[slair76116]

Hi guys
 
There is a seller here on the forum selling what he says is a factory sealed brand new LCD 3.
 
How can I check it's authenticity ?
 
And what would be a good price for a good condition LCD 3 ?
 
I'm upgrading from my 8 year old HD650's
 
All ideas and advise are very welcome indeed.

 

[ZoNtO]

  Hi guys
 
There is a seller here on the forum selling what he says is a factory sealed brand new LCD 3.
 
How can I check it's authenticity ?
 

1. Look for the serial number in the pictures or ask for a picture of the serial number if not provided and email Audeze for confirmation. There was a theft of a lot of Audeze headphones and you wouldn't want to be buying one of those pairs.

 
And what would be a good price for a good condition LCD 3 ?
 

1. Seems like I've seen them posted for ~$1,400 recently. Sometimes it's hard to gauge market value of goods here because people don't just close the for sale listing, but rather close it and change the price to SOLD. I think this does future buyers a disservice because they don't know what the item sold for. I would search the Headphones FS forum for other Audeze LCD-3 (Fazor?) models, and if you cannot ascertain what a given seller ended up getting for their pair just PM them. Most are willing to share this via PM, and this helps you get a sense of market value over the last few months. (I recently did this for an amp I was looking at purchasing, and it worked like a charm.)

 
I'm upgrading from my 8 year old HD650's
 

1. I just bought a pair of these. 
   

 
All ideas and advise are very welcome indeed.
 

1. Check the seller's feedback on this site and other sites to gauge their reliability (e.g., I have less than five feedback reviews here, but over 100 combined on both Heatware on eBay).
2. If/when you send payment, only do so via PayPal and do not select the "gift" or family/friends option. You are paying for goods and want the protection that comes by sending payment using the goods/services option. The seller should be paying the PayPal fees, and this should be factored into their asking price.
3. Ask for details about the seller's purchase of the headphones, ideally for a copy of the receipt (with their personal info redacted if they aren't comfortable sharing).
4. If the pair really is factory sealed, check around with your local Audeze retailers and see if you can get a discount on a pair of LCD-3s purchased through the shop. I'd guess that the seller here hasn't marked them down significantly from the new price. There was also a recent sale on Audeze headphones at Adorama (Slickdeals link) and the LCD-3 went for $1,499 there.
5. Pay the extra for insurance for the replacement value of the headphones, not what you paid for them.
6. Check out this thread regarding Audeze LCD-3 driver failure rates (Head-Fi thread link) and then consider whether you'd be better served by keeping your HD650 and upgrading the electronics upstream.
   1. Additional threads: Reddit #1 link, Reddit #2 link, Inner Fidelity link
7. Lastly, follow your instincts and if something doesn't feel right about the sale or the seller, walk away. There will always be another deal as these headphones are current and not a limited production run.

 
Answers in bullets above.

 

[slair76116]

Amazing, thanks a lot.
 
this is exactly what I was looking for.