[saint.panda]

I think it will be cheaper ordering directly from Europe. The UK might be an execption though since everything's more expensive there.

For instance, I can get the E500 for $570 from two German vendors (456€). If you consider overseas shipping costs and customs, this is actually cheaper than ordering from the states. Therefore looking at a mere $70 discrepancy, which is almost negligible compared to Grado price hikes in Europe, this is still justifiable in my opinion. There might also be warranty or distribution channel contract reasons why Shure can't ship overseas.

You also have to add in the speed and convenience factor by ordering local.

 

[fl00r]

Quote:

For instance, I can get the E500 for $570 from two German vendors (456€).

I am from the Netherlands and I am on Tod's list for weeks now. Haven't heard from them about the International shipment issue.
Just in case Panda: can you give me the names of the German vendors?

Thanks in advance!

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fl00r I am from the Netherlands and I am on Tod's list for weeks now. Haven't heard from them about the International shipment issue. Just in case Panda: can you give me the names of the German vendors? Thanks in advance!

Actually, I only did a froogle search:
www.musik-service.de
www.rockshop.de

However, I see that they removed the price tags for the E500, which were on display until a week ago. Not sure why they did that because froogle still has them listed at 456€. I'm also pretty certain that www.thomann.de, who ships to many countries in Europe at no surcharge, will start carrying them at a very competitive price once the E500 starts shipping.

 

[toucam]

I'm afraid I have some bad news for you, just received email from Todd's

------------
Hi,

Sorry but I am not permitted to ship Shure products outside the USA.

Todd
------------

This sucks, absolutely rubbish. They're going to sell it here in the UK for £400.
I'm really pissed now, was on the waiting list for months. What a stupid policy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fl00r I am from the Netherlands and I am on Tod's list for weeks now. Haven't heard from them about the International shipment issue. Just in case Panda: can you give me the names of the German vendors? Thanks in advance!

 

[rhythmicmoose]

If Todd won't ship overseas, can't you guys tell him to ship your order to a friend in the states, and then have your friend ship them to you?

 

[Pete7]

Just got a response to an e-mail I sent to Earphone Solutions about the shipping date of the E500. They're receiving the first batch Thursday and they'll start shipping the same day, and mine will be included since I pre-ordered back in February. I ordered them with overnight shipping so conceivably I should get them Friday.

 

[fierce_freak]

That's more or less the same boat I'm in, Pete (except for with Headroom). Well, almost the same boat...Headroom's a lot less specific about the actual day they'll receive them. Oh well, patience, patience patience...

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7 Just got a response to an e-mail I sent to Earphone Solutions about the shipping date of the E500. They're receiving the first batch Thursday and they'll start shipping the same day, and mine will be included since I pre-ordered back in February. I ordered them with overnight shipping so conceivably I should get them Friday.

Pete - Since you have my UM2's now I am very interested to hear any impressions you can offer directly comparing the two. After Iget my E500's I am going to do some critical listening to see how I like them and decide if I need to go ES2 so PM me with your thoughts on the two after you've had some time with them.

 

[Pete7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeride74 Pete - Since you have my UM2's now I am very interested to hear any impressions you can offer directly comparing the two. After Iget my E500's I am going to do some critical listening to see how I like them and decide if I need to go ES2 so PM me with your thoughts on the two after you've had some time with them.

No problem. And keep in mind, you could also go with custom UM56 tips and they'll fit UM2 and E500. I've been told UM2 and UM56 sounds close to ES2. I'm hoping the E500 has a nicer mid-range and high end than UM2. Pretty sure the bass'll be there.

 

[fierce_freak]

Have you heard any shure's before, pete? I haven't heard the westones, but i can tell you i'm a fan of shure's mids in general.

 

[Pete7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fierce_freak Have you heard any shure's before, pete? I haven't heard the westones, but i can tell you i'm a fan of shure's mids in general.

Yeah, had the E4's and the E5's briefly. I couldn't get a comfortable fit with the E5's. The E4's were nice, just kind of bass shy.

 

[fierce_freak]

Yeah, as I've said elsewhere before, if the E4 had more bass and just generally better detail retrieval, I'd be ecstatic. Looks like the E500 may be it.

 

[thrice]

The E500 has bass to spare, I was surprised how deep it goes...very natural sounding most of the time. It can be a little bloated at times though, but that could be other factors as well.

The mids....sweet, smooth, silky. No complaints here about the mids.

I'm finding that the highs, while there and NOT recessed aren't quiate as prevalent as full sized cans. I'm trying to determine how I feel about that.

On the one hand, I sometimes think it sounds more natural than full sized cans, but on the other hand, full sized cans may have "trained" my ears to expect more highs. (this is what I was talking about going back on Fierce_freak). It's a very different sound signature than I'm used to and I'm still getting used to it.

The soundstage is a bit funny on the E500. It's there horizontally, but not as much vertically. I don't have enough experience with IEM to know if this is the norm or not. Vertically ther is soundstage but it doesn't go beyond the top of my head, whereas I perceive the horizontal plane beyond the sides of my head...if that makes any sense at all.

Overall the E500 is a great IEM...I definitely will not be selling these. They're very comfortable, so much that I've been using them over my full sized cans a lot and not feeling like I would rather go back to the full sized headphones.

 

[The-One]

The E500 will cost about £400 in the UK because it's going on sale at Harrods.
I asked Shure before, that will be the only shop selling it for a while. You can't expect good price for mortals like us there. But Advanced MP3 Players will no doubt sell it cheaper when they eventually get stock.

The problem is, people are stupid enough to actually buy it in the UK, if there was zero demand, they wouldn't even try the tactic. But you could alway the next time you go to Germany for a mini break, pick up the E500 there. After VW got fined for being anti competitive, no one would stop you

 

[wakeride74]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7 No problem. And keep in mind, you could also go with custom UM56 tips and they'll fit UM2 and E500. I've been told UM2 and UM56 sounds close to ES2. I'm hoping the E500 has a nicer mid-range and high end than UM2. Pretty sure the bass'll be there.

Yeah, I thought about that but Doug at Westone explained the differences to me due to the different positioning of the drivers and if I was going to re-purchase the UM2 (even used at $200) and then get the UM56 for another $200 I'd rather cough up the last $200 and just get the ES2. I'm hoping the E500 will awe me and I wont have to.

I really liked the E4C too and when I was using them with my SM3 with the bass boost they sounded pretty perfect but once I heard the UM2 I knew that they had much better bass and I really liked the forward vocal presentation.

edit - thanks for the additional comments Thrice! Looking forward to getting mine and adding my thoughts to your thread