"I do not think they were counterfeit, why would someone sell counterfeit as "refurbs" when they could get more money selling them by calling them "new"."
That is definitely something to think about. Actually it's kind of funny now that you mentioned it.
I honestly wasn't all that positive that they were counterfeit or fake, more like 30% - 40% possibility.
But just to play as the devil's advocate here. As for the reason why sell them as refurb rather than new... ? Well, that's the genius of it, isn't it? Ever watched a Seinfeld episode where a car saleman suckers George into buying some POS oldie La'Baron for a higher price, based on the quote that Jon Voight used to drive it around? Well turns out that Jon Voight did drive it, but not the actor, rather some local man that the salesman knew. When the question came up as why use Jon Voight as opposed to some higher caliber actor, the response came as 'you see, that's the genius of it'. So, thinking like a crook here, if one is going to try to pass some fake headphones for sale under refurb with a lower price, it would arise less suspicion than selling a brand new pair for that price or a slightly higher one. Don't you think? But, I digress, I trust that you know the phones you have better than me, I was merely throwing that possibility out there.
And if they're not defective, then I guess it means that you have just that type of taste for sound, one which makes you deem the MDRXB500 as what you have described them as.
However, I must confess something here. I actually returned my pair of Sony MDR-XB500 and price matched the Shure SRH240M+ with another store, paid extra $10.00 and was done with it. Reason is, you won't even believe me if I'd tell you. The headband gave.. Didn't break, but stretched to the size of my head and got stuck there at that point. I went for a couple of hours walk today, and I guess the sun and heat caused this weird thing to happen. Where in normal headphones heat or no heat, once you take them off, they go back to their normal shape. Not with this case. Could this be a defective pair, maybe. Should I bother with another pair to find out, I'd say no in my case. After all, I found the Shure SRH240M+ at $50 less than the regular selling price, so I got those instead.
I still think that the Sony's produce a very good sound for their price range, and they carry a deep rich and a punchy bass better than higher ranking headphones, namely the beats by Dr. Dre (which are SOooooo overpriced and overhyped.) Obviously they will sound more muddy (maybe mushy for some) due to how they fell on your ears, and due to the bass everwhelming the overall sound. However, they sound good. I simply didn't have the patience to deal with that stuff. Further, I also noticed something with Sony headsets. Every pair that I tried seems to be driving the left channel slightly more prominently than the right. Not sure why this is. I've tried the XD200, and it's the same story. The V500Dj ones, same story, and the same goes for the 500's. It might be me, but where I compare with other brands, like Sennheiser, Grado and even Shure, the sound appears way more balanced. So that is one downfall that I noticed.
But I also think it's unfair to say that anyone who thinks that the 500's sound good, automatically means that they never listened to quality headphones. I assure you that I have, many times. But I also have the notion of objectivity in that regard. For example. I have tried every Sennheiser model from $50 - $150 range and I can guarantee you that the Sony 500's sounded better. And think about it, the Sennheisers are pros at making headphones. Does that mean that Sony is now all of a sudden a better headphone brand? Obviously not, just means that the 'Quality' Sennheiser produces at that budget level is sub-par to their standard. And the question is, is it fair to compare $100 - $150 headphones to a $49 - $69 pair? Is it fair to compare anything over $150 to a $69 pair? But just out of curiousity, what would you consider a good pair of headphones at that range?
I can tell you that the Shure SRH240 is one of them, but other than that?
Take it easy.
