jjmai
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2009
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I got a chance to visit Japan and checked out some electronics shops. Almost every model (other than the really expensive ones) has display model for you to demo. Here are some pictures from a Bic Camera store (famous big chain):
At this Yodobashi store (another big chain), there were probably 10 isles dedicated to headphones and IEMs. This is just about 1/3 of the area:
Even smaller stores has a lot of headphones on the wall for you to try. This particular high-end audio equipment shop had a few Stax on the wall:
What also surprised me was the amount of free catalogs available, even from several American brands. I couldn't afford headphones with the expensive exchange rate, so I picked up a few catalogs to satiate my appetite. Wish they have these in big chain US stores. (Btw, one thing I hate about these catalogs is that a lot of items are listed as open price, so you can't get an idea what class each one is at by just looking at the catalogs.)
At this Yodobashi store (another big chain), there were probably 10 isles dedicated to headphones and IEMs. This is just about 1/3 of the area:
Even smaller stores has a lot of headphones on the wall for you to try. This particular high-end audio equipment shop had a few Stax on the wall:
What also surprised me was the amount of free catalogs available, even from several American brands. I couldn't afford headphones with the expensive exchange rate, so I picked up a few catalogs to satiate my appetite. Wish they have these in big chain US stores. (Btw, one thing I hate about these catalogs is that a lot of items are listed as open price, so you can't get an idea what class each one is at by just looking at the catalogs.)