NYC stores for testing headphones?

[paracetamol]

i went to J&R the other week to test out headphones and half of them were broken -- earpieces dangling, headbands cracked. out of the headphones where i actually liked the design, the volume on most of them was either turned up way too high, or not emitting any sound at all, with no way to control the volume (the cables ran through holes in a large wall and the source was hidden behind the wall)
frustrated, i checked out best buy and circuit city but the selections there are horrible.
can any new yorkers out there recommend to me places i can go to test headphones out in person? the only other place i can think of is possibly sam ash...

 

[10118]

B&H possibly.

 

[kylerk]

I have not been there in almost a year, but the midtown Harvey Electronics (45th St., bet. 5th & 6th Aves.) used to have a listening kiosk with some Senns and Grados. Unfortunately, no access to the source.

 

[DRSpeed85]

http://www.stereoexchange.com/

I bought my AKG K271s from this store sometime ago. They are very informed and very friendly. Highly recommended. I tested a few headphones before. They dont have alot of sample headphones but they are all popular models in this thread from various grados, senheisers and akgs. They say they are broken in and are in pretty good condition. It's in Broadway near soho.

 

[insomniac]

Sound by Singer (Union Square area) and Park Avenue Audio (29th and Park) have the full range of Grado headphones.

B&H doesn't have any headphones to actually try in store.

There are a couple music stores like Sam Ash in the 40's on the west side that carry a few other brands.

 

[BigD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infiniti029 B&H possibly.

Not really since they removed the headphones booth totally off their floor. I'd go with stereo exchange as well.

 

[zotjen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylerk I have not been there in almost a year, but the midtown Harvey Electronics (45th St., bet. 5th & 6th Aves.) used to have a listening kiosk with some Senns and Grados. Unfortunately, no access to the source.

The only problem with Harvey's is that some of the headphones they have for sale are not available for listening. If the phones you want are not displayed, I suppose you can ask if they have one lying around for you to audition.

 

[exmodel]

Yeah, it seems to be that in every store around me as well. I never understood how people could break that many headphones, and if it was willingly, why would they go through all that trouble just to crack some cans?

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac Sound by Singer (Union Square area) and Park Avenue Audio (29th and Park) have the full range of Grado headphones. B&H doesn't have any headphones to actually try in store. There are a couple music stores like Sam Ash in the 40's on the west side that carry a few other brands.

I got my grado SR-80 at Park Avenue Audio. They were very cool about letting me test and compare them to the SR-60. They also let me change the source.

It srikes me that there is an unfilled market in NYC for a store that specializes in headphones. Too much of a niche market?