[B4S]

Hello,

I have been doing some research on what headphones to get, I have decided either the AKG K501 or the Sennheiser HD580. I have read on other posts that the K501s can be found for a little over $100. The lowest I have found is $134. Are there any other reputable places to buy from, or should I just get them from Headroom?

Oh, and I have noticed that you can buy HD580s on ebay for $129 from Hififorless.com. Are they a reputable company? Anyone have any experience dealing with them?

Thanks for your help

Eric

 

[JMT]

If you are concerned about service and retailer reliability, HeadRoom Corp. or Meier Audio, both sponsors of Head-Fi, have excellent reputations. I am not saying Hififorless does not, but I prefer to support those who support this community.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally posted by B4S Oh, and I have noticed that you can buy HD580s on ebay for $129 from Hififorless.com. Are they a reputable company? Anyone have any experience dealing with them?

Hififorless.com is the outfit where I bought my HD590s from. That outfit is based in the Phoenix, Arizona area. But there are trade-offs from buying at such a ridiculously low price compared to those of other U.S. resellers: Those heavily discounted Senns are "grey-market" units, intended for sale outside of the U.S. So the instruction manual may not be in English. At least Sennheiser isn't playing games with its 2-year warranty (in fact, the only warranty Sennheiser offers is an "international" warranty); you can still get warranty service on your "cheap" Senns even though you didn't buy them legitimately (i.e. you didn't buy an official Sennheiser USA product from an authorized Sennheiser USA reseller, such as Headroom). But the authorized U.S. service centers of some other companies will only perform warranty service on legitimate U.S.-market products purchased in the U.S. (or non-U.S.-market models purchased in the countries where those non-U.S. models were intended for sale in); they won't touch any non-U.S. model purchased in the U.S. at all whatsoever.

 

[john_jcb]

How do you distinguish U.S. Market from non U.S. Market Sennheisers?

 

[Eagle_Driver]

The specifications on the back of the package of U.S.-market Sennheisers are printed in English and in Spanish. But non-U.S.-market Sennheisers may have their packages printed in other languages; the one for my HD590's is printed in German and Italian.

 

[pdc]

I found that Headphone is the best around. The prices are reasonable and the service is outstanding. You can call them with questions and get intelligent answers. If you are not happy with the product, they have a 30 day return policy.

 

[bifcake]

I bought my 580's from hififorless and I haven't had any problems either with the headphones or with the retailer. I don't remember the packaging of the phones, but the instructions book contains instructions in English and five other languages. I didn't need warranty repairs, so I don't know if that's an issue, but I remember seeing a warranty card with my set, so there may not be an issue at all.

 

[B4S]

Well,

I agree with JMT on the buying from people who support the community. I ordered some AKG K501s from Headroom last night. I decided to try them even though I had the HD580s at one time and liked them. I guess if I don't like the AKGs I will go back to Sennheiser. Thank you everyone for your replys.

Eric