[UltimaNoctis]

Ok this is going to be a very long story but bear with me. I've been contemplating new headphones for months now. I've only recently decided to become an audiophile (My dad has been one for donkeys years, used to own B&W Nautilus, Bryston monoblocked amps for each individual channel etc...)
 
I live in Norway. Probably the most expensive country on earth and the population is burdened by uneccessary taxes and and an idiotic government that enjoys taxing anything Norwegians enjoy to the extreme. (As if they use it as a punishment to encourage us to stay away from it i.e. cars, petrol, alcohol, tobacco, chocolate/soda/sugars etc)
 
A found a UK store that  sold the AKG K702 for £215. A Swedish friend of mine claims his K702's cost him 6000 SEK is which more or less equal to £600! 
 
So I finally decided to order those headphones. Found out I my UK bank card (I'm British, living in Norway with my mum) works online so I used that to purchase these headphones and the site suggested I paid in Euros which ended up costing €204.
 
On their shipping info it says it costs £60 to ship to Norway and then £25 custom clearance in brackets. They estimate the shipping will take 3 days.
 
In Norway we have to pay 25% import tax and on some items an additional fee. (something like £50). 
 
Shipping to Ireland costs £10 while shipping to a country like Germany costs £15. But Norway costs £60.... So I dearly hope that they've included some custom clearance/tax in that shipping price. I do not fancy paying an extra ~ 25%!
 
Anyways. So I order the headphones Monday evening and it costs me €264
 
On 'my tracked orders' tab it said "Open orders: 1 / processed orders: 0" 
 
I check on their website the next day but derp, its not there. I check my e-mails and received an e-mail with them asking for bank statement/drivers license ETC. So last night I scanned them all of that, just like they told me to 
 
Now its wednesday and finally my order is back on their site. Now it says "Open orders: 1" like before but now it says "order status: confirmed" as well.
 

 
 
 
So yeah... I was hoping to get them as soon as possible.
 
There is an alternative. From AVforum.no I got a link to AKG K701's that only cost about £180 in Norway (1806,- NOK) I can chose express shipping ad get them in a day or two (or so they claim, but then again, express should be fast!) 
 
Which would you chose? They cost the same assuming I won't have to deal with import tax on the ones bought from England.
 
AKG K702 from England would either be:
 
Best case scenario: They arrive Friday/Saturday. No import tax or custom clearance or any other bills needed except for the €264.4
Worsy case scenario: They won't arrive until Monday/Tuesday, might even take weeks to arrive. Might have to pay +25% tax on them and a 'small' fee. 
 
 
AKG K701:
 
Should arrive in a day or two. Won't be able to swap cables. White instead of black ( I like both). They will cost the same but if I ordered them today I might get them by friday (I love getting things on fridays so I can enjoy my weekend with them) 
 
 
ULTIMATE QUESTION:

AKG K701 or AKG K702? Do I keep my order and wait and hope I won't have to pay more.... Or do I cancel my order and go for the local K701's and get them for the same price but get them much sooner and have no risk of waiting weeks or paying import tax.
 
What would you do in my shoes.
 
Thanks for reading and all helpful posts appreciated!
 

 

[tyoung8]

I remember been charged £8 for a pint of beer in Norway.  I nearly spit my beer out when they told me the price.

 

[UltimaNoctis]

That's quite off topic but yeah Norway really is ridiculous. A beer is anywhere from £5 to £10 for a pint depending on where you buy it!
 
 

 

[Waqar]

Ok but is there any sonic difference between these cans?
And btw i feel you i live in Norway and this is indeed a tax hell.

 

[UltimaNoctis]

Quote:

Ok but is there any sonic difference between these cans?
And btw i feel you i live in Norway and this is indeed a tax hell.

 
Nope. Sonically they are 100.00% identical. 
 

 

[rhythmdevils]

I guess it depends on which color will go better with your facial structure

 

[Seidhepriest]

The big difference is how easy the cable is to replace. K-702 has a mini-XLR socket, and a detachable cable. So you can swap it to a coiled cable or a high-quality custom cable (much, much better clarity than stock AKG low-quality copper). You can recable the K-701 too, but unless you recable it yourself, recabling it will cost the double shipping to the shop and back. Plus the cable itself.

 

[Seidhepriest]

Yes, but the right driver gets only slightly barmy/mute compared to what it's like with the stock cable.
 
There's the issue of drilling a hole in the right cup, well maybe it could be molten through with a hot screwdriver... Or do the K-701 have metal enclosures?

 

[Waqar]

FYI read post no.4 in the link there is some one claims there is a difference, too be honest i dont know my self have not listned too both of them just my 2 cents.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/540146/headphones-for-saffire-pro-24-dsp#post_7317487

 

[Nowhere Man]

Quote:

I live in Norway. Probably the most expensive country on earth and the population is burdened by uneccessary taxes and and an idiotic government that enjoys taxing anything Norwegians enjoy to the extreme. (As if they use it as a punishment to encourage us to stay away from it i.e. cars, petrol, alcohol, tobacco, chocolate/soda/sugars etc)
...
 
In Norway we have to pay 25% import tax and on some items an additional fee. (something like £50).

I know this is not the best place to talk about this, but I feel I have to say something, only this one time. After this post I will shut up about this, I promise.
 
I live in Finland, our VAT (Value Added Tax) is 23%, so it is almost as high as yours. I am now 28 years old, and ten years ago I used to think much the same way you seem to think. But, have you ever really thought about why taxes are so high in our countries? There must be a reason, right? What about health care, social security, education... How are these issues in our countries compared to most other countries?
 
In addition, despite the high taxes in Norway, the standard of living is among the highest in the world, according to the UN. Still, the government of Norway has been able to save some money for a rainy day (The Petroleum Fund). At the moment those savings are worth over 512 billion dollars.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway
 
To put the matter in to a perspective, the USA is known for being in seriously heavy debt. The national debt of the United States is about 14 trillion dollars at the moment. So that debt is about 27 times larger than the savings of Norway. But, the population of Norway is only about 4.9 million compared to 310 million in the USA. The ratio is about 63. You can see were I am going with this. 512 billion dollars of savings is an insane amount of money for Norway. That is over 100 000 dollars per Norwegian.
 
Based on these facts, I think it is safe to say that Norwegians are about the last people on earth who should be complaining about these issues (e.g. high taxes). I think, once in a while, it is good to stop, think and put matters in to a more realistic perspective. Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, and the outlook is exceptionally bright.
 
If the most important thing in your life is to get a headphone and other stuff for as cheap as possible, please forget what I just said, and carry on. No hard feelings

 

[rhythmdevils]

If only more Americans felt the way you do. Many large American corporations pay no taxes whatsoever. :-0

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

If only more Americans felt the way you do. Many large American corporations pay no taxes whatsoever. :-0

That's because they're fundamentally, un American. ...  ok, I'll shut up now...
 
 

 

[Waqar]

Soo what did you choose 2 do? Order from avforum.no or wait for the akg 702?

 

[khaos974]

Thomman.de sells the K701 at EUR 189 and ships to Norway for EUR 20.
If it's not too late to cancel, this may be a better deal

 

[themn]

I got my K701s from Thomman.
Fast delivery (to UK) and am loving them.