =/

I totally overlooked the A/C foam you had there. I ordered some computer foam but will now get some of this to compare.
Right now I am using a single strip of cork flexed inside with nice results..

I realizing with the esw9,
any internal mod variation will increase soundstage..
The esw9 is one of my most satisfying portable in stock form but as usual curiosity got the best of me and the unique quality of the wood cup actually promotes positive results from NOT damping or thick stock padding.
Then again these are my views and so your results will vary..

Edit:
Also should note I very carefully removed and put back on the felt pad as I believe it helps with hairs and cup seal:

Edited by Maxx134 - 6/11/13 at 1:06pm

just wanted to let you guys know my esw9a's are for sale at a pretty good price, they are in great condition and have been recabled by BTG audio if anyone is interested.

Personally, I prefer my ESW9 without the felt pad. However, if you want to open your cups and retain the felt pad, you don't need to remove the felt at all. You can simply find the four screw holes and poke through the felt with a Phillips screwdriver. (The unfelted driver in Maxx134's picture shows you where the four screw holes are.)