The Deals DISCUSSION Thread (READ THE FIRST POST!!!)

[DenverW]

Aliexpress is having their new years sale. A few interesting items from Hifiman including the HE-R10D

$163.75 - $20 coupon (USNY20) = $143.75. Sorry to anyone who paid over a grand

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806865721030.html


Hifiman Stealth Arya

$457.87 - $60 (USNY60) coupon = $400ish

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256807806293668.html

I tried the coupon and received an error that it was based on a first come first served basis and was expired. Sad face!

 

[elwappo99]

Those are some great deals! The Arya is tempting but I guess there is an argument that it would be wiser to spend more ($80-$100) on the open box/refurbished equivalent directly from Hifiman because you would be getting a warranty. I doubt they would honor warranties from these random sellers on Ali. Or are they not sticklers on the retailer? I've never had to do any warranty claims on any of my 12 HFM cans, but better to have the safety net and not need it...

Good catch! Here's a listing directly from Hifiman for $100 more if you're worried about the warranty.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803958875978.html

I tried the coupon and received an error that it was based on a first come first served basis and was expired. Sad face!

The sale ends in about 2 weeks and they "restock" coupons so it's possible the coupon will become valid again at some point. I have no idea how that works or why they have it set up like that. Also USNY40 would take $40 off.


There's also a few sites offering 10% to 15% back in cashback if you dabble in that side of deals, but major YMMV there. My experience with getting Aliexpress to honor cashback has been worse than most sites.

 

[zowie]

Some huge discounts on HiFiman site right now.
(Yes, I know some of their list prices can be kind of bogus.)
Scroll down for the clearance items and a link to the Open Box stuff.
website
and here open box

 

[collectedyams]

Up to 50% off all Harmonia Mundi downloads at Prestomusic. Excellent deals...

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/promotions/harmonia-mundi-downloads

 

[zowie]

Up to 50% off all Harmonia Mundi downloads at Prestomusic. Excellent deals...

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/promotions/harmonia-mundi-downloads

"Up to." Of their wealth of great recordings, I particularly like The Romantic Piano Concerto and The Romantic Violin Concerto series -- great artists doing mostly lesser known but very enjoyable works -- but they don't seem to be discounted?

 

[Terco]

A&K SP3000T Silver (USED 9 out of 10) in B&H $1,798.95

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...1_a_ultima_sp3000t_high_resolution_music.html

 

[dunring]

The 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods got signed today, and we'll see how it plays out with prices when current inventory is depleted at retailers. I'll find out more about how it's going to affect audio gear. If the "de minimis" $800 limit will stay in place, most of us won't notice a difference when buying direct. I did my daily checking and there's some good deals out there. At the end I added a list of outlets and used/refurb sites for manufacturers and retailers. So glad we have great American makers of audio equipment like JDS Labs, Schiit, Dan Clark Audio, and Grado. We have options if prices go up on other things.

Update: The de minimus, or $800 threshold before tariffs/duties kicks in has been removed. So anything ordered direct from China like Aliexpress will be subject to them now. I check prices daily for my business anyway, so will see how it affects retail channels in the coming weeks. This happened with washing machines years ago and retail prices went up on them 15-17 percent on a 10 percent tariff. Tier 1 distributors mark up the 10% and then retailers do also, so it wasn't just a simple 10 percent to consumers. Also washers made in the U.S. went up, and also dryers (even though there was no tariff on them) went up the same amount. Just a wait and see now on prices. Here's some deals in the meantime with good prices.

Topping A70Pro $399 (silver)
https://www.hificollege.net/collect...ly-balanced-headphone-amplifier-used-like-new

Topping D70Pro Sabre $500 (black or silver)
https://www.hificollege.net/collect...-with-remote-control-1?variant=41341665149005

Topping PA7 Plus power amplifier $419
https://www.amazon.com/KGUSS-PA7-Plus-Amplifier-Black/dp/B0C2TKPWLC

Topping A90 Discrete amplifier (black) $400
https://www.amazon.com/KGUSS-Discrete-Headphone-Amplifier-Pre-Amplifier/dp/B0B4JQD8G7

Denon PMA-600NE Stereo Integrated Amplifier $370
https://www.amazon.com/Denon-PMA-600NE-Integrated-Amplifier-Connectivity/dp/B07XL4TM3M

Topping A70Pro (black) $375
https://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Headphone-Amplifier-Earphone-Headphones/dp/B0C8B15N6B

Gustard H26 Fully Balanced Discrete Headphone Amp (silver) $800
https://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Discrete-Headphone-Pre-Amplifier-4-Pin-XLR/dp/B0CS2VXW27

FX-Audio Tube-02 Pro Tube Headphone Amplifier $40
https://www.amazon.com/Vacuum-Class-Headphone-Amplifier-Pre-amp/dp/B09MFCB3ZH

FiiO K9Pro (black) $597
https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-Amplifier-Headphone-Bluetooth-Resolution/dp/B09PDM588T

Topping D90 III Sabre (black) $719
https://www.amazon.com/D90-III-Bluetooth-ES9039SPROx2-PCM32bit/dp/B0CQJVDTRH

(NEW) Sennheiser MOMENTUM 3 True Wireless ANC Bluetooth Earbuds $99
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/new-sennheiser-momentum-3-true-wireless-anc-earbuds-17

(NEW) Neat Bumblebee II - Professional Cardioid Directional USB Condenser Microphone $16.99
https://electronics.woot.com/offers...essional-cardioid-usb-condenser-microphone-12

(NEW) Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro Active Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Earbuds $84.99
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/new-samsung-buds-pro-anc-bluetooth-earbuds

Worth checking out these outlets and B stock pages:

Hifi College used section
https://www.hificollege.net/collections/used-like-new

Sennheiser Outlet
https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/en-US/outlet/

Schiit B Stock:
https://www.schiit.com/b-stocks

JDS Labs B Stock:
https://jdslabs.com/shop/?category=bstock

Beyerdynamic Outlet:
https://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/outlet

Audio Technica Outlet:
https://outlet.audio-technica.com/

Creative refurbished (G6 for $59 or AE-9 for $209 isn't bad for content creators or gamers):
https://us.creative.com/p/refurbished

Crutchfield Outlet: (click "specials" off the menu, they have several different outlets)
https://www.crutchfield.com/

Apos Certified:
https://apos.audio/collections/apos-certified

Drop Exclusive Deals
https://drop.com/all-communities/drops/exclusive-deals

CamelCamelCamel is a much more efficient way to find deals and especially used items at a glance with Amazon:
https://camelcamelcamel.com/

Pickclick has details on listings not normally visible on eBay, without all the sponsored ads in the way of results:
https://picclick.com/

 

[Saraugie]

Denon Pearl Pro $299. Sale $129.99
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/new-denon-perl-pro-anc-wireless-earbuds-1?!ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_elec_6_32

 

[LifeisinaBlink]

Denon Pearl Pro $299. Sale $129.99
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/new-denon-perl-pro-anc-wireless-earbuds-1?!ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_elec_6_32

I am a big fan of these. I bought them on a whim during a similar deal on Amazon and they routinely are my favorite "doing stuff" (walking, cooking, working outside, etc.) set; the only time these are not my go-to TWS set is when I want to pair Airpods to my Apple 4k for Atmos virtualization. For those not in the know, these use Nuraphone tech (almost the same exact design but I find it more refined/accurate than the original Nuraphone experience). It sounds like a gimmick, but the Denon app measures your hearing and gives you your own personal EQ. Better yet, you can still mess around with an equalizer in the app and it has Dirac Virtuo tech. I took off the original tips and use the Azla Xelastic tips because they create a perfect seal and helped my personal EQ profile sound better. If you have a friend/family member and a set of eartips to give them, it's really fun to see how their personal EQ lines up against yours; I've passed them around to about four different people and all of the profiles were quite different. I know the pictures make them look giant, but they are surprisingly light in my ear and do not fall out. Denon's parent company, Masimo, is finanically struggling right now, and has floated around the idea of getting rid of Denon all together, which is a damn shame because they make great audio gear. I'll likely buy another pair of these for a back-up. They are a sleeper hit that are not talked about enough--I highly recommend them.

 

[Raketen]

The 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods got signed today, and we'll see how it plays out with prices when current inventory is depleted at retailers. I'll find out more about how it's going to affect audio gear. If the "de minimis" $800 limit will stay in place, most of us won't notice a difference when buying direct. I did my daily checking and there's some good deals out there. At the end I added a list of outlets and used/refurb sites for manufacturers and retailers. So glad we have great American makers of audio equipment like JDS Labs, Schiit, Dan Clark Audio, and Grado. We have options if prices go up on other things.

Update: The de minimus, or $800 threshold before tariffs/duties kicks in has been removed. So anything ordered direct from China like Aliexpress will be subject to them now. I check prices daily for my business anyway, so will see how it affects retail channels in the coming weeks. This happened with washing machines years ago and retail prices went up on them 15-17 percent on a 10 percent tariff. Tier 1 distributors mark up the 10% and then retailers do also, so it wasn't just a simple 10 percent to consumers. Also washers made in the U.S. went up, and also dryers (even though there was no tariff on them) went up the same amount. Just a wait and see now on prices. Here's some deals in the meantime with good prices.

I'd imagine prices will be going up from US electronics manufacturers as well considering that most of them are still going to be reliant on imported components (for instance semiconductor packages are going from 2018's %25 to %50) and materials & the likelihood of retaliatory tariffs & export controls.

 

[kneelthepetal]

I am a big fan of these

Really curious about these, I already have a good set of TWS but the adaptive acoustic technology seemed interesting to me. Have you tried adapting the personalized EQ to other earphones?

 

[zeed]

Gaudio is running what they’re calling a “Raffle Deals” week; I just received their newsletter today. I don't know if it's only by registering, but probably it is just enough to check daily their product page to find the deals: https://www.gaudiolabs.com/products/. It may be worth a check since their products don't often go on discount.

Cheers

 

[Barndoor]

A deal I found too good to not PTT.
73% off of Astell&Kern ACRO CA1000T AU$999 (circa US$630) down from $3699.
https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/coll...l-kern-acro-ca1000t-tube-head-fi-audio-system

 

[DenverW]

A deal I found too good to not PTT.
73% off of Astell&Kern ACRO CA1000T AU$999 (circa US$630) down from $3699.
https://addictedtoaudio.com.au/coll...l-kern-acro-ca1000t-tube-head-fi-audio-system

Australia only, which is too bad because they often have great pricing.

 

[Blue Shark]

Hart Audio Cables 15% off today only.
Use code: HARTDAY25
https://hartaudiocables.com/