[Mr Rick]

  Southern Calif and I need to find someplace else. So Cal sucks in almost every way.

I assumed you lived in Southern California. I meant what area of So Cal. North OC? South OC? Santa Ana? Irvine? Laguna Beach? Newport Beach?

 

[414353]

  How about Best buy?  They have free shipping if you spend I think it was about $35.  If you return in-store it's free with no restock within 15 days.  Just don't return too much since they work with a return filing company and record you ID, where you might get banned from returns at any participating stores.

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[lusagi]

  Me thinks not. I'd get to try one pair only and will not get a refund if ordered on-line and returned to a store. Besides, all they carry is Beats anyway. No thanks.

Best Buy surprisingly has a quite few high end models from Sennheiser like the HD558 and HD598.  If you do a few returns, you should have no issue with returns.  They ban people that abuse their return policy or return too often.
 
Try checking with the big Guitar stores if they have any open headphones to demo like Guitar Center/Sam Ash.

 

[414353]

 
Best Buy surprisingly has a quite few high end models from Sennheiser like the HD558 and HD598.  If you do a few returns, you should have no issue with returns.  They ban people that abuse their return policy or return too often.
 
Try checking with the big Guitar stores if they have any open headphones to demo like Guitar Center/Sam Ash.

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[billybob_jcv]

My friend, I'm hearing a lot of whine. The world isn't perfect, nor is it made for your pleasure. We all take our chances when we purchase products. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. As a life-long California resident that has traveled extensively to all parts of the USA, I wouldn't live anywhere else - even if it means I have to buy my headphones without trying them on first.

 

[Mr Rick]

I once heard the statement : "If you can't find it in Orange County you probably can't find it anywhere."   
 
My friend, you are just not willing to look. You will be able to demo virtually anything you desire at CanJam. If you are unwilling to go, then that is your loss.

 

[414353]

My friend, I'm hearing a lot of whine. The world isn't perfect, nor is it made for your pleasure. We all take our chances when we purchase products. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. As a life-long California resident that has traveled extensively to all parts of the USA, I wouldn't live anywhere else - even if it means I have to buy my headphones without trying them on first.

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[414353]

Wow. Well, I took a look at Frys (physically and on-line) as suggested. I thought it was a good suggestion,...well, technically, it was. However, I was surprised to find that they don't carry anything in the caliber I'm seeking. They don't even carry the ones I have. They only carry the lowest of the lines, which sort of makes sense now that I think about it. 
So for Guitar Center I only went on-line and they don't have much in higher caliber headphones either except they do have the AKG K240 and the Beyerdynamic DT770 though. So I may go take a look at those. I'll have to compare to my current cans by memory though which is not easy, but I can manage to at least ballpark it and comfort or discomfort as the case may be is an important factor. Reading up a little on those two headphones tells me I may not dig them for listening, but I'll try them on anyway because in my opinion (just as with speakers), that's the only way you can tell. 
(Of course with speakers, it's important to take the room into account. With headphones it's important to take your head and comfort into account).

 

[414353]

  I once heard the statement : "If you can't find it in Orange County you probably can't find it anywhere."   
 
My friend, you are just not willing to look. You will be able to demo virtually anything you desire at CanJam. If you are unwilling to go, then that is your loss.

Orange County is actually almost a dead zone for things audio and culinary. It is what it is.
I can well imagine I'd be able to demo anything I desire and maybe even a few things that are beyond my imagination for all I know.
It's more a matter of logistics at this point than a matter of willingness. 

 

[414353]

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[teejmiller]

I went to my local Best Buy and Guitar Center which have limited amounts of headphones on display. From there I gathered what I liked in a pair of headphones and started comparing models based on people's feedback. After buying ATH-M50s on a whim, they went right back to the store. I ended up with a pair of DT770s, and that started the bug. I'm up to 3 different pair of headphones and all types of equipment. You can research all you want and think you'll stop when you get the headphones you want, but it never ends!

 

[414353]

Obviously it is subjective. It ends, it just depends on the person deciding when enough is enough and it's different for different folks. That is true of anything audio or otherwise.