[gr34td3str0y3r]

This doesn't surprise me even at the slightest..
Japan is a country that treats consumers and generally it's citizens with respect and they provide excellent services..
Sometimes i feel that they are 100 years ahead from the rest of us..
I had the pleasure to visit Japan some years ago and i felt like i was in another world..

Wow. Been living in japan for 6 years. I love japan but feel exactly opposite. They are 100 years behind the rest of the world.

Edit: japan may a ton of headphones. They have about 5 or 6 times the offering of audio techinica than in the USA. Problem is no reviews on any of it!!! Unless you count amazon japan. But are you guys going to trust amazon USA reviews to buy your equipment??? Plus in japan they don't publish as many specs. I can't find any info on the output impedance on any of the audio techinica Amps.
Basically buying anything in japan is a total guessing game. They don't have hardly any of the boutique amps and dac companies like in the USA. Carroteone is one of the few. Reviews... None that can trusted.

Are theirs any high quaintly budget stuff even available in japan like jds or schiit or little dot, etc etc etc? No!

As someone getting into the audiophile hobby and living in japan, japan is a audiophile nightmare!!! Far from a paradise.

I mean if I. Had endless cash and could just buy a couple dozen unknown amps, dacs and heqdphones then I am sure I will find some good stuff. When I have limited budget, 600$ for a complete cans dac and amp set up, it's 100% can not be done. I'm importing jds odac and o2. The o2 is the just about the only American amp that will work in japan.

 

[TsukiNick]

Wish we carried better headphones where I work, we had a few decent ones HD598, HD558, MDR-V6 but they are all being phased out of the franchise.  If a customer wants to try a headphone they start carving into the box without permission a lot of the time.  I'm pretty easy going if they ask to try a headphone I'll gladly open up a box carefully and let them test it.
 
Only displays we have are Beats, Monster, Bose and Sony.  The Monster displays are always broken beyond all repair.  Bose ones malfunction but the customers treat the Bose with respect.  The Beats get broken but replaced.  But only the Bose display let's you try it out with your own music.
 
I'm sure there are better stores in big cities in America, perhaps L.A., New York etc.  There just really isn't that many people that care about audio quality to justify opening a big headphone store. In Japan where the population density is huge there are going to be more people that care about sound, just my guess.

 

[arnaud]

Wow. Been living in japan for 6 years. I love japan but feel exactly opposite. They are 100 years behind the rest of the world.

Edit: japan may a ton of headphones. They have about 5 or 6 times the offering of audio techinica than in the USA. Problem is no reviews on any of it!!! Unless you count amazon japan. But are you guys going to trust amazon USA reviews to buy your equipment??? Plus in japan they don't publish as many specs. I can't find any info on the output impedance on any of the audio techinica Amps.
Basically buying anything in japan is a total guessing game. They don't have hardly any of the boutique amps and dac companies like in the USA. Carroteone is one of the few. Reviews... None that can trusted.

Are theirs any high quaintly budget stuff even available in japan like jds or schiit or little dot, etc etc etc? No!

As someone getting into the audiophile hobby and living in japan, japan is a audiophile nightmare!!! Far from a paradise.

I mean if I. Had endless cash and could just buy a couple dozen unknown amps, dacs and heqdphones then I am sure I will find some good stuff. When I have limited budget, 600$ for a complete cans dac and amp set up, it's 100% can not be done. I'm importing jds odac and o2. The o2 is the just about the only American amp that will work in japan.

eh?

 

[Mad Max]

  eh?

 
Does the following accurately portray how you feel?
 

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

eh?

Okay. So living in Japan what would advice me to buy? For someone getting into this hobby.
Where do I go trusted reviews on Japanese only equipment?
Where are affordable high quality goods sold because I can't find any?

 

[arnaud]

Fujiya-avic / Audio-union used stores would be a place to start. I think e-earphone also has 2nd hand stuff. 
 
Not sure about your budget, if it's O2 level budget, probably the only way you're gonna be happy is start shaping up with DIY skills...
 
Where are you based in Japan? We meet up from times to times, exchange gear so may get a good deal there too.
 
Arnaud

 

[GeneraI]

Japan is the place where audiophile's only dream of. They have the most headphones plus they make the Stax headphones. The only thing I don't like is that they overprice their products to america. I saw some cable's on amazon that are usually $20 dollars ,but in Japan they are $400. Plus the stax headphones would usually be around $3,000 if they were made anywhere but japan. On amazon they stax are $6,000-$7,000 over the already premium price of $4,000.

 

[Olympus Mons]

Nice pics. Wish the stores around me had a selection like that.

 

[jjmai]

Okay. So living in Japan what would advice me to buy? For someone getting into this hobby.
Where do I go trusted reviews on Japanese only equipment?
Where are affordable high quality goods sold because I can't find any?

This store had been mentioned in this thread, with physical shops in Osaka and Akihabara:
http://www.e-earphone.jp/

 

[Xenophon]

If the pics in this thread are any indication, you can review plenty of gear...by auditioning it!  I've yet to encounter a place where you can find a Stax setup dangling off a rack and audition/compare it to more or less all the flagships of other brands.  If you want to see what an audiophile desert looks like, jump on a plane to India...
 
Sure, imported stuff's hyper expensive but who says you actually have to purchase it in JP?  I assume that if you're living there for your job they pay you plane tickets back home?  Purchase there, reclaim all the taxes on export and you're golden.  That's what I do whenever I visit Europe.  Anyway, I'll be in Tokyo in 3 weeks and definitely plan on trying some stuff and stocking up if the prices are right, not just on audio gear but also on high-quality Jap. denim and the likes (exquisite quality at half the price in Europe, that last one).  No place is perfect, enjoy the positives.

 

[Kajisan]

Haha I just saw this thread after posting in the members lounge about visiting Japan, I will just copy and paste:

"For Audio there's tons of store in Akihabara that sells Audiophile gear, the most common place is yodobashi Camera or Bic Camera. They both carry a wide range, the best part as Deadlylover pointed out is that you can sample most of the sub 1000$ headphones in the store without having to ask the workers there (you can try most of the expensive as well, you just have to politely ask). I was there recently and I tried the HD800 and Se846 (they have a lot other high end brands like Ultraones, AKG, Hifiman, Beyerdynamic, Grado, Denon, Audio-tech, fostex, Audeze and a lot more)."

As Xenophon pointed out, its a bit expensive on a lot of high end imported brands, but being able to test them all out is awesome (except now I want to buy the SE846....Damnit why did i try it!!!). 

oh and yes Japanese denim is the best, bought myself a Evisu and Samurai denim.
 

 

[Xenophon]

Big fan of Samurai denim, and of Big John, Momotaro, Nakaya fountain pens, the (high grade) food, architecture, Horiyoshi tattoo art, high performance tuned motorcycles....Japanese high end combines minimalist aesthetics with supreme quality.  Hell, I lugged my tatami and futon over from Europe when I shifted to India for my job.   Comes at a price, sure, but perfection is priceless.  
 
About the opposite from India I'm afraid, my Japanese colleagues all tell me (after a couple of beers/sake) that they feel like they've been dropped in hell here, society's almost the opposite of what they know at home.

 

[Snips]

  Haha I just saw this thread after posting in the members lounge about visiting Japan, I will just copy and paste:

"For Audio there's tons of store in Akihabara that sells Audiophile gear, the most common place is yodobashi Camera or Bic Camera. They both carry a wide range, the best part as Deadlylover pointed out is that you can sample most of the sub 1000$ headphones in the store without having to ask the workers there (you can try most of the expensive as well, you just have to politely ask). I was there recently and I tried the HD800 and Se846 (they have a lot other high end brands like Ultraones, AKG, Hifiman, Beyerdynamic, Grado, Denon, Audio-tech, fostex, Audeze and a lot more)."

As Xenophon pointed out, its a bit expensive on a lot of high end imported brands, but being able to test them all out is awesome (except now I want to buy the SE846....Damnit why did i try it!!!). 

oh and yes Japanese denim is the best, bought myself a Evisu and Samurai denim.
 

 
Heh, I'm quite a fan of Evisu also.
 
Anyways I visited Japan back in September last year, Kyoto and Osaka to be exact. Walked into this big electronics mall in Osaka and saw an entire wall full of headphones. Ultrasone, Audio-Techica, Sennheiser etc etc. Damn, it was paradise. 

 

[FiveYears]

I work across the street from one of the largest Bic Camera stores in Japan and it is a blessing and curse.  Its great to be able to audition almost anything, including some exotic Japan only models.  The curse is the temptation to buy is extraordinary.  The good news is that if you're patient, Bic Camera does have some amazing sales from time to time.
 
I"ve been living in Japan now for 4 years. Everyone is polite, considerate and everything is clean.  If you know some Japanese, its a paradise. 
 
I agree about the jeans too.  None finer, and if you're a hunter, you can get them on sale. 
 
I recently learned that New Years Day is the time to bargain hunt.  Everyone has big sales to try to get rid of last year's merchandise. So my advice is if you're planning a trip, make sure you're here on New Year's Day.

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

I admit, I am jelly. Not of the prices, but of the ability to ACTUALLY LISTEN.