[Nrocket]

Went to NY headfi meet where Onkyo was exhibiting and they did not have any of the Japan Headphones. Quite disappointing.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Went to NY headfi meet where Onkyo was exhibiting and they did not have any of the Japan Headphones. Quite disappointing.

That is very odd to say the least. The H900M is available in US Best Buy stores, or at least online with Best Buy. I am at a loss to understand what is going on. They are very good headphones, but the marketing/availability or complete lack of it in North America it seems puzzles me greatly.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Here is the HATS (Head and Torso simulator) frequency response curve for the H900M.
 

 

[sealykojac]

Went to NY headfi meet where Onkyo was exhibiting and they did not have any of the Japan Headphones. Quite disappointing.

 
It's because Gibson Innovations Ltd. owns the rights to sell Onkyo headphones in the US. So when Onkyo USA comes to a show to show off DAPs etc its technically a different company than the one importing their headphones. Spoke with them at RMAF and its a sore subject.

 

[Sonic Defender]

   
It's because Gibson Innovations Ltd. owns the rights to sell Onkyo headphones in the US. So when Onkyo USA comes to a show to show off DAPs etc its technically a different company than the one importing their headphones. Spoke with them at RMAF and its a sore subject.

Yes, my contact is indeed from Gibson Innovations. I know that they are very interested in selling within the North American market so my best guess is that they are simply trying to find distribution partners that allow for a win-win and I guess it may be more difficult than it should be. I'm seriously impressed with all three of the new lineup I have, the H500BT, A800 and the H900M and I can't wait for them to become easier to acquire for those in North America.

 

[Sonic Defender]

So I will be doing my review of the H900M very soon, but it is certainly going to be quite positive, it is an excellent headphone I feel. I have waited until my Mojo arrived as I wanted a fairly typical head-fi standard amp/DAC. Otherwise I had a FiiO E10K, nice, but not what I want for a review, or I would use my NAD rig which is a speaker tap cable deal, so not typical enough of the average user. Looking forward to posting the review. I know this isn't a popular thread, but I'm sure the odd member checks in from time to time. Shame as the new ONKYO line is very, very good so I'm hoping to get it more exposure as it definitely deserves exposure in my opinion.

 

[CoiL]

Guys, anyone has thoughts and impressions about Fidelio X1 vs. Onkyo A800 ? I have X1 and was wondering if A800 could be similar sounding and kind of "replacement" to X1 since X1 is discontinued quite some time.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Guys, anyone has thoughts and impressions about Fidelio X1 vs. Onkyo A800 ? I have X1 and was wondering if A800 could be similar sounding and kind of "replacement" to X1 since X1 is discontinued quite some time.

I wish I could say. I do know that the drivers are made by the same company, but that means little ultimately. The A800 is an excellent headphone and I hope you get a chance to try it. Shame they fly under the radar here.

 

[rlisin]

   
It's written on the product page and also shown in the exploded view, you can see the multi-layer dome inset driver for A800, while H900M has a regular single membrane PET driver, also the driver impedance's and sensitivities are different A800 is 32ohm, 100dB sensitivity while H900M is 16 ohm, 105dB sensitivity.

16 ohm, 105dB sensitivity, PET, high power. A5pro driver? Looks similar too.

 

[larzy]

I wish I could say. I do know that the drivers are made by the same company, but that means little ultimately. The A800 is an excellent headphone and I hope you get a chance to try it. Shame they fly under the radar here.

How do you think the A800 stacks up against the B&W P9?

 

[rlisin]

Don't know what it looks like in the rest of the world, but these headphones are not available in Poland, no distribution at all. Could be because the previous Onkyo headphones didn't sell well around here due to non-existent marketing, known connector problems that Onkyo has failed to address (except in the Iron Maiden Ed-Ph0n3s version that have permanently attached cable, which Onkyo kept very quiet about anyway), obscenely expensive replacement cables with the same bad connectors etc. Shame, I'd love to try them as I own the ES-FC300 and really like them despite their flaws, and the Philips A5pro too. 

 

[Sonic Defender]

How do you think the A800 stacks up against the B&W P9?

I wish I had enough time to compare them. I haven't heard the P9 enough, but for sure the P9 will be a more relaxed signature, but the A800 will be a more engaging, energetic signature. The A800 is very good, and I think given the price difference, personally I would have no issues taking the Onkyo over the P9. My take is that even if somebody wanted a more relaxed sound, with some very minor EQ cuts here and there it is pretty easy to "relax" a signature. The few times I have tried adding to a signature via EQ I wasn't at all pleased with the results. I am about to loan my A800 to a member here for two weeks and he has the P9 and likes it quite a bit. I'm not sure if you can wait at all, but if you can I will ask him to come into this thread and give his impression of the two.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Don't know what it looks like in the rest of the world, but these headphones are not available in Poland, no distribution at all. Could be because the previous Onkyo headphones didn't sell well around here due to non-existent marketing, known connector problems that Onkyo has failed to address (except in the Iron Maiden Ed-Ph0n3s version that have permanently attached cable, which Onkyo kept very quiet about anyway), obscenely expensive replacement cables with the same bad connectors etc. Shame, I'd love to try them as I own the ES-FC300 and really like them despite their flaws, and the Philips A5pro too. 

Yes Onkyo seems to have trouble with marketing and distributing the line widely. There are places that I'm sure would ship to Poland and there must be other European countries where they are available. I haven't owned other Onkyo's so not sure what connector issues you are referring to, but the connectors for the A800 seem very robust and fit in very snuggly. I can't imagine for the life of me anybody having issues with their durability. As for replacement cable costs that I have no idea about sadly.

 

[rlisin]

The cable problems I mentioned were in reference to earlier Onkyo headphones (ES-FC300, ES-HF300, ES-CIT300) that used MMCX connectors (like Shure headphones) of disastrous quality. I see that the new Onkyos have 3.5 mm jack connectors, which is a much better solution. I actually modified my ES-FC300s - replaced the MMCX with 2.5 mm jack sockets.
 
The new Onkyos are available in Germany so I theoretically could order from there, but I'm not buying $300+ headphones for full retail price without listening first. Come to think of it, I'm not buying headphones for full retail price, period. Too easy to get good headphones in new or like new condition for half of retail price or less. But this also means I'm limited to headphones that have distribution here.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Come to think of it, I'm not buying headphones for full retail price, period. Too easy to get good headphones in new or like new condition for half of retail price or less. But this also means I'm limited to headphones that have distribution here.

Fair enough, it just means you have to wait for things to come up on the used market, but I'm going to guess that this isn't an issue for you. I always look for used first as well. They aren't typically as low as half price, more like 60-70%, but even so that is still a substantial savings when you factor in that there will be no sales tax which for me is an additional 13% so not insignificant.