[circularlogic]

I used to buy quite a bit without auditioning, and even though the number of bad experiences I've had were quite rare, I now wouldn't risk it. The most expensive thing I bought without auditioning was a used NAD M3 (it's bloody brilliant) - instead, my dad had heard it and suggested I pick one up.

As far as regrets, I do regret picking up some IEMs (namely the Shure E2Cs and Super Fi 5 Pros), and to a lesser degree the microstack (not that I didn't enjoy it, simply because it was as drastic of a change as I was led to believe).

On the other hand, I did pick up RS-1's blindly, as well as a Stello DA100, and o the speaker side, Totem Tabus and Polk LSi9's and various amps, all of which I enjoyed quite a bit.

 

[Lou Erickson]

Hmm...

I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD555's for about $170.

I bought a Headroom Desktop Millet Hybrid fully tricked out, as well as the external Desktop power supply, with a pair of Beyerdynamic DT990's for about $1550.

I bought a pair of Etymotic 4p's for... I don't remember. I think about $300, with the P->S adapter.

Oh! My Neuros DAP - $399 new, as a pre-order, the day they confirmed Ogg Vorbis support.

All without heating it, but it all had a money-back gaurantee if I didn't like it.

I liked it all. I still have and use all of it.

So, that's around $2,500. Some of that predates Head-Fi, though, and is over the course of several years.

 

[UNESCO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I buy most of my gear without auditioning, caused by one or more of these reasons: * No local Head-Fi meetings to audition gear. * The gear is not available in local stores (vintage, BTO, no dealer for the brand, ...). No regrets so far, to any of my deals.

Same. I feel that reading the forums and trusting opinions from you guys (gasp!) serve me well. So far I've ended up with good choices each time. Haven't been disappointed.

 

[vagarach]

Every single one of them

. I did have a problem with the Shure E3's sounding really bad, but I returned them for a full refund, so it wasn't that big a problem. Everything else has been perfectly in line with my expectations!

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UNESCO /img/forum/go_quote.gif Same. I feel that reading the forums and trusting opinions from you guys (gasp!) serve me well. So far I've ended up with good choices each time. Haven't been disappointed.

I agree!
Reading impressions and reviews about an item, from a reputable Head-Fi'er, are usually enough for me. If he/she have comparable taste as me and like it, then I am not afraid of buying blind.
No regrets so far after buying 15-20 headphone related items blind.

 

[cantsleep]

everything i have owned and own.

no regrets on any.
im just having fun trying different gears..

 

[Mister Crash]

Well, in my current system, I have:

$5200 Merlin VSM-MX speakers - I auditioned a lot of speakers, but when I heard these, I was pretty much sold. I had contemplated buying a pair without auditioning, but thankfully someone in my area was selling his speakers.

$3000 Simaudio i5.3 integrated amp - did not audition; relied on dealer's opinion, and do not regret the purchase.

$1000 Eastern Electric Minimax CD player - did not audition; relied on large quantity of written reviews. I regret this one a little, as I prefer the digital output to the analog output, but the quality headphone jack would make it a good choice as a stand-alone secondary system.

$600 CIAudio VDA-2 DAC - did not audition; was looking for a separate DAC in this budget range, and liked the looks and the price. Absolutely no regrets here.

$1000 Audio-Technica AT-HA5000 headphone amp - did not audition; relied on Head-Fiers' opinions. Still a little too early to tell if I regret it, but so far so good.

$700 Audio-Techinica W5000 headphones - same comments as AT-HA5000.

$300 Audio-Technica W1000 headphones - did not audition; was looking for headphones in a certain price class, and liked the look. No regrets here.

There have been some other things I've bought without auditioning, and they haven't worked out. The most I've spent on anything that I've returned was $2100 (passive pre-amp and monoblock amps; didn't really care for the sound of the passive, and ended up returning both the pre-amp and the monoblocks and getting an integrated amp instead).

So, most of the time, I end up buying things without auditioning them. However, once it gets beyond a certain price point, or I think this is going to be the last purchase I make of a certain component, I am more likely to audition. I am going to be doing a major source upgrade in the near future, and will definitely be auditioning as much as I can. It would be a shame if I bought an Esoteric only to find out later that I preferred the sound of a Reimyo.

 

[SysteX]

All blind purchases for me so far; no regrets. Though, I'm about at the limit of what I'm willing to spend without auditioning first--this is one of the major reasons that I really want to start going to meets regularly.

 

[Choo Choo]

I live in a small market with little opportunity to audition.
All of my audio gear...

No regrets

 

[aluren]

bought everything on my sig without auditioning.... no regrets either... besides, most people keeps buying to upgrade, and most of the time people want to think that their upgrades are better than their old gear... so obviously there will be no regrets since upgraditis is spread like wildfire here on head-fi.

 

[mrdelayer]

All of my audio gear. My crap phono stage, my turntable, the PA2v2, my HD580s, my old (no longer mine) HD280s, and the 0404 USB that I just pulled the trigger on which should be here tonight. (Too bad I have to work.)

 

[XxATOLxX]

All of my equipment has been a blind purchase. Including the speakers+amp.

 

[xenithon]

Most has been bought blind due to lack of availability here and since many things needed to be imported. Two regrets thus far:
#1. Monitor Audio Gold Series 60 (top of the line Gold Series). Bought new from the local distributors (not even audio distributors just some company that got distribution rights). Fortunately I sold them without a loss about 6 months later.
#2. Beyer DT880 600 Ohm. You can read about my experience in the Headphone forum

 

[The Pieman]

Did as I suspected I would and ordered some ATH-W5000's yesterday without audition.

Get them in a couple of days.

 

[Mrvile]

I never audition anything before buying because I rarely get the chance to, so pretty much every audio-related product I've purchased was done so blindly. There were some that I didn't quite like, others that I loved, but in the headphone world stuff doesn't really lose value so it's not a big deal to me.