Are the AKG K240 a good option taking into account the fact that the production takes place in China?

[ThatNewGuy]

I read disturbing reviews stating that the headphones are not to be bought since they don't last too much with the chinese production. Should I risk buying them? If not, can you tell me which open over-ear headphones under 150$ are good for positional audio, please?

 

[kramer5150]

I wouldn't worry about it as long as you get them from an authorized dealer and a retailer with a good history of customer sat and return policy.  Amazon, B&H photo come to mind immediately.  Guitar Center if you want to go the B&M retail route.
 
The flip side of it is no one really knows where headphone manufacturers source their parts from.  Sure final assembly or enough of it to legally be called "Made in XXXXX" is in Brooklyn, Austria, Ireland or Germany.... but are the sub-supplier parts actually from said locations?
 
So in other words, buying something (or choosing not to) based solely on where its perceived to be made... could mislead you into a bad purchase, or wasted money spent on false-hype.
 
In regards to the K240 and AKGs in general, there have been some www commentary made by Harman / company reps as to when they moved production to Asia... and more specifically what production aspects were relocated.  So there is some archived history on that, if you www search for it.
 
my .02

 

[PurpleAngel]

I read disturbing reviews stating that the headphones are not to be bought since they don't last too much with the Chinese production. Should I risk buying them? If not, can you tell me which open over-ear headphones under 150$ are good for positional audio, please?

 
I have the AKG K240HD, worth the $122 I paid for them.
but need to be used with a decent headphone amplifier.
I prefer my Senn HD558s, over the K240HD.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I read disturbing reviews stating that the headphones are not to be bought since they don't last too much with the chinese production. Should I risk buying them? If not, can you tell me which open over-ear headphones under 150$ are good for positional audio, please?

 

I don't see what the problem is in terms of blanket assumptions about China's factories. If you've seen the AKG K702 feature on "How it's Made" (Discovery Channel, but I think it's on YouTube), AFAIK that was shot in the plant in Austria but you can clearly see at least one Chinese factory worker putting the headphone together at some point. As with many other brands they can always send somebody to observe factory procedures wherever the factory is. If the quality of the product is throwaway cheap it has more to do with the company that owns the brand not giving a damn about it than it is about using Chinese labor (or in some cases, mishandling by consumers, particularly with the headphone cables). 

 

Also, these speakers are made in China, and the quality of the cabinets feel more like a piano than on many other brands at their price range ($3,000).

http://www.aurumcantus.com/aurumcantu-loudspeaker/loudspeaker_vollaMKII.html