[Xymordos]

Quote:

try a few other shops too in Mong Kok area
 
DMA sound
mingo (as mentioned before)
Kingsound
 
google will be ur best friend in finding their locations

Not sure about DMA, but mingo and Kingsound both have their websites to check their locations. Mingo - www.mingo-hmw.com Kingsound - www.headphonehk.com
 

 

[DjAmTraX]

I better leave my wife at the hotel so I can ask for a "Chinese discount".

 

[andy2667]

Hi,
 
I am a Hong Konger. If you want to buy Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser or Grado, Etymotic, I think you have better prices in the US. I check the Amazon price and note that prices for Beyer selling in Amazon are 30% ~40 % cheaper than those in Hong Kong! Unfortunately, they don't ship outside US! I once has considered buying from Amazon, ship to my US friend and ask them to ship the headphone to Hong Kong.
 
For High end headphone (e.g. T1, HD800...) their prices in Hong Kong are similar to the street prices selling in US. Therefore, I don't think you can get good prices in Hong Kong. For Japanese brands (e.g. Denon, AudioTechnica, Sony...), they may be a little bid cheaper in Hong Kong. That was why I mail ordered my DT880 directly from Germany years ago.
 
The prices of High End audio gears, cables .....etc are also ridiculous in Hong Kong.
 
Good luck shopping in Hong Kong for High End Audio!

 

[vrln]

The T1 is actually cheapest in Finland right now I think. We have it for 799 euros

 

[idletime1213]

Yeah I was in Hong Kong looking at some DT-model Beyers, and found their prices a little high. Ended up ordering my DT880/600 from amazon instead.

 

[DjAmTraX]

I would most likely look to buy ones that are not available in the U.S.  What brand/models that comes to mind for you guys?
 
I may pick up a Sony Z1000 and CD900st. since they're not in the U.S. (not sure if I need the CD900 since I have a MDR7506).
 
Anything else?

 

[achl354]

DMA
www.dma-audio.com

 

[Xymordos]

Yup, only japanese brands are cheaper here
 
Quote:

Hi,
 
I am a Hong Konger. If you want to buy Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser or Grado, Etymotic, I think you have better prices in the US. I check the Amazon price and note that prices for Beyer selling in Amazon are 30% ~40 % cheaper than those in Hong Kong! Unfortunately, they don't ship outside US! I once has considered buying from Amazon, ship to my US friend and ask them to ship the headphone to Hong Kong.
 
For High end headphone (e.g. T1, HD800...) their prices in Hong Kong are similar to the street prices selling in US. Therefore, I don't think you can get good prices in Hong Kong. For Japanese brands (e.g. Denon, AudioTechnica, Sony...), they may be a little bid cheaper in Hong Kong. That was why I mail ordered my DT880 directly from Germany years ago.
 
The prices of High End audio gears, cables .....etc are also ridiculous in Hong Kong.
 
Good luck shopping in Hong Kong for High End Audio!

 

[estreeter]

Quote:

Actually, most of the headphone shops I know of are in the same place...

Interesting - high end audio seems to be tightly clustered in Singapore too. Not sure about KL, but I did find a good audio store in Ipoh - I guess you have to know where to look.
 
Its like the 'electronics mall' phenomenon you find right through Asia, with stall after stall selling the same mobile phones - makes me wonder how a lot of those folk make any money, and what they did before the mobile phone and CD burners were invented
 
Not sure if it happens in HK, but I've had some very ordinary experiences where the outside of the store is plastered with all the right brand names (Onkyo/Denon etc), but inside you find only plastic junk from the likes of Panasonic and TEAC. The owners dont seem to see anything wrong with this practice - it must be a culture thing.

 

[3X0]

 
Quote:

Mingo's nice, and they have a good selection of IEMs as well as higher end over-the-ears, but my store of choice is Jaben in HK. They have a largest selection of over-the-ears and pretty much lets you try on anything you'd want for as long as you want. The staff is knowledgeable and nice; the only problems with it is that they do not have good selection of amps, and it's better to bring your own source.
 
Jaben is also located in Mong Kok (where Mingo is), but I don't have an address; it's somewhere on the Jaben forums though I'm sure. The other place to look at is King Sound, but I heard they mostly have accessories, but you can bargain there which is nice.
 
I wouldn't buy headphones there, but rather other things like DACs/AMPs/other accessories in HK because it's so overpriced.

Jaben was pretty hard to find. The address is:
 
Room 24, 2/F, Wing Wah Building             
14-24 Sai Yeung Choi Street South,           
Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong            
 
But I got a lot of headaches with that. At first I went to Wing Wah Centre which was a different story entirely. Moreover, Jaben's not actually on Sai Yeung Choi Street South, but rather on a cross street (I forget which), there should be some fish ball street food vendors right nearby. Give them a call at +852 2304 3108 beforehand to be sure. While you're there tell the dude with the Edition 8s that the kid with the JH13s and Jaben cables said hello.
 
Mingo's has a great selection of IEMs. The headphone collection was a bit disappointing as the Stax's topped out at some old Lambdas, and the headphones at the old HE-5s last time I checked. They only had universal demos of the JH5s as (last time I was there, about a month ago though) their JH16s had to be sent for repair. The collection of Chinese amps is impressive, and they do sell aftermarket cables but didn't let me demo their JH ALO cables. I forgot where exactly it is as I went with a friend.
 
Jaben on the other hand as you mention has a more limited collection amplifiers and sources (they only have a couple of CDs, and use some entry-level Cambridge Audio CDP). Their headphones top out at the T1, and they won't stock electrostatics or orthodynamics ever (I asked) or HiFiMan/Head-Direct products at all IIRC. They have the JH16s and JH13s for demo, as well as very exotic (i.e. I have barely read anything about these on Head-Fi) universal demos of FitEar customs. They also have R10s and HP-1s that taunt you when you enter but they're not for demo (

). Think about buying their BNIB NOS ATH-L3000s -- $50,000HK. 

 
In all seriousness though, I can't think of many of the products I saw besides the FitEars as outside-of-the-U.S.-exclusively listening/purchasing opportunities. I only bought a cable from Jaben that I like more than the TWag for ~$750HK while I was there (for over four months).

 

[DjAmTraX]

Are prices very different from store to store? Is it like buying a car, go in blind and get robbed?

 

[Xymordos]

Quote:

Are prices very different from store to store? Is it like buying a car, go in blind and get robbed?

Nope, prices are very very similar. You can haggle.

 

[Gorgatron]

That store looks awesome.

 

[openreel]

I was in Hong Kong in October and spent a day in the Mong Kok shops and prices were considerably higher than here. Still worthwhile to see the variety and exotica but only as exploratory. I was thinking of picking up a headphone amp but forgot that their models are 220 volts. By the way, the shops don't open until noon or 1:00 much to my surprise.

 

[Xymordos]

There are cheaper models, just not as common, and you need to haggle. Amps here are quite cheap. We like to sleep in
All shops open at 10-12am until 9-10pm (in malls) usually
Quote:

I was in Hong Kong in October and spent a day in the Mong Kok shops and prices were considerably higher than here. Still worthwhile to see the variety and exotica but only as exploratory. I was thinking of picking up a headphone amp but forgot that their models are 220 volts. By the way, the shops don't open until noon or 1:00 much to my surprise.