[pabbi1]

Well, I'm targeting my birthday (October) for a pair, hoping for some price loosening and currency movement to soften the blow just a bit... certainly gonna do it by year end.
 
Plenty of time to get two other stat amps up and running - certainly one of the 3 will do.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

PJ makes me nervous.  The USA typically adds a ~3% tax on imported electronics and headphones;  to avoid this, PJ stated they ship with a declared value of $200.  If this is the case, how can they insure for the full $4100?  If they can insure for this amount, and customs notices, won't they get suspicious? 
 
In the end, is the relatively small percentage savings really worth all this risk, plus the headache of a non-domestic warranty? 
 
 
 
For those outside the USA, PJ may be a fantastic idea. 

I have never paid a dime in duty on anything I have brought into the USA.  I recall that my 007A from EIFL showed up within 8 days of payment.
 

 

[Lil' Knight]

^
I paid like $30 for tax when I bought the O2MKI from Kuboten.

 

[vrln]

You guys in the states are so lucky Here in Finland importing anything expensive means you can add 23% VAT and then usually 1-6% customs to the price. Oh and both of those are calculated from the price that includes shipping!

 

[kiertijai]

In Thailand we have the same situation the custom is at least 10% of the declared value (item price + S&H) and then
we will have another 7% Vat on top of that.  So it will come down to at least 20% from the item price.

 

[shabta]

If you live in France like me you have to ship EMS. All the comercial carriers like FEDEX, DHL etc. make sure you get fully taxed. The reason for this is that they charge you a "convenience fee" so it is in their interest to get you taxed. When you ship ems the post office sometimes doesn't notice or care about the tax possiblity. And no fee.

 

[kiertijai]

If you live in France like me you have to ship EMS. All the comercial carriers like FEDEX, DHL etc. make sure you get fully taxed. The reason for this is that they charge you a "convenience fee" so it is in their interest to get you taxed. When you ship ems the post office sometimes doesn't notice or care about the tax possiblity. And no fee. 
 
I think it's the same situation here because we will have to pay more tax if the item is  shipped via Fedex or DHL.  One time I have to pay 40% of the item price
when shipped by Fedex

 

[Lil' Knight]

If you live in France like me you have to ship EMS. All the comercial carriers like FEDEX, DHL etc. make sure you get fully taxed. The reason for this is that they charge you a "convenience fee" so it is in their interest to get you taxed. When you ship ems the post office sometimes doesn't notice or care about the tax possiblity. And no fee. 
 
I think it's the same situation here because we will have to pay more tax if the item is  shipped via Fedex or DHL.  One time I have to pay 40% of the item price
when shipped by Fedex

That's also my experience. Basically EMS is just as fast as DHL or Fedex, maybe 1 or 2 days slower but has much lower chance to get charged by custom.

 

[kiertijai]

I am considering to try the US group buy because the price is good and will get the first shipment.  If not on time I may try the PJ route because it is cheaper and the price quoted is what we saw. so it will be an excellent price although we have to wait longer.  The Thai Stax distributor does not give me the first shipment purchase so it's better for me to go somewhere else, it's frustrating though to know that later after several months of confirming the preorder..   If I go to the PJ route I will report my experience on that to other head-fiers.  My friend in Hungary informed me that the PJ is very reliable too.

 

[Double F]

I purchased a Leben 300xs from Price Japan last summer.   For some reason they recommend DHL.  When it arrived there was no mention of  duty or taxes.  DHL is very fast, 24 hours once it left Japan 

 

[kokushu]

This maybe a stupid question but is the stax c32 and 009 the same headphone?  Or are they two different headphone release by stax sometime later.  I know that the 009 should be availabe by mid April but hadn't heard anything about the c32.

 

 

[livewire]

Yes they are the same.
C32 is the prototype designation (test version), SR-009 is the production version model number.

 

[monsieurguzel]

same headphone.  C32 was just the codename for the SR-009.  Some people thought it would be called the Omega 3, but that didn't happen.

 

[arnaud]

Quote:

same headphone.  C32 was just the codename for the SR-009.  Some people thought it would be called the Omega 3, but that didn't happen.

Yes indeed and little has changed in the design since the unveiling of the C32 prototype last octover until the release of the SR-009 this spring. For more detail, see here on-going translation attempts (hopefully I don't get it wrong ;o) ) of the latest interview of Stax's representative: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/546214/auditioned-stax-new-sr-009/30#post_7388200

 

[Bill13]

Regarding my USA pre-order with Elusive Disk for Stax SR-009 and the SRM-323S amplifier (combo):
 
 
Looks like apparent US dollar devaluation (S&P issued negative warning on US debt); meanwhile, the Yen is currently increasing it's value relative to the dollar -- this may put pressure on prospective Stax purchasers due to the unfavorable currency exchange rate.
 
 
So, even though I have some concerns about possible SR-009 earphone internal air circulation ("open air" design hopefully may reduce 'ear sweat' discomfort for longer listening sessions, compared to my SR-007 Omega), there's not much choice so far, about waiting for a lower price in the future? 
 
However, there seems to be little doubt that the SR-009 will sound great -- & wonder if the old 'king' Sennheiser Orpheus will be surpassed.
 
Bill