place to demo headphones in Washington DC - Page 2

MICCA who is the US Fios dist is 'based' out of Fairfax but they have no actual shop.  My e9 was bad and I asked them if I could drop it off in person, thinking it would be quicker than paying to ship but they said I couldn't.

Dang.  That would be great if they had a better interface for their operation.  I'm in Fairfax every day. 

Anyone know where one might find Beyerdynamic products in the NoVA area?

Yes.  Guitar Center carries a few models of Beyerdynamics headphones.  I know the Fairfax store has them on the shelf.  Probably the easiest thing to do is to visit the Guitar Center Web site and see which models are available for sale at your local store (vs. ordering them) and head on over.  Other than G.C., I'm personally not aware of another retailer that that carries Beyer.  Also, don't forget to ask for a price match if they have what you want and some other vendor sells them for less.

Hmm ... When I checked the FiiO Web site last evening, they had a physical address listed for MICCA as being on Nutley Street.  Google Maps shows it to be in the area of the Pan Am shopping center - where the Safeway and the Micro Center are located.  I wonder if they're running the operation out of the back of one of the drycleaners in that strip mall ?   

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Frank was great. You can read all about it in my review post here.

Thanks for the good write-up of Frank and his extensive customer support services.  Which headphones did you settle on?

 

I ended up with the Etymotic hf3's for me iPhone, and the Grado's sr125's as my mobile/secondary/guest pair in my laptop bag.

 

I'm using a pair of the Beyer dt990's with my Xonar Essence ST, which sadly Frank doesn't carry any of the Beyers, but I definitely got a feel for what I wanted out of a set that was going to be married to my computer for life and chose the 990's based on the opinions formed at EarHead.

 

I find myself using the grados quite a bit when away from the office, mostly because I can't hear a bloody thing with the hf3's in and the in-ear monitors aren't as comfortable over long periods of time.

Geofram,

 

I tried to get the Etymotic (can't remember the model #, but they are $79) from the Apple store this week.  But, the Apple store had the other models.  I wanted that specific Etymotic ear bud because I've read the cable is reinforced with Kevlar.  I thought it would be durable - and stand the test of time.

 

Sadly, I was trying quite hard to do this shopping during my lunch break and ended up getting the Klipsch Image S4 ear buds for $79 from Best Buy.  So far, they are very comfortable - and, ironically, sound great, too.  I won't reference review sites regarding these ear buds because it's really hard to judge a pair based on reviews.  One needs to try them out for themselves and see how they feel, etc.

 

At the end of my adventure, I sent an e-mail to Etymotic and asked them to remove Best Buy from their list of area authorized vendors as Best Buy does not have any of the Etymotic ear buds listed on their Web site, nor for sale in their stores.  To me, this was a bit of a let down.

I tried the Shure and Klipsch lines alongside the Etymotic. (Yes Frank gives you several tips to try them all!) and the etymotics just took the cake. The hf3's ($179) are superb, so easy to get in and are invisible in my ears. I was on the metro this morning and listened to music at 3 notches above zero on the iphone, 10% or so. I might as well have been at home. I've got enough extra tips, maybe 12 pair total of all the variation, and extra filters which you only need to replace once a year. I even think the microphone is a better quality.
Edited by Geofram - 4/1/11 at 6:07pm

 

I just thought I'd point out that Lederer's Sound doesn't sell headphones.  I've contacted them in the past.  Also, I've contacted them to see if they sell cables and TRS connectors for headphone cables, but they don't stock that type of inventory either.  Most of their installations is in areas that are under construction, so they use an in wall / in ceiling wiring that is plenum rated for code safety.  The owner is a great guy to talk to, but I just don't have a need for their offerings.

 

Also, I've dealt with The Gifted Listener a few times for purchases.  The guy in there can be a bit pushy at times.  He doesn't seem to be able to ask a customer what they're looking for in a product.  Instead, he hears about half of your first sentence, then drags you across the showroom to demonstrate what he believes you need.  I really love to try and keep local business afloat, but when one gets put in those situations, it's a bit uncomfortable to shop in such an environment.  Plus, paying retail price + sales tax kind of knocks the wind out of the sails, too.
 

 

I wanted to add an update to this listing.  Based on a call I made a week or so ago, IQ Entertainment of Fairfax (in the old Tweeter location) is now an authorized Grado dealer.  I actually found it out by visiting the Grado site and checking the list of authorized retailers near me and their name came up.  http://www.iq-av.com   Additionally, they sell Sennheiser, too.   The ability to demonstrate them is a bit limited because very few places have one of each headphone they sell out on display for you to use - which is actually too bad.  If someone were to bring in their portable player and amp, they'd get an idea of the sound signature to determine whether it was love or hate.  This would probably cut down on the returns in a big way, too.

 

I'm in this area myself.  When you guys say "they carry Grado," do they have models for demo, and which ones?  It wouldn't be worth the trip for the lower-end ones, but the RS1 and above would be.