[Trying2Learn]

Anyone know a good place to buy IEMS, headphones, portable stuff in WA? I've only been internet shopping.

 

[miceblue]

Hi! I live in Seattle as well. What really is this? Still a little confused. As for gear, I have a few, none too notable. Sennheiser Cx300ii, Vsonic VSD3S, and a Sennheiser 449. Iphone 6 and Ipad Mini 2, also an MSI GT60 gaming laptop with SOME Sound Blaster card. I've had a JLab Neon, as did 5 other friends of mine! They sounded alright, I got them on sale for 10 bucks. It was almost CX300ii, but not. But... ALL 6 of our JLab Neon's left side went out. Sooo not too reliable, just putting that out there.

Welcome aboard! This thread is mainly just to try and gather people in the Seattle area who might be interested in portable audio gear. Sometimes we might organise small min-meets to try others' gear since portable gear in general is small and convenient enough to bring along, but hard to come by at audio stores.

Anyone know a good place to buy IEMS, headphones, portable stuff in WA? I've only been internet shopping.

Good question. The only place I know of is Definitive Audio. There's one near the University of Washington area along Roosevelt Way and they have more desktop headphone gear there, and tons of speakers. Their Bellevue location has a much larger selection of headphones, but I don't know what kind of portable gear they have per se. For in-ears, I have no idea, but that's why we have this club organised so that people can listen to gear before they buy it!

The Definitive Audio Bellevue location does have a Pono Player if anyone was interested in hearing that.



[rule]
Also, I just saw this tour for the new T-PEOS Altone 250. Make sure you read the first post because there are some restrictions for who can participate.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/764646/t-peos-altone250-u-s-tour-impressions-thread

 

[Trying2Learn]

The Apple Store in Bellevue Square DOES have some RHA IEMs. Can't recall if they sell anyone's besides that? The beats iems of course but eh. Also, there is no trying the iems out but you can try the BW headphones there. And the Marshall ones. I was personally very impressed with the Marshall Monitors, even more so than the P7's! Very surprising. Marshall On Ears were more like Marshall Sits on your Ears barely so that didn't really work out for me. They do sell the T10's and 750's so they have the higher up RHA IEMS as well.

 

[Midgetguy]

@Trying2Learn, I've tried the BW and Marshall stuff in Apple stores before, the one in Lynnwood Alderwood mall had that stuff. Don't recall seeing RHA stuff, though I did see VModa stuff in there at some point. And considering it's still a buy to try, it's a solid pass for me; stuff in that store is like 60% pricier than if I bought it on like Amazon or something. I saw a keyboard cover that was like $40. Sold for $15 online.
 
@miceblue, I actually had no idea there was a Definitive Audio nearby, I live at 22nd and NE 50th! Able to give any more specifics on what I might find there? I'm not in search of speakers, but rather just demoing headphones.
 
And I just checked out that tour thread. If there wasn't such a strict term on shipping times (I'm only free to ship on weekends), then i would totally sign up for the tour! Then again, I'm also not too good at describing what I'm hearing haha. There's a user in there now though that's been added to the list and in Seattle! @earthpeople signed up it looks like so maybe they're willing to meet up for like quick short demos if there's the time. Maybe shoot a PM if interested, who knows the response?

 

[miceblue]

@miceblue
, I actually had no idea there was a Definitive Audio nearby, I live at 22nd and NE 50th! Able to give any more specifics on what I might find there? I'm not in search of speakers, but rather just demoing headphones.

And I just checked out that tour thread. If there wasn't such a strict term on shipping times (I'm only free to ship on weekends), then i would totally sign up for the tour! Then again, I'm also not too good at describing what I'm hearing haha. There's a user in there now though that's been added to the list and in Seattle! @earthpeople
signed up it looks like so maybe they're willing to meet up for like quick short demos if there's the time. Maybe shoot a PM if interested, who knows the response?

Yup, that Definitive Audio store on Roosevelt is a certified Linn Audio products vendor. They have a bunch of speaker stuff and McIntosh products. It's worth checking out just to admire the fancy stuff they have, hahaha.

As for headphones, the last time I went was back in November and they had the Audeze LCD-X and XC, OPPO PM-1 and PM2 and HA-1, Auralic Vega and Taurus.
Their Bellevue location had a larger selection of headphones but I didn't get a good look at them. They have a wall full of headphones though.

One more place that I just remembered, Magnolia HiFi at Best Buy stores often have a wall of headphones you can try out too. The Best Buy in Issaquah is the only one I know of who has that area though. The last time I went there I wanted to listen to their Martin Logan electrostatic speakers so I didn't get a good look at what headphones they had to demo.



I'm not sure if I'm going to go on the T-PEOS tour. Usually my experience with in-ears is a hit or miss for me, most of them being a miss.

 

[Midgetguy]

Yup, that Definitive Audio store on Roosevelt is a certified Linn Audio products vendor. They have a bunch of speaker stuff and McIntosh products. It's worth checking out just to admire the fancy stuff they have, hahaha.

As for headphones, the last time I went was back in November and they had the Audeze LCD-X and XC, OPPO PM-1 and PM2 and HA-1, Auralic Vega and Taurus.
Their Bellevue location had a larger selection of headphones but I didn't get a good look at them. They have a wall full of headphones though.

One more place that I just remembered, Magnolia HiFi at Best Buy stores often have a wall of headphones you can try out too. The Best Buy in Issaquah is the only one I know of who has that area though. The last time I went there I wanted to listen to their Martin Logan electrostatic speakers so I didn't get a good look at what headphones they had to demo.



I'm not sure if I'm going to go on the T-PEOS tour. Usually my experience with in-ears is a hit or miss for me, most of them being a miss.

Definitive Audio might warrant a visit from at some point then! I do like fancy stuff haha. I'm pretty sure I didn't see a Magnolia section at the Best Buy at Alderwood mall so that would be a bust. I'm quite at home with IEMs cuz I feel them to be the best balance of comfort, portability, and audio experience while out and about. Maybe that's just common college student ideology......at least for the people that aren't walking around with Beats around their necks so they aren't actually listening to anything. My inner audiophile shudders and gets depressed every time I see that. Also when people are listening to the stock Apple or Samsung earbuds or other equally crappy things like cheap JVC gummy buds and Skullcandies. I started on Skullcandies in high school; not putting those things in my head ever again if I don't have to.

 

[earthpeople]

And I just checked out that tour thread. If there wasn't such a strict term on shipping times (I'm only free to ship on weekends), then i would totally sign up for the tour! Then again, I'm also not too good at describing what I'm hearing haha. There's a user in there now though that's been added to the list and in Seattle! @earthpeople signed up it looks like so maybe they're willing to meet up for like quick short demos if there's the time. Maybe shoot a PM if interested, who knows the response?

 
Yeah if anybody is interested in hearing them, we could probably work out a time to meet when they are in my possession. 

 

[Midgetguy]

Who knows, maybe we'll be able to work out an IEM mini-meet or something at that time. I've gotten a Cypher Labs C6IEM and Earwerkz Supra 2 recently.

 

[miceblue]

Hey all you Seattle-area folks!

We recently had a small (5-person) experimental meet to see what a Portable Club meet might be like. It worked out pretty well and we thought we would ask you folks to see how many people would be interested in coming to one.

If location is important, we met in the Issaquah area and the host would be willing to host another meeting in the future depending on how many people want to come.

 

[Midgetguy]

I generally prefer to be west of Lake Washington, but I think I could be able to make it out to the Issaquah area. I'd only be able to do afternoons on weekends though, class assignments permitting.
 
On a different note, I now am also the owner of the Cypher Labs C6IEM and Earwerkz Supra 2. Though now that I have the latter, I'm thinking about selling off the C6IEM.

 

[miceblue]

I generally prefer to be west of Lake Washington, but I think I could be able to make it out to the Issaquah area. I'd only be able to do afternoons on weekends though, class assignments permitting.

On a different note, I now am also the owner of the Cypher Labs C6IEM and Earwerkz Supra 2. Though now that I have the latter, I'm thinking about selling off the C6IEM.

Bus 556 and 271 take you to the Issquah Transit Center, which is near the meeting place. : D
I'd be interested in hearing the Supra 2. I see you got them from shotgunshane, and he thought the original Supra is like a mini Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor.

 

[Midgetguy]

Bus 556 and 271 take you to the Issquah Transit Center, which is near the meeting place. : D
I'd be interested in hearing the Supra 2. I see you got them from shotgunshane, and he thought the original Supra is like a mini Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor.

That's pretty convenient for it to be kinda close to the Transit center. Yup, I got them from shotgunshane. They've immediately shot up in my list as the most comfortable, best-looking, and best-sounding IEMs in my stable. They're also much deeper insertion than anything else I've ever used. Actually might be on par with insertion levels of CIEMs. I had to grab the smallest tips I had available from my GR06s to get them fitting in my ear right! To compare to what I've already got in my collection, they're like my Havi B3s, but with a little less on the treble and vocals and a little more on the bass. So my summary is flat with slightly more bass, which is exactly to my liking. An they're purple! I'm sure you can appreciate that

.

 

[ericr]

Those sound pretty nice (no pun intended). I'm sure one of us could shuttle you between the transit center an the get together.

 

[Midgetguy]

Those sound pretty nice (no pun intended). I'm sure one of us could shuttle you between the transit center an the get together.

I'd find a way. Not a way around the whole gotta be on weekends with few assignments thing, but transportation I'd be good with. Got a car with me if I didn't feel like taking a bus haha. Thanks for the offer! And I'd be happy to reciprocate that offer!

 

[mechgamer123]

I would be willing to meet as well and try out some portable gear!