[Gradofan2]

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Receipts are important , but at a approx 30% discount I am willing to gamble my pair will not need repairs.I suppose I view it as the same gamble one takes when buying a used pair with an expired warranty , except these are new.BTW,I may still get a receipt recognized by Fostex, so it may be a mute point anyway.

 
Maybe... but... where are you buying the TH-900 for $1400 (after shipping and customs fees) - "inquiring minds want to know???"  $1995 is the "market price" in NA - so, a 30% discount yields a price of $1400, less the shipping and customs fees, would mean you'd have to be buying them for about $1300.  At that price... it might be worth "taking the risk."  But... I haven't seen anyone report they're buying them for $1300....

 

[BoBDylan]

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I'm guessing you're buying it from e-earphone then. Then you should talk to the staff there. They have DIY parts and sell some special audio solder too - I don't know if it really works or not or if it's just snake oil, but just FYI. It's a pity to see you snip off that 1/4" plug though. It's nicely finished. If I were to mod my TH-900, I'd rather switch to balance.
 
Using it with the AK100 and MBP - i.e. portable or home use? They don't isolate well...I've tried using my TH-900 in Starbucks and you're not going to make the most out of it. Also note the AK100's 22 ohm headphone out impedance.

Hi thanks for suggestion  .  
Now im in the big dilemma between going  with Portable amp/dac  (Hp-p1 , iQube)  vs  station Burson sololist (or H8)
 
How much  difference in sound quality between Hi-end portable vs Desktop Amp ?  
Whats missing if i go with Hi-end portable gears instead of Desk amp ?  ( to bring th900's potential)

 

[AppleheadMay]

Quote:

Hi thanks for suggestion  .  
Now im in the big dilemma between going  with Portable amp/dac  (Hp-p1 , iQube)  vs  station Burson sololist (or H8)
 
How much  difference in sound quality between Hi-end portable vs Desktop Amp ?  
Whats missing if i go with Hi-end portable gears instead of Desk amp ?  ( to bring th900's potential)

 
Big difference in sound between HP-P1 and iQube. I had both. Check the D7000 amp thread.

 

[rgs9200m]

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For those who may be buying the TH-900 from eBay sellers, or elsewhere... be sure to get (and keep) the sales receipt from an authorized Fostex dealer to assure you will be able to obtain warranty service from Fostex - they will not honor the warranty if you don't.  
 
I mention this because the Denons (which have the same gimbel connection to the cups), have had instances where the screw / bolt assembly that attaches the cups to the gimbel have come loose requiring repair.  It's possible the same thing could happen to the TH-900. 
 
Unless you want to repair them yourself (DIY), or pay someone else to repair them, you may want to consider this factor.  Though, even the Fostex / Denon parts to repair the gimbel connection are very expensive.
 
In the case of Price Japan, you must return the phones at your expense (round trip) to Price Japan, which will arrange for the warranty repairs.  In the case of a foreign dealer, you might have to do the same, though Fostex USA, has indicated to me they will honor the warranty, as long as the buyer has the original sales receipt from an authorized dealer.  

I got mine (TH900s)  from Moon Audio (Drew). If I ever need service, does this help me?

 

[Soned]

I'm paying 1600 shipping included, when you consider shipping approx 50 bucks(usually more), call them 1550, which is a savings of $450 off the base before taxes.I won't get hit with anything more than taxes at customs, my percentage of savings was not precise, but close.Do you think I would be better to pay 2 grand plus tax?
I'm pretty comfortable with paying 1600 delivered , If I bought them from a US seller I would be in the same customs scenario, but paying 2 grand

 

[Gradofan2]

The price in NA is $2000, which includes shipping, and there are no customs fees (which is about 5%).  A 30% discount yields a price of about $1400 - to which you generally have to add the cost of shipping (about $50-80), and the the 5% customs fees (about $70), which would reduce the discount.  If they're including shipping in the price, then you would substract that to arrive at your discount.  So... you'd be talking about $1300-1400.  
 
You can buy them at PriceJapan.com for $1814+, which includes shipping - or about a $200 discount (10%).  They report that they've never had customs fees due on a set of headphones <$2000 shipped to NA - so, you would likely avoid that cost, if buying in NA.  And... they report Fostex will honor the warranty if the phones are returned to PriceJapan.com - though, the buyer bears the cost of shipping to a from PriceJapan.com.
 
I guess you're real price would be about $1450 ($1500 less $50 shipping), or so (after you consider the cost of shipping), plus the customs fees... unless you get lucky and they don't impose a customs fee.   
 
So... I suppose that would be the "cost of the warranty" - you're price (plus any shipping and customs fees) compared to the $1814+.   So, I guess that would be about $250, more, or less.  Not a bad price... if... you've got a reliable seller, and you don't have to repair them sometime in the future.  

 

[Soned]

My 30% savings calc was a best case scenario.In Canada we pay 13% tax, so if bought from a Canadian dealer I'm looking at 2260 delivered based on free delivery.Fedex charges a customs fee of around 50, but not Canada Post(as these will be delivered.I have also had deliveries where no extra charges have been added by Canada Post, so my Potential savings are 660 bucks, at worst around 500(tax included)
 
 I thought you would be happy for me 

 

[Gradofan2]

It's not a matter of being "happy" or "sad."  It's more a matter of making sure anyone who might be tempted to buy from a foreign vendor for the savings, understands they need to be aware they may not have a warranty, and they may have to pay the customs fees of about 5% on a fairly large number (say $70-80, or so).  
 
And... on top of that... they need to make certain they're paying with a form of payment, which will allow them to recover their payment... if... the vendor is not reliable (e.g. a credit card, that will refund their money, if they never receive the phones, or they're not as advertised).  I've had that issue with a vendor in China.  My credit card company refunded my money, so I didn't have the loss.  Some of those eBay vendors do not allow you to return the phones.  
 
The "lure" of saving a a bit... can have unplanned difficulties... so... make sure you're allowing for those when you buy from such a vendor.  

 

[Soned]

I appreciate your concern , but this isn't my first rodeo.I buy internationally all the time.I also own and produce my own radio program, so my "hobby" is a write off.

 

[BournePerfect]

Just ordered these from Todd. Shout out to his great communication and helpfulness with my first transaction with him! Hope to have these before New Years.
 
-Daniel

 

[songmic]

Quote:

Just ordered these from Todd. Shout out to his great communication and helpfulness with my first transaction with him! Hope to have these before New Years.
 
-Daniel

 
I'm looking forward to hear your impression with the ZDSE. Me on the other hand just ordered a ZDSE from Craig for driving my TH900, I hope this combination works out well for both of us!

 

[BoBDylan]

Any huge gap between
Fostex th900 + Hp-p1   --> computer source
             vs      
Fostex th900  + Hp-A8  ---> computer source  ?
 
 Does its really  worth to sacrifice Portablility for the better A8 ?  How huge in % ? 
 
 

 

[AnakChan]

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Hi thanks for suggestion  .  
Now im in the big dilemma between going  with Portable amp/dac  (Hp-p1 , iQube)  vs  station Burson sololist (or H8)
 
How much  difference in sound quality between Hi-end portable vs Desktop Amp ?  
Whats missing if i go with Hi-end portable gears instead of Desk amp ?  ( to bring th900's potential)
 

Originally Posted by BoBDylan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Any huge gap between
Fostex th900 + Hp-p1   --> computer source
             vs      
Fostex th900  + Hp-A8  ---> computer source  ?
 
 Does its really  worth to sacrifice Portablility for the better A8 ?  How huge in % ? 
 
 

 
I've not used the HP-P1 for well over a year as such I can't comment on using it with the TH-900. However I have used the TH-900 with portable amps such as ALO Audio Rx Mk3 or RSA SR-71B and the TH-900 is quite easy to drive. If we're talking about these kinds of portable amp, it's not a matter of whether they're better than a desktop but more like which sound do you prefer.
 
Personally I think my greatest concern for your proposed setup is that it seems to imply you want it for portable use and I think this is where the TH-900 doesn't do very well for at least 2 reasons :-
 
1) the TH-900 doesn't isolate well (although I'm tempted to consider Lawton's new earpads for the TH-900 to see if they improve isolation but not deteriorate SQ - those pads are only $100).
2) the TH-900 is quite fragile - my earcups have broken twice, once on the plane, and another at the recent Tokyo headphone festival. This headphone is too expensive to risk breaking/damaging. I just happened to be lucky to live in Tokyo and know the Fostex chaps who have been extremely generous in repairing my TH-900s under warranty despite clearly being user initiated.
 
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I'm looking forward to hear your impression with the ZDSE. Me on the other hand just ordered a ZDSE from Craig for driving my TH900, I hope this combination works out well for both of us!

 
I must say I'm rather curious myself in addition to MorbidToaster's comment about the the Cavalli Liquid Glass. That's not to say I'm not happy with my HP-A8 as it's performing very well, especially in it's DoP (SACD/DSD/DSF over USB) capability.

 

[whitefang]

Quote:

Any huge gap between
Fostex th900 + Hp-p1   --> computer source
             vs      
Fostex th900  + Hp-A8  ---> computer source  ?
 
 Does its really  worth to sacrifice Portablility for the better A8 ?  How huge in % ? 
 
 

 
I wouldn't say the TH900 is hard to drive, but it is very transparent and the SQ will scale up directly with better source or amp.
TH900 sounds pretty good with DX100 or HP-P1, however a $1000+ desktop source is by far superior.
I also agree with AnajkChan that TH900 is not very suitable for portable use. so I would recommend you to go for a desktop DAC like HPA8 or whatever.

 

[BournePerfect]

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I'm looking forward to hear your impression with the ZDSE. Me on the other hand just ordered a ZDSE from Craig for driving my TH900, I hope this combination works out well for both of us!

 Yep I can't wait to compare it straight from the DP1 versus the ZDSE/DP1. I'll be trying my  NOS Tung sol roundplate/black glass and a NOS Brimar for starters on the Zana. I preferred the Tung sol with both of the brightish HD800 and AD2000, thought the Brimar was more neutral, dynamic, and transparent. All in good time.
 
-Daniel