[Sandwich]

Saw these in a Fry's ad. $249.99 not competitively priced or anything. First time I've ever seen in advertised in a "mainstream" electronics store.

 

[ourfpshero]

i saw the mbquart qp160 at frys a few weeks back for 130$

 

[Acix]

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys, here is more info: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/406658/the-german-maestro-gmp-8-35-d-monitor-in-the-studio-serious-about-audio-indeed.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I was just at my local Fry's today and saw the German Maestro headphones hanging on the rack in the headphone section.  Totally unexpected to see those headphones at Fry's hanging right next to the Sony XB700 and XB500.  Fry's has both the GMP 8.35D ($249.99) and GMP 435S ($319.99). 
 
What's even funnier is that the German Maestro boxes are not designed to be hung on hooks like regular consumer goods.  Fry's had to improvise.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

 

[Acix]

 
Quote:

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

Well, what about Fry's return policy?

 

[Sandwich]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

Well, what about Fry's return policy?

It's really hit or miss if they even let you return or not. Sometimes they charge you a restocking fee... sometimes they don't. I'm hoping some bloke buys one of these, regrets it for some reason, returns them, gets charged restocking fee, then I can buy em for like 20% cheaper..... though I have dbi pro 700 already so i don't need these.

 

[Acix]

 
Quote:

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

Well, what about Fry's return policy?

It's really hit or miss if they even let you return or not. Sometimes they charge you a restocking fee... sometimes they don't. I'm hoping some bloke buys one of these, regrets it for some reason, returns them, gets charged restocking fee, then I can buy em for like 20% cheaper..... though I have dbi pro 700 already so i don't need these.

I'm not sure if they using the same drivers..

 

[Sandwich]

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

Well, what about Fry's return policy?

It's really hit or miss if they even let you return or not. Sometimes they charge you a restocking fee... sometimes they don't. I'm hoping some bloke buys one of these, regrets it for some reason, returns them, gets charged restocking fee, then I can buy em for like 20% cheaper..... though I have dbi pro 700 already so i don't need these.

I'm not sure if they are using the same drivers..

Er yeah thats true but the sound is pretty good none-the-less and the enclosure is indestructable (i've stomped it on purpose)

 

[dcpoor]

.

 

[Acix]

 
Quote:

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

 
Quote:

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

Well, what about Fry's return policy?

It's really hit or miss if they even let you return or not. Sometimes they charge you a restocking fee... sometimes they don't. I'm hoping some bloke buys one of these, regrets it for some reason, returns them, gets charged restocking fee, then I can buy em for like 20% cheaper..... though I have dbi pro 700 already so i don't need these.

I'm not sure if they are using the same drivers..

Er yeah thats true but the sound is pretty good none-the-less and the enclosure is indestructable (i've stomped it on purpose)

Man, you need the Terminator boots.

 

 

 

[oqvist]

Quote:

Quote:

Great! now headfi members can check them out at frys,

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

Maybe inform Fry that GM has the 8.300D and 8.400D that has sanitary earpads... Not sure if there is some anti bacteria gel on them or something.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

 
Quote:

Maybe inform Fry that GM has the 8.300D and 8.400D that has sanitary earpads... Not sure if there is some anti bacteria gel on them or something.

I don't think that would change their mind.  It's more of a situation that they don't want to open a box and end up having to sell an open box and will use any excuse to make an in store demo not possible.  I found the "not hygienic" excuse to be funny due to the Bose and Monster Beats being on demo with no concern for keeping them hygienic or sanitary (or even fully functioning).
 
It's unfortunate that electronics stores expect you to buy headphones without getting to listen to them first when they've got the car audio setup so you can demo car audio gear (boom boom boom) and same in the home theater with rooms set up with speakers.  But somehow headphones are different and you're expected to buy them without listening to them.  If I'm going to buy a headphone from a brick and mortar shop I'd like to be able to listen, otherwise why not just go mail order for the lowest price.
 
It'd be nice to have the German Maestros available at shops that were more accommodating to demos.  Having them available at Fry's is neat for exposure but having them available at a real audio or pro-audio store would be better.
 
I'm also not a jerk and wouldn't ask a store to open a box if I had no serious intention to buy that headphone.  Asking a shop to open a box so you can listen just to satisfy your curiosity isn't nice.  And I'm not in the market for a German Maestro headphone right now so it's all academic. 

 

[ardgedee]

Quote:

Unfortunately Fry's doesn't let you demo headphones.  It's not hygienic.  Except of course for the Bose and Monster Beats at the branded listening stations, that's totally hygienic.

That's funny since the 8.35 D is the basis for the 8.40 D, which is purpose-built for listening stations.
 
The Bose and Monster Beats displays are probably space leased from Fry's. In which case their stocking and upkeep are the responsibility of Bose and Monster, respectively, and Fry's doesn't care whether random people are trying out the demo units.