The death of headphone retail?
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:09 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 20

squee116

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Hi,
 
This may be a bit presumptuous, but I honestly get the feeling that I'm missing out. 
 
I'm 27, and my dad was an audio equipment salesman, designer, and engineer since the 1970s.  He worked with Onkyo and several large companies, and began servicing audio equipment in the late 1980s.
 
I always hear tell of how you couldn't swing a cat without hitting a hi-fi shop in San Fernando Valley, just outside of Los Angeles proper. There would be huge display rooms, filled with equipment for you to test. I understand that over-saturation of the market can lead to a culling, but what's left is sparse and rather sad.
 
I recently ventured over to Shelley's while visiting home for winter break.  The head phone selection was anemic, the displays offered little in terms of playing one's own music, and a total of 3 different brands were offered, with about 3 or 4 models being available per brand.  Besides them, and Best Buy, there's not much available in the area.  Apparently one must jump from BEATS to Audeze without much in between, least wise if you want to audition the equipment.
 
With the resurgence of headphones in terms of popularity, how or why aren't there more retailers that service the low to mid-fi market more completely?
 
Is there an industry reason, or are we just waiting for entrepreneurs to pick up the slack? 
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:22 AM Post #2 of 20
From a business POV, there's a lot of overhead involved with a store front - a lot.  Leases for these store fronts can be mind boggling.
 
I think you'll never find a dedicated low-mid-fi level store. There just isn't enough profit margins for business and personal sustainability. At least on the smaller scale.
 
That's where the Best Buys, Magnolia Hi-Fi (owned by Best Buy) and equivalent large chain stores comes into play. 
 
Depending on one's location, there are stores that carry a wider range of headphones and equipment with descent representation of the low-mid end stuff, but it's always the higher end stuff that steals the showroom floor spaces.
 
The other end of the store front coin is the virtual one - Amazon.  Most brick and mortar or mom/pop shops cannot compete and sadly, must close their doors forever.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:55 AM Post #3 of 20
Short answer: Amazon. People will go to the store, try all the headphones, then buy the same model online cheaper and the store gets nothing, because competing with the online retailers isn't worth their time unless the store is huge (like you have with the electronics stores in Japan, which have a points system and still a large number of internet-shy, cash-preferring customers).
 
Have a read of this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/731215/i-got-kicked-out-of-stereo-exchange
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 7:18 AM Post #4 of 20
  Short answer: Amazon. People will go to the store, try all the headphones, then buy the same model online cheaper and the store gets nothing, because competing with the online retailers isn't worth their time unless the store is huge (like you have with the electronics stores in Japan, which have a points system and still a large number of internet-shy, cash-preferring customers).
 
Have a read of this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/t/731215/i-got-kicked-out-of-stereo-exchange

I may have misinterpreted the basic tone of that thread, but it sounded to me like people are hankering for a chance to visit a brick and mortar headphone store that lets them audition equipment.
 
The arguments seemed to be centered around whether the internet is something to be embraced or chastised.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 7:23 AM Post #5 of 20
  From a business POV, there's a lot of overhead involved with a store front - a lot.  Leases for these store fronts can be mind boggling.
 
I think you'll never find a dedicated low-mid-fi level store. There just isn't enough profit margins for business and personal sustainability. At least on the smaller scale.
 
That's where the Best Buys, Magnolia Hi-Fi (owned by Best Buy) and equivalent large chain stores comes into play. 
 
Depending on one's location, there are stores that carry a wider range of headphones and equipment with descent representation of the low-mid end stuff, but it's always the higher end stuff that steals the showroom floor spaces.
 
The other end of the store front coin is the virtual one - Amazon.  Most brick and mortar or mom/pop shops cannot compete and sadly, must close their doors forever.

That does make sense.  It just bums me out that I have to buy headphones without being able to test them, unless I want Skullcandy or Beats, and only if I want to test them with the pre-programmed display.  I'd like to do A-B comparisons between AKG701, ATH-M50, Fidelio X1, and so on (just as an example), before spending 200 to 300 on them.  Or being able to sample what difference having a discrete DAC vs using a motherboard and an amp for my PC can make.  The fact that I need to drop benjamins on other people's words without much chance to investigate myself makes me more hesitant to invest in a hobby I'd otherwise probably be spending more on.

For instance, I love my AKG 712 Pros.  After getting them, I recommend them to all my gaming friends for use in video games, or just general use.  But they aren't cheap, and I have more disposable income than my friends.  When Massdrop released the K7xx, my first reaction was to buy a pair for a friend's birthday as a gift.  But I can't tell if his ears are the same as mine, and he didn't have any place to try out some AKGs.  If he liked the Q701 or K701, I'd have been just as happy to buy those for him, since there wasn't a release of the K7xx. (The drop had already ended)

Alas, there wasn't, and I ended up waiting until the K7xx was dropped again, and I bought him a pair.  There's still a week on the drop, and I recommended that he get a Schiit amp for his setup, as again, his money is tight.  But that might be 100$ spent by him for a sound that's too bright, too dark, or who knows what else. 
 
The idea of CanJams actually kind of settles into what I'm thinking the industry needs, but those are rarely local (I haven't been able to attend one yet; just seen pics), and I don't presume to know if those are easier or cheaper to organize in the long run.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 10:21 AM Post #6 of 20
All of retail is hurting, not just hi-fi audio.  It's the magic of googling a product and having prices from 20 vendors pop up, with tax and shipping line items pre-separated.  
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 3:51 PM Post #7 of 20
The high street as we call it in the uk, are very Beats-centric. And they have limited options for Sennheiser. Richer Sounds is pretty much the only hifi shop that I know of in my area, and there's no middle ground with their range of headphones. They start with limited budget options, and then leap up to higher end stuff. Beyerdynamic on the high street, forget it. I actually bought my dt 990's in my area from a pro audio outlet, kind of an online setup for studio applications, professional consumers. But you can pick stuff up from their warehouse, so I went down there and paid for my beyers in cash in their office. I was wandering around a business park wondering where the heck to go, I eventually found the place and had to bang on the shutters! Seemed strange.
I thought why couldn't I have just walked into a shop for my cans?
 
Maybe ipods and the like are killing hifi?
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:06 PM Post #8 of 20
  The high street as we call it in the uk, are very Beats-centric. And they have limited options for Sennheiser. Richer Sounds is pretty much the only hifi shop that I know of in my area, and there's no middle ground with their range of headphones. They start with limited budget options, and then leap up to higher end stuff. Beyerdynamic on the high street, forget it. I actually bought my dt 990's in my area from a pro audio outlet, kind of an online setup for studio applications, professional consumers. But you can pick stuff up from their warehouse, so I went down there and paid for my beyers in cash in their office. I was wandering around a business park wondering where the heck to go, I eventually found the place and had to bang on the shutters! Seemed strange.
I thought why couldn't I have just walked into a shop for my cans?
 
Maybe ipods and the like are killing hifi?

I think they may be hurting speakers, but you'd think complimentary goods like headphones should be booming with them.  My experience is very similar to yours, in terms of looking for headphones between 300 to 1000 dollars.  There just isn't a local place that sells them, let alone audition them.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:21 PM Post #9 of 20
If your intent is to "try" before you buy, or just want to hear what a particular headphone may sound like, your best bet is is search for any local meets.  You may have to drive a bit, but it's worth the experience, especially if it's your first time.  The other route is to identify close by members and meet up in a relatively quiet place.
 
I haven't been to a huge gathering of manufacturers like what's represented at CANJAM and the like, but from talking to people who have, one shouldn't make their minds up based on that experience as it has the least ideal environment to make prudent judgments, and from what I'm told, the vendor setups are like any other setup that wants your business; optimized to make their products sound good, which may or may not reflect your ideal setup and expectations.
 
Good luck OP.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:23 PM Post #10 of 20
  I think they may be hurting speakers, but you'd think complimentary goods like headphones should be booming with them.  My experience is very similar to yours, in terms of looking for headphones between 300 to 1000 dollars.  There just isn't a local place that sells them, let alone audition them.

It's generally wall to wall Beats and Skullcandy where I live. I did manage to pick up my Senn hd 429's from a local shop. There are usually gaps in the ranges... they stock Senn hd 429 and 449, but no 439 for example. I bought my CAL!'s online from Amazon. I generally have to rely on reviews of cans, there's next to no chance of auditioning them in stores like you say.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 4:27 PM Post #11 of 20
  If your intent is to "try" before you buy, or just want to hear what a particular headphone may sound like, your best bet is is search for any local meets.  You may have to drive a bit, but it's worth the experience, especially if it's your first time.  The other route is to identify close by members and meet up in a relatively quiet place.
 
I haven't been to a huge gathering of manufacturers like what's represented at CANJAM and the like, but from talking to people who have, one shouldn't make their minds up based on that experience as it has the least ideal environment to make prudent judgments, and from what I'm told, the vendor setups are like any other setup that wants your business; optimized to make their products sound good, which may or may not reflect your ideal setup and expectations.
 
Good luck OP.

That's somewhat sad.  So CANJAM isn't any different from visiting Best Buy, in terms of experience, rather it just offers a wider variety of products to pseudo-test?
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:08 PM Post #12 of 20
That's somewhat sad.  So CANJAM isn't any different from visiting Best Buy, in terms of experience, rather it just offers a wider variety of products to pseudo-test?


No sir, Canjam is very much different from Best Buy and Magnolia by being a trade show with companies providing their information and equipment for you to audition. I went to Canjam 2014 at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver last October, and while it was not as enriching of an experience as the local head-fi meet held in my area (Houston) last July, I heard from many interesting individuals, heard from very fantastic audio equipment (like the Ayre QB-9, Head-Amp Blue Hawaii SE, and JPS Labs Abyss), and I was able to have a free draft beer after talking to jude (co-administrator here) in the flesh and all. Remember, this is a trade show that focuses on headphones and audio equipment tuned for headphones; it is not much like anything your father saw in past audio shows.

Assuming the CanJam SoCal 2015 will be around you (in Anaheim, CA I think), you should attend it and spend a lot of time doing what I did there. After that, you can wait for the next local head-fi meet coming to your area, so that you can get to know other people and their audio setups more personally. Who knows? You might even see someone you have not seen in years, which is what I experienced as well. :)

Edit: Personal message me your cell phone number and I can text a picture or two of what I took at Canjam as proof of what I just said.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:19 PM Post #13 of 20
No sir, Canjam is very much different from Best Buy and Magnolia by being a trade show with companies providing their information and equipment for you to audition. I went to Canjam 2014 at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver last October, and while it was not as enriching of an experience as the local head-fi meet held in my area (Houston) last July, I heard from many interesting individuals, heard from very fantastic audio equipment (like the Ayre QB-9, Head-Amp Blue Hawaii SE, and JPS Labs Abyss), and I was able to have a free draft beer after talking to jude (co-administrator here) in the flesh and all. Remember, this is a trade show that focuses on headphones and audio equipment tuned for headphones; it is not much like anything your father saw in past audio shows.

Assuming the CanJam SoCal 2015 will be around you (in Anaheim, CA I think), you should attend it and spend a lot of time doing what I did there. After that, you can wait for the next local head-fi meet coming to your area, so that you can get to know other people and their audio setups more personally. Who knows? You might even see someone you have not seen in years, which is what I experienced as well.
smily_headphones1.gif


Edit: Personal message me your cell phone number and I can text a picture or two of what I took at Canjam as proof of what I just said.

I didn't mean to say everything was the same, but that the headphone testing experience was tailored to the headphones.  I'd prefer to be able to test my own music, using my specific recordings, etc. to see how the headphones will serve me.  I may still visit a CANJAM, just to go, as I'm a bit of a convention junkie.  Anaheim is a bit of a ways away from where I am, but not unmanageable.

Just as an aside, I've been in Dallas for 6 months.  In some ways I'm glad to be going back to California, and in others, I'm going to miss Texas.
 
Jan 30, 2015 at 6:26 PM Post #14 of 20
I didn't mean to say everything was the same, but that the headphone testing experience was tailored to the headphones.  I'd prefer to be able to test my own music, using my specific recordings, etc. to see how the headphones will serve me.  I may still visit a CANJAM, just to go, as I'm a bit of a convention junkie.  Anaheim is a bit of a ways away from where I am, but not unmanageable.


Just as an aside, I've been in Dallas for 6 months.  In some ways I'm glad to be going back to California, and in others, I'm going to miss Texas.


Well, I was able to listen to my own music at many of the company booths, and I was even welcome to hook up my own DAP to their equipment after asking them. If anything, I did wish I had remembered to ask them more often, but that is okay as their stuff was almost always better than mine. Yeah, the way you worded your previous post made me have to testify against you. :wink: BTW, it is in Costa Mesa, CA and not Anaheim, but still very close. Here is the Canjam 2015 SoCal thread, read as much of the important stuff as you can:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/741136/canjam-socal-2015-march-28-29-2015-its-official
 
Jan 31, 2015 at 8:17 AM Post #15 of 20
The head-fi retail bricks-and-mortars scene is alive where I live - Singapore. In a small island only 40 km at its widest point, we are blessed with almost everything a head-fier could want. And what we can't get, nearby cities like Hong Kong and Tokyo will have. Failing which, the Internet.
 

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