stuartr
Loyal member of Team Useful Post.
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- Oct 18, 2001
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I just got back from a trip from Japan, and I am duly impressed by the hospitality and service of the Japanese manufacturers, especially Audio Technica. I have studied Japanese culture and speak Japanese, so it was not totally unexpected, but it was still amazing. Well, Sony first. The Sony building in Ginza, Tokyo, is a large, modern building which encases the treasures of one of the most advanced electronics manufacturing companies in the world. There are six floors of displays, the second floor is a partnership with BMW and has a new wagon that they are coming out with. As the floors get higher, the merchandise increases in quality. The lower levels are the newer minidisk and portable cd players, followed by VAIO computers, plasma TV’s and the high end audio. The top floor is the new Qualia showroom. I spoke to one of the Qualia salespeople, and she gave me the opportunity to listen to the new Qualia 010 headphones…the replacement for the MDR-R10 “king” headphones. I had a fairly short audition with them (15 minutes), listening to Glen Gould’s Goldberg variations, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 revisited and Norah Jones’s album. They sounded good, felt excellent and looked great. The amp was the new qualia amplifier, which also doubled as an SACD player. It was fair. Some of the combinations I have heard (including my own) have bested it, but I think they are excellent headphones. I would rate them below the R-10’s, but better than the HD-600s with normal amplification. I would need extended comparative listening to see if they were really as world class as they purport to be. After the listening session, the saleswoman asked that I fill out a questionnaire about my experience. At the risk of offense (I told her this), I answered completely truthfully. I felt that the Qualia headphones were excellent, though a bit too bright, and did not offer performance relative to their price point (they list at about 2000 dollars). In my opinion, they are certainly not 4 times better than the HD-650s, though they are an excellent and comfortable headphone. The saleswoman was very polite, and thanked me for my opinions and asked that I come again. The service was top notch, and I encourage anyone who visits Tokyo to make the effort to stop by and try for themselves.
As for Audio Technica – I stumbled upon the building totally randomly. I study Russian and Japanese cultural relations, and it just so happens that one of the centers of Russo-Japanese interaction, the Nikolai Cathedral in Ochanomizu is very near the Audio Technica building. As I was out looking for lunch in Ochanomizu, I saw the Audio Technica sign on a building. I went in and told the receptionist that I was an American headphone enthusiast interested in AT headphones, and asked if they had a showroom (such as Sony and many of the other large Japanese firms). She replied that they did not, but they had a small display in the lobby of the Leatherheads a Marantz SACD player and the Air ATH-AD10 headphones. She invited me to sit down, and called a representative from the company (I did not really know what they were doing). The man came down and invited me to listen to the headphones. (Keep in mind at this point that was a sweaty gaijin (foreigner…it was about 98 degrees) who had just randomly wandered in off the street). When he realized there was no amp, he asked the receptionist to call the advertising department, and they brought me down some chilled green tea. As I sat sipping green tea, an advertising tech setup AT’s new ATH-DA3000 digital amplifier for me to listen to. They answered all my questions, and hooked up the two headphones to the new amp and let me listen, even providing a beatles cd. Though those at the socal meet may remember that I felt that the leatherheads were really not on the level of the greater phones (R-10, HP1000, PS-1, HD-650), I felt that in this setup they faired very very well. From a very brief listening session, I think that the new digital amplifier is very very good. I don’t know that I would pay 3000 bucks for it, but I think that the leatherheads sounded better to me out of it than they have out of anything else. Well, in any case, the service and consideration that AT had for just a random guy off the street is astounding, and I would be proud to own any of their products from here forward. This is just a brief report of some impressions of the Tokyo headphone scene. My apologies…I spent most of my time in the used camera equipment stores…nevertheless, I hope these comments will be of use to someone.
As for Audio Technica – I stumbled upon the building totally randomly. I study Russian and Japanese cultural relations, and it just so happens that one of the centers of Russo-Japanese interaction, the Nikolai Cathedral in Ochanomizu is very near the Audio Technica building. As I was out looking for lunch in Ochanomizu, I saw the Audio Technica sign on a building. I went in and told the receptionist that I was an American headphone enthusiast interested in AT headphones, and asked if they had a showroom (such as Sony and many of the other large Japanese firms). She replied that they did not, but they had a small display in the lobby of the Leatherheads a Marantz SACD player and the Air ATH-AD10 headphones. She invited me to sit down, and called a representative from the company (I did not really know what they were doing). The man came down and invited me to listen to the headphones. (Keep in mind at this point that was a sweaty gaijin (foreigner…it was about 98 degrees) who had just randomly wandered in off the street). When he realized there was no amp, he asked the receptionist to call the advertising department, and they brought me down some chilled green tea. As I sat sipping green tea, an advertising tech setup AT’s new ATH-DA3000 digital amplifier for me to listen to. They answered all my questions, and hooked up the two headphones to the new amp and let me listen, even providing a beatles cd. Though those at the socal meet may remember that I felt that the leatherheads were really not on the level of the greater phones (R-10, HP1000, PS-1, HD-650), I felt that in this setup they faired very very well. From a very brief listening session, I think that the new digital amplifier is very very good. I don’t know that I would pay 3000 bucks for it, but I think that the leatherheads sounded better to me out of it than they have out of anything else. Well, in any case, the service and consideration that AT had for just a random guy off the street is astounding, and I would be proud to own any of their products from here forward. This is just a brief report of some impressions of the Tokyo headphone scene. My apologies…I spent most of my time in the used camera equipment stores…nevertheless, I hope these comments will be of use to someone.
