delenda est Sony
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2002
- Posts
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Hello all---
when strolling through my local Kmart on Saturday, I stopped by the audio department on a whim. Immediately a huge stack of Philips 890s caught my eye!! Kmart headphones are normally a pile of crap, low end Koss, Sonys and Pansonics, so I was pretty amazed to see decent phones for sale. I took a look and Kmart is selling the 890 for only $70. Not quite as good a deal as in Australia/Asia, but certainly less than the $105 that Virgin charges when they even have the 890 in stock.
I wanted to find out more about this so I tracked an assistant manager down, a nice older gentleman named Lou Pucci, or "Lou P for short". Lou was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the merchandise in his department like most Kmart staff members, and he gave me the scoop.
To help get out of bankruptcy, Kmart is trying to move upscale, like Target, and wants to "target" (ha, ha!) more sophisticated and affluent buyers. According to their marketing research, there is a huge group of audiophiles out there who have a hard time buying decent headphones at low prices. Kmart wants to serve this market.
At this particular store, Kmart had the Philips 890s as mentioned, as well as a good selection of lower end Kosses, like the Sporta, Porta, KSC50---and best of all the KSC35 priced at $5 less than the 50s (nice!), or $14.95. Lou also steered me over to a big Grado display, though none of the actual phones had arrived yet. This display featured a lifesize bikini clad model of Alicia Keys wearing a pair of SR125s with the logo "Check Out My Headphones!!!" (very nice,
!) Lou P told me that Kmart plans to carry the SR 60,80, and 125---along with the RA1 amp. (this will unfortunately probably be the only headphone amp that Kmart will offer.
)
As a matter of fact, Kmart plans to set up "listening stations" in their stores which will feature the RA-1 amping a mix of the headphones for sale in the store. The store will keep a mix of CD types (classical/jazz/rock etc) behind the counter or shoppers can test their own CDS or sources (like MP players.) Lou said some of the bigger Kmarts would actually have acoustic isolation booths to screen out store noise, but not at the particular store I was in, as it was on the small side.
Besides Koss, Philips, and Grados, Kmart will also carry some of the better Sennheiser models including the 280, 570 (well, not all necessarily the good stuff!), the 580, 590, and even the 600. Lou said the 600 would be selling at a max price of $150. I was doubtful and asked him to confirm that, and he checked the internal manager's bulletin and showed me the quote. Kmart doesn't want to price any headphone over $150, and they evidently have a steep volume discount deal with Sennheiser. $150 it is, making this the lowest non-eBay price I have seen for new Senn 600s. (Lou also said he had heard rumors that Senn would be replacing the HD600 in the next 4-6 months with an HD700 that Kmart probably would not carry...)
Finally, Kmart will also carry SLICSOUND brand ear plug/canal phone converters. Lou said he had tried these and thought they were "just grate!".
So audiophiles, if you are lucky enough to have off for the holiday today, get on over to your local Kmart. Lou said he thought NYC stores were somewhat behind in their stocking and setup for this program, so some of you in other parts of the country may be lucky enough to already have Grados and Senns in stock, as well as maybe some of those listening stations set up...
Happy shopping!
when strolling through my local Kmart on Saturday, I stopped by the audio department on a whim. Immediately a huge stack of Philips 890s caught my eye!! Kmart headphones are normally a pile of crap, low end Koss, Sonys and Pansonics, so I was pretty amazed to see decent phones for sale. I took a look and Kmart is selling the 890 for only $70. Not quite as good a deal as in Australia/Asia, but certainly less than the $105 that Virgin charges when they even have the 890 in stock.
I wanted to find out more about this so I tracked an assistant manager down, a nice older gentleman named Lou Pucci, or "Lou P for short". Lou was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the merchandise in his department like most Kmart staff members, and he gave me the scoop.
To help get out of bankruptcy, Kmart is trying to move upscale, like Target, and wants to "target" (ha, ha!) more sophisticated and affluent buyers. According to their marketing research, there is a huge group of audiophiles out there who have a hard time buying decent headphones at low prices. Kmart wants to serve this market.
At this particular store, Kmart had the Philips 890s as mentioned, as well as a good selection of lower end Kosses, like the Sporta, Porta, KSC50---and best of all the KSC35 priced at $5 less than the 50s (nice!), or $14.95. Lou also steered me over to a big Grado display, though none of the actual phones had arrived yet. This display featured a lifesize bikini clad model of Alicia Keys wearing a pair of SR125s with the logo "Check Out My Headphones!!!" (very nice,
As a matter of fact, Kmart plans to set up "listening stations" in their stores which will feature the RA-1 amping a mix of the headphones for sale in the store. The store will keep a mix of CD types (classical/jazz/rock etc) behind the counter or shoppers can test their own CDS or sources (like MP players.) Lou said some of the bigger Kmarts would actually have acoustic isolation booths to screen out store noise, but not at the particular store I was in, as it was on the small side.
Besides Koss, Philips, and Grados, Kmart will also carry some of the better Sennheiser models including the 280, 570 (well, not all necessarily the good stuff!), the 580, 590, and even the 600. Lou said the 600 would be selling at a max price of $150. I was doubtful and asked him to confirm that, and he checked the internal manager's bulletin and showed me the quote. Kmart doesn't want to price any headphone over $150, and they evidently have a steep volume discount deal with Sennheiser. $150 it is, making this the lowest non-eBay price I have seen for new Senn 600s. (Lou also said he had heard rumors that Senn would be replacing the HD600 in the next 4-6 months with an HD700 that Kmart probably would not carry...)
Finally, Kmart will also carry SLICSOUND brand ear plug/canal phone converters. Lou said he had tried these and thought they were "just grate!".
So audiophiles, if you are lucky enough to have off for the holiday today, get on over to your local Kmart. Lou said he thought NYC stores were somewhat behind in their stocking and setup for this program, so some of you in other parts of the country may be lucky enough to already have Grados and Senns in stock, as well as maybe some of those listening stations set up...
Happy shopping!
