Equation Audio RP-21 & thoughts on Pricing

[Yikes]

About the Equation Audio RP-21

A dealer of mine who knows that I am into headphones asked me to give the RP-21’s a listen. These are my thoughts.

Build – Seems durable and it is relatively comfortable. The cable has a really cheap feel – Plastically feel to it. Nice design for a removable cable. The removable plug is a ¼ turn locking 1/8” plug. A much better designed plug than the crappy HD600/650 plug. The Copper and black color scheme is OK, but the logos on the sides look silly.

Comfort – They are fairly comfortable, but not as comfortable as my K-701’s. Most of the cup force is taken by the ear-pads, however the distance from the pads to the foam that covers the drivers is insufficient to keep the foam from touching my earlobes. The resultant pressure does get to be annoying (FYI – I don’t have Radar ears).

Sound – Very dynamic with very good speed and clarity. The bass is very strong and powerful, albeit a little wooly sounding. After about 25 hours the highs have smoothed out and extrapolating out a thorough break-in I believe that the high frequency performance will end up being very good (It’s already good).

On recordings that emphasize clarity speed and transparency (Classical, and acoustic Jazz) the RP-21’s were clearly bested by both my AKG K-701’s (Still stock) and my Sony MDR SA-5000’s (Siltech wired). They acquitted themselves quite well on Art/Prog rock, with 70’s art rock (Kansas) I actually preferred the RP-21’s to my reference phones. It’s sort of like using a good loudness control on an old receiver. As far as image goes the RP-21’s make no effort at attempting to sound like anything but headphones.

Are they accurate? No. They have an exaggerated and slightly wooly sounding bass register. The midrange and highs are both good to very good.

Up – Very dynamic with great bass power and slam.

Down – Wooly bass – Lack a degree of transparency – They press on my ears so long term comfort could be an issue.

Value – I would consider them a good value at the $149 retail; at their MAP of $99 they are an exceptional value. No giant killer, but for Rock definitely a fun can to listen to.

A quick comment about the selling price. Equation Audio is attempting to set up a brick and mortar dealer network where prospective customers will be able to actually listen to the product (As Grado has done). They are emphasizing MAP and making dealers actually stick to it. This is the only way that they can get dealers to invest in demos/stock and actually promote the product.

If a product is widely advertised at a very low price (Internet dealers commonly settle on as little margin as 2 - 5%) brick and mortar dealers that due to the nature of the business must make more margin will not carry and promote a product that for them is not viable. If a manufacturer can maintain their pricing structure (i.e. keep the product from being widely advertised at excessively discounted rates) brick and mortar dealers will be able to, and willing to show and sell the product.

Scenario 1 – A Company that has not maintained a rigid pricing structure or not enforced their MAP policies. The end user (The customer) can’t find a local dealer where they can audition the product because local dealers won’t carry it. The end user is forced to decide what product to buy based upon someone else’s written opinion in an idiotic on-line forum or a written review in some magazine. The end-user gets a great price on product A. The problem is that as everyone knows everyone’s opinion is different, and product A just doesn’t suit them. So they sell it (At a loss) and order a different product. This is why so many members have owned so many different headphones. It usually takes many sets of headphones and a lot of time and money to finely find what they are looking for.

Scenario 2 – A Company has maintained a pricing structure that allows a brick and mortar store a fighting chance to make enough profit to effectively carry the product (Grado). The end-user goes into the store with some CD’s and listens to the various models. They narrow it down to one model. They ask, and the dealer allows them to take the headphones home for a day or two (With security) to hear what it does with their equipment. The end-user can therefore make an informed decision. The user pays more for one set of phones that they have auditioned and already knows that they like. This ultimately saves money.

A manufacturer of quality product (That people will actually buy if they are able to audition) benefits greatly by having a dealer network where customers can audition the products. The only way of actually getting this dealer network is by insuring that the product is viable for the dealer to carry. A strict MAP policy is the only way a company can attempt to do this.

The Internet is bringing everything to the lowest common denominator: The Price. This is what is killing audio stores all over the country and the world. Unfortunately in the future you won’t be able to locally audition much of anything. People will make purchasing decisions based upon other people’s gossip. They will get great prices, but they’ll be great prices on a lot of CRAP.

 

[fulltruth]

I enjoyed reading your thoughts on pricing. I auditioned the Senn 595's at a local dealer and then went and bought them on the internet for $200. I wanted to support the local dealer, but they were charging $300 for the phones, and the difference was too big for me. I think it's a shame that Sennheiser doesn't support their dealers in this matter.

 

[mrarroyo]

I have the RP21's and I love them, specially considering what I paid. I will say that burn in mellows them and that 120 to 150 hours does the trick.

I ordered the Beyer DT770 pads and the confort increased significantly. Also it helped to mellow th bass a bit. At about $25 for the pads I am very happy.

 

[Elephas]

Some money-back guarantees allow consumers to buy from Internet-based retailers, try the product at home for a period of time and return it if not satisfied. This can add considerable cost for the retailer since the returns have to be sold at discount. The consumer would also have to pay for the two-way shipping, which would be the cost of trying the product.

A retailer might take deposits and ship demo units to consumers, who could then ship it to the next consumer. Limiting demos to a geographic area would minimize the cost of shipping. The demo units might become somewhat worn, but this would happen with in-store demo units as well.

I would actually prefer at-home over in-store auditions of audio products. Other than availability, the key factor is the cost of shipping, which can be considerable for heavy audio components. Headphones are relatively inexpensive to ship.

It's possible that the total cost to a consumer to try and buy several headphones from an Internet-based retailer is less than buying from a local store with higher prices.

Buying used is another way consumers can try headphones and other audio gear.

Sometimes MAPs and other manufacturer pricing policies can result in widely divergent pricing and cause resentment among consumers who feel that their local retailer's prices are unfair.

I believe that lower prices are almost always better for the consumer.

 

[Yikes]

Is having no local dealers better for the consumer?

My comments are geared more towards audio in general, rather than Headphones specifically. Headphones due to the light weight and portability lend themselves very well to mail order loaning programs and even Meet conditions.

 

[manhattanproj]

well there are lots more factors than just price. convenience, suggestions, demos, relationships..etc. kind of like a bike shop.

but even as it is now, there just arent too many audio shops around, at least not in the bay area. even if there are, most of them are tailored toward pro-audio. there just isnt too many consumer-oriented audio shops, partly because there isnt the demand.

so i dont think having audio shops make much of a difference to consumers like us, since most of what they sell really dont attract us.