Fostex TH-600 discontinued / out of production? Get yours now.
Jun 5, 2015 at 3:52 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9

markl

Hangin' with the monkeys.
Member of the Trade: Lawton Audio
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My first post here at good ol' Head-Fi in many years and unfortunately I must be bearer of some potential bad news.
 
A customer alerted me that the TH-600 was missing from the Fostex website, wanted to know what the deal is.
After a few phone calls, here's what we know.
 
I had a chat with Fostex USA distributor, it seems they over-produced this unit, so it’s on a kind of “probation”, I guess you could say, until they have depleted current stock.
This probation period will not begin for a few months, so it is NOT currently technically discontinued (I do not have an exact date for when this may happen).
This may explain the significant discounts we've seen in recent months on the TH-600.
I am told when sales pick up, it may go back into production again.
(TH-900 flagship is still in continuous production, and is NOT affected.)
You can still view the webpage for the TH-600 here, although it is hidden on the main site: http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/TH-600.shtml
 
Not ringing the alarm bell yet, but giving you guys a heads-up that the future of the TH-600 is in some question.
If true, I highly recommend you buy yours now, you will deeply regret missing out on this amazing headphone.
As you well know, these phones are the successor models to the classic bio-cellulose units Fostex made for Denon (AH-D2000/D5000/D7000).
With good reason, those discontinued Denons are still in very high demand and used units sell for very high prices. 
When, for example, the D7000 went out of production, remaining brand new units on the market sold for $1700+, when it retailed closer to $700 when it was still being made.
I strongly believe this will be the case for the mighty TH-600 as well.
 
I think it would be a short-sighted mistake for Fostex to cease production on the TH-600, only to have remaining units skyrocket in price and watch as used units continue to be in high demand.
In any event if you were putting off a TH-600 purchase or were on the fence, time may be running out.
 
 
Mark Lawton
Lawton Audio Headphone Upgrades
 
Jun 13, 2015 at 5:22 AM Post #2 of 9
Not sure if it is discontinued, but it looks like the price has dropped to $450 on B&H and Amazon. Maybe they are trying to clear it out? Who knows, but the price was good enough for me to pick one up as an upgrade over the Denon D2000.
 
Amazon is currently out of stock at the price for now (i bought the last one there), but B&H is still available w/ free shipping (but checkout is down till later today (Saturday). 
 
Jan 6, 2016 at 2:24 AM Post #4 of 9
Been an inactive thread for a while bit going ahead with a post anyways.

Really considering getting the th600. My only drawback is that the consensus seems to be that there may be better cans for my main genres which are mellow electronic music and romantic era piano. I have very smooth melodic tastes and from what I've gathered that's in the realm of mids which are a weak point of these.

Is that an accurate assessment, and if so, are the Lawton upgrades able to significantly enhance and tune the th600 for the genres I described?

Side note, I will be using these for gaming and movies as well, and I'm a basshead, so available mods that boost the bass and subbass regions are also of particular interest.

Thanks!
 
Jan 6, 2016 at 2:53 AM Post #5 of 9
Been an inactive thread for a while bit going ahead with a post anyways.

Really considering getting the th600. My only drawback is that the consensus seems to be that there may be better cans for my main genres which are mellow electronic music and romantic era piano. I have very smooth melodic tastes and from what I've gathered that's in the realm of mids which are a weak point of these.

Is that an accurate assessment, and if so, are the Lawton upgrades able to significantly enhance and tune the th600 for the genres I described?

Side note, I will be using these for gaming and movies as well, and I'm a basshead, so available mods that boost the bass and subbass regions are also of particular interest.

Thanks!


Can check out the TH-X00 too maybe? The impressions I've read said they balanced out the signature a bit. Though it was a massdrop thing so atm only available used.
 
Jan 6, 2016 at 3:03 AM Post #6 of 9
Can check out the TH-X00 too maybe? The impressions I've read said they balanced out the signature a bit. Though it was a massdrop thing so atm only available used.


Thanks, yeah I see a lot of those popping up in the classifieds and they sell quick. I'm leaning towards the 600 because of the stronger bass emphasis (from what I've read) and awesome upgrade potential. Definitely on the radar though. Wish more th600 and dx1000 would pop up!
 
Jun 16, 2016 at 3:28 PM Post #9 of 9

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