[asdfeproiu9]

does anybody know of a particularly good shop in japan that sells headphones for cheap? (looking specifically for a900s)

i'm going to go there in a month or two, want to know what to look for ..

any advice is appreciated.

 

[myself, aka me]

www.bicbic.com
www.yodobashi.com

The yodobashi in Shinjuku had an MDR-R10 a couple of months ago. It's probably still there. The A900 is fairly common, at least on those websites. 19800 from bic camera

 

[soupy]

man, i was too busy in yodabashi hunting for new digicams instead of headphones, wish I knew about audio technicas last summer

, my hotel was like 40 meters away from the yodabashi in shijuku, tokyo!!

 

[myself, aka me]

I was MD hunting last time. /wishes he knew about headphones then. AND I BOUGHT A FREAKIN' E900... /wishes he knew about Sharp..

Here's your thread back..

 

[Gergor]

I much prefer bic camera over yodobashi. The place is tidier, people are more friendly and speak slightly better English. And it's tax free if you're a short term foreign traveller buying over 10k yen.

 

[aeberbach]

You need to go to Akihabara. The first place is right outside the station, almost opposite the ticket machines near the noodle shop, across the road. On ground levels are the usual bright, noisy places advertising tax-free for tourists. Go up the escalator one or two levels and you'll find yourself in a cluster of individual shops arranged like a cramped mall. There is a pro audio shop with a good selection, then there is a place that has mostly new & used stereo components but they do have some headphones, I saw Stax and W2002 amongst others there a couple of months ago.

Second is a place I think is called Yamagiwa, I think it replaced a T-Zone store on the main street of Akihabara - a very large new-looking depato. Go about four floors up and you'll find the headphone section. In fact all the department stores around there have reasonable headphone sections and you really should see the stuff that you're not expecting to see, like the indoor airsoft shooting range or the whole floor of Tamiya models. Aso Bit City shouldn't be missed.

 

[Gergor]

Ha, finally someone mentioned Akihabara, I'm surprised that it took so many days.

Akihabara is practically mentioned in every travel guide about Tokyo. It's been portrayed as the "must go" for electronics/gadget shopping. Over the years I have included Akihabara in my itinerary (including my recent trip last month). However, the more and more I go to Akihabara, the more I wonder if it's worth the time and effort to make a dedicated trip there, especially for someone like me whom only spend a week or two for the entire Japan stay. Unless I am looking for something harder to find or used item, there was really no mass market item which I couldn't find in any big store in any other place. And it's not like you're going to get a better deal there neither. During my recent trip to Japan I asked a local about shopping opinion, and he actually told me he prefered Shinjuku over Akihabara, because he could find better deal there. For something like A900 which can be found practically in every electronic stores for almost the same price, I would suggest you just to buy in any store which is convenient to you. Of course, if you "happen" to be in Akihabara, it wouldn't hurt to check the place out.

For me, Akihabara simply lost its appeal after visiting there the first time.

 

[asdfeproiu9]

well the last few times i've been to akihabara, they didnt really have the a900s (maybe because it was new ..)

but are there any better prices throughout japan? i'm going to have a lot of time there lol

oh yeah, and where's an example bic camera / yodobashi store?

 

[Gergor]

Quote:

Originally posted by asdfeproiu9 well the last few times i've been to akihabara, they didnt really have the a900s (maybe because it was new ..) but are there any better prices throughout japan? i'm going to have a lot of time there lol oh yeah, and where's an example bic camera / yodobashi store?

How often do you visit Japan? A900's only available late last year.

Can't speak for places outside Tokyo, all the stores I have visited in Tokyo area mark the same price, however, each store may have its own promotion program (see below). I only go to big stores though, maybe there're black market stores I don't know about.

When I was younger and cared about every penny

, I spent hours (well, maybe not hours but it felt like it) bargaining with the salesman for discount. It must have been like more than 10 years ago. I haven't done that since, as I realized I have better things to do with my time. However, if you have a lot of time like you said, you may want to try, I don't guarantee they'll budge though.

bic camera / yodobashi have membership programs which give you 10% or more as store credit for future purchase. How familiar are you with Shinjuku? It's hard to explain to you how to get there, but I believe they're both close to the west side of the JR station. I believe bic camera is on the northwest side, yodobashi is on the southwest side.

 

[myself, aka me]

There's one in ikebukuro. Wait, there's two or three. Maybe it's two bic cameras and a sakuraya. I never went to the bic camera in shinjuku, but if you ever find yourself near ikebukuro.. Walk around, you'll walk into one. In fact, walk around until you hear their jingle. Lucky me hasn't been to Japan for two years and has forgotten the tune.

.

 

[allennokisi]

I second the opinion that it's not worth going to Akihabara if your looking for something like the A900's. Every Yodobashi, Sakuraya, Bic, etc will have them for roughly the same price. You'll have trouble finding HD-600's, 7506's, R10's, and Beyer's. But no trouble finding Audio Technica's complete line or even CD-3000's everywhere.

Right now Akihabara is only good for computer parts and Anime stuff.

 

[asdfeproiu9]

i go maybe once a year / 2 years ... i went in january, but didnt see the 900s in akihabara (so i'll check the other ones)

ikebukuro, alright ..

by the way, are the cd2000 / cd3000 better? the cd3000 is pretty expensive compared to the a900s i'm looking at ..

any suggestions? (preferably under 30 000 yen!)