[taipeileviathan]

just wondering, what would u guys pay for a brand new set of ATH-W2002's? a friend of mine who knows i love headphones found a store in taipei that sells them, but the current price is quite hefty (even tho they are expensive phones to boot). i was wondering if u guys can help give me an idea of a reasonable price that i should be bargaining for... and if the price u guys give me is still out of my budget (even if i sell my staxes), i will give up on this dream and stop saving money...

thanks a ton...
(and yes, this is all tentative... the decision to buy will of course come after a thorough auditioning as well as thinking of a good amp for these babes)...

 

[M Rael]

The $1,200+ prices I've seen for a new W2002 are silly. I wouldnt pay that much for them just because they are rare. No way. If you really want some then I would suggest searching on the Selling forum for people who have tried to sell a 2002 in the past and see if they still have them. Dont place too much value in newness. A 9/10ths condition used pair should be just fine, and cost will probably be around $700-750+. If you can get a brand new pair for around that though, then thats pretty good.

If you can find a used pair in the low or mid 6's I'd jump on it if I were you. Used pairs are retaining their value, thats a given, but to pay out the butt for brand new is not smart IMO.
I remember wearing mine with a headband added to increase the tension; it gave more bass warmth that way. Yes they are the most beautiful headphone around, but dont freak out and spend over a grand on them!

 

[kelly]

I would say you shouldn't pay more than $900 for new/mint condition. Remember that even though its limited edition, there will always be new limited editions in future years.

 

[Gergor]

Last week I had a PM sent to me asking the same question about W2002. Basically I agree with M Real and kelly...

Portion of my reply was as follows:
I don't know what premium you're asked to pay, but recently I have seen people asking for over $1200 for it, and IMHO, it's ridiculously high. True it's a limited edition headphone, but it's not the first one and it'll not likely to be the last one. Looking at the past AT have been issueing limited edition wood headphone about every 2 years or so.

I cannot really judge for other people how much to pay for this headphone, but to put things in perspective, I got mine while travelling in Japan. I paid around $600 for it.

 

[taipeileviathan]

okay, i'll try to go for $650~700... thanks a lot guys...

the list price in that store rite now is about $800 bucks, but my friend told me that they also have membership prices, and altho i'm not exactly a member, i hope my bargaining skills will get me somewhere... hehe...

btw, it's much more reasonable than prices in the states, but since it's in taiwan, i'd think that's to be expected...

 

[Guyferd]

You shouldn't pay more than $700. In SIngapore, I know of a guy who works at the Audio technica SEA. He owns 2 pair. 1 for himself and the other he said he will be willingly sell it to me for $550. I think this is the best deal so far.. but it's very seldom that you can find such a good price. Perhaps the reasonable range is between $550-700. I wouldn't even want to pay $700 for it even it is limited edition(unless I'm the kinf who is looking for the best looking phone around..)Perhaps by the end of this year or next year they will release something else, who knows it might be better looking or sounds better?
I'm waiting for them... hhehe.. can't wait to get my hands on them

 

[Hirsch]

A high price of $700 is probably right for Singapore, but wouldn't necessarily reflect market value in the US. A lot of people brought them in at about $800 each, and would try to at least save their investment (usually a poor idea with audio equipment, but a limited edition collectors edition that really does sound good helps a lot). Over $900 would be profit taking by anyone, and the deciding factor would have to be whether or not the particular sound of the headphone was worth it to you. This is something rather difficult to determine when there's no way to audition something (might be worth asking if there's a Head-Fi member near you who has one you could listen to). In the US, I'd put fair market value at between $750 and $850 right now (worth jumping on one you can get for less), but it could go down if people start selling them, or it could go up if people decide that it's worth paying more for them.

 

[Spad]

It often depends on the value the seller places on an item as well. I typically sell my used gear for about 60 percent of what I paid, but I wouldn't even consider accepting $1200 for my W2002s.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally posted by taipeileviathan the list price in that store rite now is about $800 bucks, but my friend told me that they also have membership prices...

I am not familiar with the particular situation, but you might want to at least not rule out becoming a member. If membership is US$20 and membership price is US$650, then you're still only paying US$670 for the phones, even for a one-time-use-only membership.

 

[taipeileviathan]

thanks for all the feedback guys! really appreciate it

. i'm not too familiar with the membership thingie too, which i'm still looking into, but i really do hope that this works out. on another note, r u guys certain that AT will be releasing a new limited edition headphone anytime soon? cuz if they are, i mite be able to use that to my advantage when trying to bargain for the w2002's...

 

[Spad]

The W2002s are a 40th anniversary edition. I don't think you'll see a 41st, 42nd, etc.

But you could try holding out for a 50th.

 

[Gergor]

I don't have any inside information. I was only spectulating from AT's past product history:

ATH-W11JPN 1998
ATH-W11R 2000
ATH-W2002 2001

Don't really know when or if the next one will be out.

To be honest with you, I don't think the asking price you're getting is unreasonable.

But you know, it's probably just me; I have no bargaining skills

Good luck! Hope you'll decide to join the club.

 

[kelly]

I guess I'm the only one who didn't notice the tangal.com ad in Mall-Fi? $1250 ON SALE, normally $1500 (!). What a bargain.

 

[Guyferd]

The reason you pay for w2002 is mainly because it is a limited edition and nice looks.. given the money you can easily spend on other headphone +good amp and will probably give you a better sound for the same price.
Unless you are a collector of headphone then it is not very wise spending too much on them.
By looking at the way AT produce headphone, everyyear it seems there is a new woodern headphone, why don't you wait till end of this year... probably it will be good looking and match your taste??

 

[taipeileviathan]

hehe... to be honest with u guys, for the same sound that the w2002's are reported to have, i think i would pay max around $400 (supposing that the end product would be an ass ugly phone like my staxes). however, i must say, the looks of the w2002's alone justify another $250+ for me

, although it's not quite as superficial as it sounds. about a year ago, i started getting into japanese macha (foamy ground green tea), and in chado (the way of tea), every little detail in all the many utensils involved has a story behind it (the maker, the history, the tradition... and along with this story, usually a hefty price tag). indeed, the average run-of-the-mill traditional japanese tea bowl costs around $100... the lacquer on the w2002's wooden enclosures is actually from a pretty decent school (echizen), and as we all know, the wood is hokkaido cherry wood. it just drives me nuts to think that i might have the opportunity to have traditional echizen lacquer on hokkaido cherry wood on my head, enclosing and helping hi-tech electronics make beautiful music... hehe, this just seems like the most beautiful blend of technology, culture, aesthetics, and sound, 4 things about which i'm totally passionate, each and every element...

hehe, okay, that's that. rock over london, rock on chicago, wheaties, it's the breakfast of champions.