[nibiyabi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captian73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif it boils down to the exchange rate. obviously in the US, the exchange rate doesn't work in your favour. Yes......for once we in the UK are paying less than other countries.....it's about time. Mind you we pay 3 times as much for gas, 10 times as much for property, so a few feeble dollars on headphones doesn't look so good in the grand scale of things. but still, it's nice to be cheaper!

I don't think you pay 10 times as much for property.

Otherwise virtually nobody would own a house in all of the UK. A house is for sale in my parents' middle-class neighborhood. It was built in the early 70s, has fuses instead of circuit breakers, no fiber-optic, and a bit of wear and tear (nothing that compromises the structural integrity of the place, though). 2500 square feet and it's about a 1/4 acre lot. $1.5 million. I really doubt that place would cost £7.5 million in the UK.

 

[captian73]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nibiyabi /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't think you pay 10 times as much for property. Otherwise virtually nobody would own a house in all of the UK. A house is for sale in my parents' middle-class neighborhood. It was built in the early 70s, has fuses instead of circuit breakers, no fiber-optic, and a bit of wear and tear (nothing that compromises the structural integrity of the place, though). 2500 square feet and it's about a 1/4 acre lot. $1.5 million. I really doubt that place would cost £7.5 million in the UK.

wanna bet?

we saw a 3 bedroom house not flat house for the equivalent of £32,850, i can't remember where it was. remember 3 bedroom!

we sold our 1 1/2 bedroom flat in Essex for £126,000, that's half as many bedrooms. my friend has a 2 bedroom flat, near Richmond, London and it's worth over £400,000 ($800,000), for a 2 bedroom flat not house, flat.

one of my fathers clients brought a 4 bedroom house in Purley for £450,000 ($9000,000) two years later he sold it for £650,000 ($1,300,000) and that's for a 4 bedroom house, no more than 10-15 miles from the centre of London.

so yes we do pay a lot more for property.

houses have become so expensive that my wife and i had to move north. we're buying a house, get this, 5 bedroom, 2 basements for £130,000. £130,000, we sold our flat in essex (25 mile north of London) for £126,000 and that had 1 1/2 bedrooms. however there is a trade off. where we are moving, it's the lowest 2% income earners in the country....i.e. there's no work or money their, and you can tell. Hence 5 bedroom house for the same price as our flat in Essex.

now, on to headphones.........

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captian73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif wanna bet? we saw a 3 bedroom house not flat house for the equivalent of £32,850, i can't remember where it was. remember 3 bedroom! we sold our 1 1/2 bedroom flat in Essex for £126,000, that's half as many bedrooms. my friend has a 2 bedroom flat, near Richmond, London and it's worth over £400,000 ($800,000), for a 2 bedroom flat not house, flat. one of my fathers clients brought a 4 bedroom house in Purley for £450,000 ($9000,000) two years later he sold it for £650,000 ($1,300,000) and that's for a 4 bedroom house, no more than 10-15 miles from the centre of London. so yes we do pay a lot more for property. houses have become so expensive that my wife and i had to move north. we're buying a house, get this, 5 bedroom, 2 basements for £130,000. £130,000, we sold our flat in essex (25 mile north of London) for £126,000 and that had 1 1/2 bedrooms. however there is a trade off. where we are moving, it's the lowest 2% income earners in the country....i.e. there's no work or money their, and you can tell. Hence 5 bedroom house for the same price as our flat in Essex. now, on to headphones.........

Similar or lower to prices in New York City which is the only place in the US that compares to London. California goes through boom and bust cycles, especially Silicone Valley, where prices get near that before collapsing to slightly reasonable levels.

DC is close to the levels that you list as long as you substitute 4-5 miles for 10-15 miles. After all DC's population is 1/4 London's, if that. Flats, or what we call condos, can go for 1.5 million in the city. Actually, I don't know what things go for right now because of the drop in the real estate market. Up to about a year and a half ago, a $1.5 million house or condo would only be on the market for a few days. While it appears that the dip in real estate is over for DC and the inner suburbs, I don't know what the current prices are.

 

[lostbobby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captian73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My fellow headphones enthusiasts (most of which have better headphones than me, you lucky people you) i just wanted some of your professional opinions on this deal. should i go for it? I don't care that they're "B stock" http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...link:middle:uk

try them on at the apple store. I couldn't get them to stay close enough to ear canal to get decent sound

 

[jayehs]

A8's have issues with cord fraying. I went to get mine fixed and they said it'll cost me like $80 CAD to fix that cheap cord with silver plated plug.

 

[ClieOS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayehs /img/forum/go_quote.gif A8's have issues with cord fraying. I went to get mine fixed and they said it'll cost me like $80 CAD to fix that cheap cord with silver plated plug.

Nickel plated actually.

Yeah, the cord isn't heavy built, but I have mine for almost 5yrs now and it is still fine. Guess I am just pretty careful with my 'phones.

 

[Assorted]

Yeah, maybe they'll benefit from a recable job

I think these earbuds are worth it.

 

[ClieOS]

Out of curiosity, I have put A8 and PK1 head to head in an A/B test yesterday and I can't say PK1 wins in every category. There are certain music genre I just prefer to use A8, even though PK1 is better all around. I might write a small review on this later, if any of you is interested.

 

[ghiberti]

there's no competition between PK1 and A8, and I think even PK2 blows it out of water in sound quality

/~

 

[captian73]

these replicas are being sold on ebay, can anyone give me any details on how to tell the difference?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/REPLICA-Bang-O...ayphotohosting

at least this seller is being up front about them be 'replicas'

 

[antoniost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by captian73 /img/forum/go_quote.gif these replicas are being sold on ebay, can anyone give me any details on how to tell the difference?

You'll need more detailed pictures than that to tell them apart from the original. Ask the the seller for them, and post 'em here.

I own a pair of A8s. I bought them for $80 (half their $US retail) from a seller in Hong Kong on eBay. They sound much better than almost every earbud that comes with a DAP. What I love about them is the three-way adjustment to get a nice snug fit. They are most secure fitting 'phones for any physical activity, you don't have to worry about them falling out.

 

[facelvega]

I'd be very wary of any B&O stuff for unusually low prices from ebay dealers, especially the A8. They are one of the four or five most commonly faked headphones on ebay. This doesn't necessarily mean they won't sound good, but it's a serious risk you'll end up with nice-looking junk. You'd be better off spending your money on something else in my opinion.

 

[antoniost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd be very wary of any B&O stuff for unusually low prices from ebay dealers, especially the A8. They are one of the four or five most commonly faked headphones on ebay. This doesn't necessarily mean they won't sound good, but it's a serious risk you'll end up with nice-looking junk. You'd be better off spending your money on something else in my opinion.

They were legit. I know this because I was hearing a buzzing foil type of sound from the left ear bud, and I went to a B&O store in NYC and had them exchanged for a new set. And the sound was identical. I later found out the buzzing sound was not the fault of A8s but of my DAP

. Well, at least I know they were the real deal.

 

[captian73]

it's just that it was the same picture for about 4 or 5 pairs, from the same seller that had no real track record (or keeps changing seller details to sale dodgy headphones).

i'm interested with buying the A8's ,......go nice with my beosound 1

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by antoniost /img/forum/go_quote.gif They were legit. I know this because I was hearing a buzzing foil type of sound from the left ear bud, and I went to a B&O store in NYC and had them exchanged for a new set. And the sound was identical. I later found out the buzzing sound was not the fault of A8s but of my DAP . Well, at least I know they were the real deal.

This also happens a lot more often than people seem to credit-- extra pairs of headphones from the factory being sold on the sly. It's particularly prevalent for headphones produced in China, as you might expect. Sometimes they just sneak a few boxes to a third-party seller, sometimes they are marketed under a different name, in which case they usually change three small things to avoid infringing on the first level of intellectual property law. It's all questionable, but ranges into the grey areas legally.

SO, buying the supposedly "fake" pairs on ebay can sometimes mean a pair from the same production line as the "real" ones. You were lucky, though, because one thing such pairs don't have is legitimate warranty support from the brand getting ripped off. Part of why other people pay more is to get the luxury of returning busted headphones to the shop. But if the shop agrees to replace your cheapies without proof of purchase, then more power to you.

And by the way for those interested, like most such companies B&O doesn't manufacture their own headphones, and I know for sure that at least some of their models were also designed by other companies on contract for B&O. This separation of design, manufacturing, and brand marketing creates a prime opening for sneaking surplus pairs onto the grey market without the approval of the ostensible company (the brand, that is).