Quote: It's too big of a gamble to undeclare a package of this size. If something breaks, then Audio GD will only cover you for the amount declared. Personally, I would rather just pay the extra $180 or so in taxes. It's not that bad when spending almost $2k anyway.

Regal, the oddity with THAT website is not just their seeming preference for cheap and poor op-amp designs, but most of the posters appear to be either drunk and/or 12-year-old children. They do seem to like the PerfectWave though, and I would too if it weren't $1.2K more than the Ref 7.  ...

I'm pretty sure duties are just 12% tax. They used to be much higher.   Is the $1350 quoted on Audio GD current?

  Quote: I loved the DAC1 when I had it, and it served me well for a few years, but the problem with the Benchmark reference is that it sounds sterile and dry not because it is neutral, but because of its horrible power supply, op-amp used in the output stage, and cheap ASRC. With Audio...

Some stuff are technically so good that even when they do not have the frequency response that your ears prefer, you can still enjoy them.   I really enjoy the SE500/530 for the same reason. It's the opposite that I want in balance, but it is so sweet and does many things extremely well.  ...

I meant to say that the SE530's bass is "boosted," not "bloated."

Quote: Because most IEMs are very dark and warm, with bloated bass like the SE535/500/530 and most Shures, Senns, etc. Look at the frequency response charts to see whether or not the cans actually TRY to be neutral. Here is an independent graph of the TF10 (which is very neutral except...

Thanks for the pictures, folks.   WildCard, you have persuaded me to get Candy Blue as well.

This is the same price as many North American audiologists are charging, so you might as well just get custom tips from your audiologist.

Almost every single cable skeptic that I've encountered is simply ignorant and is unexposed to quality equipment.   Anyone who has tried different speaker cables on GOOD speakers (not stuff you find at Best Buy) will tell you that the tonal characteristics of one cable design/material to...

There is no agent that I know of in my city, which is hardly a small town.   The audiologists listed on Westone's website are not "dealers." I will have the Westone listed audiologist do the impressions, but then it is up to me to ship them to Westone. This is what I was told by both...

Quote: In the States, this appears to be your best, cheapest, and easiest method of acquiring an ES5 or any custom IEM. For us Canadians, and I suspect the rest of the world too, we have to get the impressions ourselves and then ship them to Westone.

That's very reasonable. As usual, Britons and many Europeans get screwed.   I'll certainly get artwork done (might as well). Are we allowed to use corporate logos like Apple? What if I wanted to use a Pink Floyd cover (DSotM)?

Seeing as how I see an Aussie dealer asking $1759 AU (1:1 USD exchange rate) and a UK site listing 1,000 quid (!), I wonder how much you folks in Asia have to pay.

Where is the shipping info? I can't seem to find the rates for international ES5 shipments.