iM716 Prices

[lbholde]

Can anyone tell me the name of the Amazon.com retailer who was selling the iM716s for cheap prices?

This link shows the price fluctuations for the iM716 over the past year. Hopefully you'll be able to pull it up. I'm hoping for another $60-70 sale!

 

[Coltrane]

Amazon themselves were the ones selling them for cheap. Apparently they ran out, not sure if they will get anymore.

You might want to contact amazon, not sure how much good it would do. But until they get them, i think you will only see the higher, but still apparently quite good, prices.

 

[lbholde]

Amazon can use a 3rd party to sell certain items that they do not normally stock. For example, when I bought my ER-6is through Amazon, they actually came from a 3rd party called Eek Technology or something like that. Currently, Amazon is selling iM716s through a 3rd party called Computer Brain. I read in another thread that Amazon recently switched 3rd party suppliers for the iM716, and when they did, the price went up. My question is, what was the name of the previous 3rd party, the one who sold them for cheap?

Or are you saying that there was previously no 3rd party but now there is (in which case the poster in the other thread was wrong)?

 

[grawk]

Amazon themselves had them cheap. When they ran out, other vendors get displayed as primary.

 

[auris]

Quote:

Or are you saying that there was previously no 3rd party but now there is

The pair I bought for around $60 several months ago came directly from Amazon.

 

[Cakbar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by auris The pair I bought for around $60 several months ago came directly from Amazon.

Same Here

 

[lbholde]

I see. Well, I guess I'll just keep watching to see if they drop the price again. Also, from the link to nextab.com I posted above, you can set it to notify you if the price drops below a certain threshold. And nextag.com does watch Amazon.com.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbholde I see. Well, I guess I'll just keep watching to see if they drop the price again. Also, from the link to nextab.com I posted above, you can set it to notify you if the price drops below a certain threshold. And nextag.com does watch Amazon.com.

That may work if, in fact, the product will not be, or is not, discontinued.

The $60 pricing for a $200 MSRP product does sound like that might be the case. Amazon has not received its own supply of these for some time now. As mentioned they are selling through 3rd party suppliers.

Although purely speculation, there may have also been some disclosure problems between the two companies, and a resultant falling out. Altec initially advertised the iM716’s as a modified ER4S. Considering the iM716 was already discounted to about 60% of the ER4 series, this set myself and many other buyers to purchase the iM716 rather than comparable Ety products.

Nonetheless, the mystery remains as the heritage of the iM716. As to whether Altec or Ety might want to pull the plug, or already have, dunno.

So the question, buy at $110, or wait for a price drop? The problem is, of course, if the supply dries up, the price may increase and $110 may be a bargain. At this point, it’s a crapshoot.



Original thread by Old Dave that got the whole iM716 ball-a-rollin’:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ght=im716+Dave

Potential disclosure issues also noted here:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ght=im716+Dave

 

[lbholde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jSatch So the question, buy at $110, or wait for a price drop? The problem is, of course, if the supply dries up, the price may increase and $110 may be a bargain. At this point, it’s a crapshoot.

I was just thinking that exact thing before I read your response.

Anyway, I emailed Amazon.com, asking them if the price might drop back down if they began to stock it again. The reply was, in a nutshell, they don't know. Here is the complete reply (at least I got a reply):

Greetings from Amazon.com.

I have checked with our website and found that it is from one of our
market place sellers.

If the availability estimate shown on our web site is shown
as "usually ships within 1-2 business days," or if there is no "add
to cart" link but only a link for "more buying choices," the item is
currently only available from a third-party seller on Amazon
Marketplace, or from one of our Amazon Merchants.

If an item is listed as "Out of stock," then Amazon.com is not able
to fulfill it directly. For that reason, no button for 1-Click or
Shopping Cart orders will appear on product detail pages when an
item is out of stock.

However, individual merchants can still list such items for sale.
Sellers may list items for sale at any price they feel is fair. If
the item has become rare or collectible, it is possible that sellers
will list the item at a price significantly higher than the original
retail price.

For these reasons you may occasionally see an item with an
Amazon.com list price lower than any of the prices being asked by
individual sellers.

We do not know if this item will be available for purchase on our
web site in the future. For this reason, the item is currently
listed as out of stock.

I apologize for the inconvenience caused and I've also provided some
useful information about ordering from third-party sellers below.
Thanks for writing to us.

Best regards,

Habeeb S
Amazon.com Customer Service

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbholde I was just thinking that exact thing before I read your response. Anyway, I emailed Amazon.com, asking them if the price might drop back down if they began to stock it again. The reply was, in a nutshell, they don't know. Here is the complete reply (at least I got a reply): Greetings from Amazon.com. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Best regards, Habeeb S Amazon.com Customer Service

Yup, standard form reply.

The iM716 phones, and their accessories, are still up on the Altec website.

Maybe we just made them so popular that they decided not to discontinue them, or dump them off to Amazon.

Anyway, the iM716/616s have only been out less than a year. What is interesting is that when they debuted at the Mac Paris Expo, Altec was claiming to have another, less expensive model that was to be released shortly. I would have expected it to be a dynamic driver setup, like the Senn CX300. But, it never came about.

Altec is making a ton of money off small iPod speaker setups. Their other phones, as far as I know, pretty much bite the big one, and they are not making large strives to improve them, again, as far as I know. So I doubt they’re too concerned with the status of the iM716/616.

But then again, maybe a poddless, black, stealth version of the iM716, the iM916, is just around the corner.

Now that would be HOT

 

[lbholde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jSatch Original thread by Old Dave that got the whole iM716 ball-a-rollin’: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ght=im716+Dave

Thanks a million for posting this thread. It is very enlightening. Old Dave himself seems to be very happy with his iM716s, even after owning an ER-4. Another guy, when making a direct comparison between the ER-4 and the iM716, at first heavily favored the ER-4, but then later on seems to consider them almost equal.

I've already went ahead and sent my broken ER-6is back to Ety for replacement, but I'm still very much tempted to go ahead and buy the iM716s, even at the $100+ price. Then I could have a "beater" pair for the gym and yardwork, and a "good" pair for the bus and home.

You headfiers are corrupting me. It's all your fault!

My only concern is that my Cowon Iaudio G3 won't be able to power them adequately. Anybody out there with that combo?

 

[jjhatfield]

My advice is to wait for a pair to show up on the Head-Fi FS forums.

I just sold mine to another Head-Fi'er for 60USD shipped, and I threw in the Shure Soft Flex variety pack (8USD value) since I wouldn't have any use for them anymore.

Many deals to be had if you are patient and watch the FS forums like a hawk.

 

[jSatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lbholde Thanks a million for posting this thread. It is very enlightening. Old Dave himself seems to be very happy with his iM716s, even after owning an ER-4. Another guy, when making a direct comparison between the ER-4 and the iM716, at first heavily favored the ER-4, but then later on seems to consider them almost equal. I've already went ahead and sent my broken ER-6is back to Ety for replacement, but I'm still very much tempted to go ahead and buy the iM716s, even at the $100+ price. Then I could have a "beater" pair for the gym and yardwork, and a "good" pair for the bus and home. You headfiers are corrupting me. It's all your fault! My only concern is that my Cowon Iaudio G3 won't be able to power them adequately. Anybody out there with that combo?

Yeah, it was quite a thread. KWKarth, the other ER4 owner you mention, also got to like them after they burned in. He generally used tri-flanges. Different sound.

But make no mistake, the sound sig is not the same between the iM716 and the ER4, and neither are the impedances (which can tailor the sound sig somewhat).

Another factor is how the driver is 'loaded'. That is, what does the air mass from the backstroke of the diaphragm see? For speaker systems there are closed boxes, ported (vented) boxes and transmission line speakers. All of these affect the sound sig and the Q of the speaker. Even different sizes of closed boxes, for example, will affect these parameters. Soooo.... the casing that the little balanced armature diaphragm is loading into may very well be different between the two. This might allow the iM716 a bit more bass than the ER4 by varying the loading and Q factor. It appears to me the shell of the iM716 is larger. But this may not mean anything.

Nonetheless, the personality of the driver will remain, due to a common lineage (or so goes the ancient folk lore of these phones).

In a recent thread 3X0 and TiTan compare the sound of the iM716 to the ER4 and UM2, respectively. See the thread http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ighlight=IM716 ,

Good advice from jjhatfield. Look for used phones.

 

[jSatch]

BTW, I paid $119 for these phones, which is slightly higher than their current price, and still find them a bargain.

 

[3X0]

Agreed on all counts. I purchased my own pair used at a discount price. It ended up being more than a bit higher than the $62 low, but still much lower than the ~$100ish price now.

Great value at any of these prices, really. I mean, these are really tier-2 (ER4, E4, 5 Pro, UM2) IEMs for near tier-1 prices IMHO.