philk34
100+ Head-Fier
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It was too beautiful 
Brand Spanking New A&K AK120II and AK100II
- Thread starter seeteeyou
- Start date
JoeDoe
Headphoneus Supremus
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Definitely sucks for us who were able to get in on the list. I contact support to see if any sort of restitution could be made sure the drop become available again. No word back yet.
intlsubband
500+ Head-Fier
How much was massdrop offering them for?
intlsubband
500+ Head-Fier
Oh wow, that's definitely the lowest I've seen it go for new... (well, almost go for, I suppose)
Yes, smoking deal, there are some in the for sale section, one at $500, 1 at $550 and one at $549. I paid $550 for mine shipped. These are used of course, but mine is minty fresh.
PinkyPowers
Reviewer: The Headphone List
I am saddened by this. I was looking forward to new faces in this thread to share in my love of these amazing DAPs.
intlsubband
500+ Head-Fier
I bought a used one in excellent condition for $700 AUD (~480 USD) almost a year ago, and am still using it every day. Fantastic player.
On another news, I just found another portable over-ear that can be driven excellently from the 100ii directly - the Ultrasone Performance 880. There's not a lot of info about these online, but they really sound great. I might put some new pads on them and get a new cable (current one has bad microphonics) but I'm seriously impressed with how they sound.
Dionysus
1000+ Head-Fier
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That was a smoking deal, it sounds like AK stepped in on this one no doubt imho.
JoeDoe
Headphoneus Supremus
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i kind of figured the same.
olddude
Headphoneus Supremus
MassDrop clearly got caught in the middle on this one. I certainly wouldn't blame it, as it offers all sorts of merchandise on a weekly basis and I've never heard of this happening before. My experience with MassDrop was quite positive, except for when I went to sell my Shure 846 and had to accept lower pricing because MD kept offering drops on it for a lower than retail price.
This kind of pricing control is fairly prevalent (Levi Strauss for years kept pricing for jeans above a certain price point). If AK wants to keep the cachet of the AK devices at a certain perceived value level, it has every right to prevent distributors from going below that limit- usually by informing them that no more units will be made available if they do so. I would assume that AK simply told the distributor to knock it off or lose AK's business. MassDrop got caught between the two.
Too bad for those who were "lucky" enough to snag the units, but consider that MassDrop has to return fees plus pay $25 of value to each of 75 purchasers- $1875 plus whatever fees and mailing costs and whatever else it incurred in this aborted transaction. MD works on a narrow profit margin, so this must have hurt.
This kind of pricing control is fairly prevalent (Levi Strauss for years kept pricing for jeans above a certain price point). If AK wants to keep the cachet of the AK devices at a certain perceived value level, it has every right to prevent distributors from going below that limit- usually by informing them that no more units will be made available if they do so. I would assume that AK simply told the distributor to knock it off or lose AK's business. MassDrop got caught between the two.
Too bad for those who were "lucky" enough to snag the units, but consider that MassDrop has to return fees plus pay $25 of value to each of 75 purchasers- $1875 plus whatever fees and mailing costs and whatever else it incurred in this aborted transaction. MD works on a narrow profit margin, so this must have hurt.
I feel sad for those that got in the drop though. MD got caught between a rock and a hard place, and are getting a lot of flak from this deal. Just wondering could there be a possibility of a pricing error or miscommunication with the vendor? Maybe at a more realistic price of USD559.99 or GBP459.99? Just thinking aloud.
olddude
Headphoneus Supremus
And what is "realistic?" Retail price seems to be "realistic" to AK. Though I paid $100 under retail when I got my 120ll off of Amazon.
Bottom line: don't hold your breath.
kennybobenny
100+ Head-Fier
So I'm looking for an amp or amp/dac, though i would get that out of the way first so you can decide whether or not to read on.
I have an AK100II. For the most part I listen to jazz vocals, some singer/songwriter, rock on the lines of Steely Dan. My main cans are Grados SR80e (at least they started out that way) with wooden cups and symphone v6 drivers and recabled using wire made from angel tears.. I have others but these are my go to headphones. I had the fiio e12 but sold it and got the chord mojo. For various reasons I sold the mojo. I thought the sound was improved but I had issues with playing some files, the cable seemed to require me to stand at a 15 degrees tilt with one eye open to work. The hand warming feature was helpful here in Wisconsin but indoors it was less than ideal. The little balls made it feel like a toy. This is just my experience, I'm sure the mojo is outstanding, just didn't work for me. The mojo did work great with my iPhone but I like a seperate dap. What I did like about the mojo was the larger soundstage (I love a wide soundstage). So I'm looking for an amp or amp/dac to pair with my AK100II. I love the AK and would prefer to keep it and look for the amp. I would also like to work with the Grados that I have already. So what do I want the amp/dac to do? Ideally widen the soundstage, even out the low end so there is detail and clarity similar the Grado high end (maybe not that far but similar). The mojo seemed to add more presence ( I hope that makes sense) to the music. If the Oppo ha-2 would work then that would be ideal because I love the look but esthetics is just a bonus. Battery life is not a big concern, portability is important. Price wise I would like to stick to $600 or below.
I have an AK100II. For the most part I listen to jazz vocals, some singer/songwriter, rock on the lines of Steely Dan. My main cans are Grados SR80e (at least they started out that way) with wooden cups and symphone v6 drivers and recabled using wire made from angel tears.. I have others but these are my go to headphones. I had the fiio e12 but sold it and got the chord mojo. For various reasons I sold the mojo. I thought the sound was improved but I had issues with playing some files, the cable seemed to require me to stand at a 15 degrees tilt with one eye open to work. The hand warming feature was helpful here in Wisconsin but indoors it was less than ideal. The little balls made it feel like a toy. This is just my experience, I'm sure the mojo is outstanding, just didn't work for me. The mojo did work great with my iPhone but I like a seperate dap. What I did like about the mojo was the larger soundstage (I love a wide soundstage). So I'm looking for an amp or amp/dac to pair with my AK100II. I love the AK and would prefer to keep it and look for the amp. I would also like to work with the Grados that I have already. So what do I want the amp/dac to do? Ideally widen the soundstage, even out the low end so there is detail and clarity similar the Grado high end (maybe not that far but similar). The mojo seemed to add more presence ( I hope that makes sense) to the music. If the Oppo ha-2 would work then that would be ideal because I love the look but esthetics is just a bonus. Battery life is not a big concern, portability is important. Price wise I would like to stick to $600 or below.
PinkyPowers
Reviewer: The Headphone List
If you want to stay single-ended, look at the ALO Continental.
If you want to go balanced, think on the RSA Intruder.
If you want to go balanced, think on the RSA Intruder.
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