[hodgjy]

You can make and sell any product you want.  But, you can't legally say, "Made for....(insert brand)" unless you license the name.  This is why you don't see Goodyear saying "These tires are made for the Ford Mustang."  They say "Sports car tires" instead.  Apple had all kinds of issues with this with their iPod.  Lots of products came out that said "For iPod."  Apple made them pay for that right.  That's why you now see many goods say "Made for portable audio" because that is free.

 
Quote:

I fail to see your logic in the Sennheiser Legal taking issue Uncle Erik - you cannot stop someone making tyres for cars, or windows that fit in window size holes in buildings, or doors that go into door size spaces - if Sennheiser do not want people making something to use with their products in the aftermarket then they can start now by stopping the companies who make specialist cables, because if I decide to make accessory earpads that are superior and cheaper then I will do so and if I decide to then go on step further and manufacture them and then sell them then I will do so.

 

[Uncle Erik]

hodgjy, that's true to an extent. But companies have gotten crafty about the IP. They might have some kind of patent or other design IP on, say, the way the connectors attach to the headphones. So if you reproduce those connectors, you might violate their IP and they'll shut you down. Automakers are notoriously bad with this - you often can't get aftermarket parts for newer cars, forcing you to buy from the dealer. Even a few manufacturers have proprietary batteries that have to be "introduced" to a car at the dealer. So if your battery dies out in the sticks of Wyoming, you won't be able to buy a new one at the local gas station. One of them even has proprietary windshield wipers. I would not be surprised if Sennheiser somehow locked down the pads to keep aftermarket ones from being sold.

 

[tvrboy]

Quote:

 
Why are the replacement earpads for Sennheiser HD650's so expensive. I could understand if the pad was unique,  either in materials or design. I could also understand the cost of a pair if the HD650 was a headphone that Sennheiser needed to recoup the development costs for, however this particular pad happens to be used - so far as I am aware - on the HD545, HD565, HD580, HD600 and HD650 so recouping development costs is definatly not the case.
 
Seeing as I am sat here looking at a left hand pad, which is completely broken apart along its welded seam, I am left even more puzzled why these pads cost so much considering materially what goes into them. The core is a tube of upholstery foam about 110mm diameter, 75mm bore and 25mm thick. Thats encased on one side by a circle of velour cushion material and then on the opposite side the velour is pressure welded to a oval of plastic leather plus a oval plastic stiffening ring which retains the plastic locking ring.
 
In the UK - if I want to buy a pair to replace mine and which I need to because one of mine decided to self destruct - then the minimum that I have found is going to cost me almost £50 ($77.94). The replacement earpads for the Sennheiser HD555 and HD595 is almost the same, differing from the HD650 pad in only minor details and yet it only costs £17.95 ($27.98)... same upholstery foam... same velour... same plastic leather backing pressure welded and almost the same locking ring... if you did not know exactly which was which you could hardly tell which was which because they are to all intents visually the same, except one cost less then half the price of the other.
 
I hate to say it, because I love my HD650's to bits, but I feel like I am being completely ripped off being asked to pay such a totally insane amount for something which is more than apparently such cheap raw materials.

OMG.... If you think it's too expensive.... don't buy it!!!!

 

[hodgjy]

That's good info, Uncle Erik.  You're right--companies are very crafty, and now I learned a little more of their craftiness!

 

[grokit]

Not sure where you get $77.94, unless that includes overseas shipping. I get $43.57 for a pair of HD650 earcushions. Still too expensive, but better anyways. The stock cable isn't a bad deal at all though, at $12.55.
 
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/serviceandsupport_part-finder

 

[MikePio]

 
Quote:

Watch this space so far as the 'make your own' equation goes, because I can cut and sew and glue and fabricate and weld if necessary.... and if someone's absolutely ticked me off then I take great pleasure in going one better than them.... make a note Sennheiser, if you read this forum, even though I am a 20 years plus loyal customer you have more than ticked me off charging such a over inflated price.
 
I fail to see your logic in the Sennheiser Legal taking issue Uncle Erik - you cannot stop someone making tyres for cars, or windows that fit in window size holes in buildings, or doors that go into door size spaces - if Sennheiser do not want people making something to use with their products in the aftermarket then they can start now by stopping the companies who make specialist cables, because if I decide to make accessory earpads that are superior and cheaper then I will do so and if I decide to then go on step further and manufacture them and then sell them then I will do so.

 
I think a similar situation to your earpad experience is happening right now in the "flagship" products of headphone companies, major price inflation. I know that production costs need to be accounted for and marketing etc... but charging 1400 dollars for headphones is becoming absolutely ridiculous in my opinion. If you look back some year ago, most flagship products, (in their time) K701, HD650, DT880 etc... did not even come close to the 1K mark. Now... the HD800 is 1400, the T1 1200 and LCD-2, 1K and now the HE-6 over 1K, see a trend.... 

 If one company can get away with releasing a statement product and having relatively good sales at such a high price, other companies will follow suit. I got into headphones for couple of reasons, one of them being they are a "cheaper" alternative to speakers. Now let's see, 1400 dollars for a headphone + 1000 DAC + 1000 AMP (since a "flagship" product needs equally expensive components to sound "optimal" 

). 3400 dollars total, that is without interconnects, or custom cables etc... Just to drive the headphone to it's full potential, as many people have stated here when somebody dislikes a statement product... The point I am trying to get at is, this hobby has changed lots since of some years, everything has gone up in price, (even replacement earpads...), economic times are tougher, and it's about time a company came out with a "flagship" product that is not suffering from major price inflation, and you don't have to sell one of your kidneys to buy, since pretty soon the statement products will only be available for an elite few, maybe AKG can make their next flagship headphone at 600 or 700 dollars, and match the rest, up their sales and make a dent in those other greedy companies!!!! 

 Cheers, 
 


 

 

[baka1969]

If you think that's insane, the Continuum turntable that retailed for $90,000 a short five years ago now retails for $150k!* Sometimes it make me believe that these companies think audiophiles are just a bunch of suckers. And I love my HD800.


* taken from Stereophile vol 33 no 9 pg 31

 

[Uncle Erik]

baka1969, the general rule is that if people are willing to pay extraordinary sums, then the price of productswill rise to that level whether or not they're worth it. Also, a lot of that stuff gets positioned not necessarily to sell them. People who can actually pay for a $150k turntable are extremely few. Instead, they use it to leverage their company name. It might seem reasonable, by comparison, to buy their $10k turntable which promises to use technology used in their $150k rig. It's designed to condition people to think that the company makes the "best" turntable on the market rather than to actually sell the halo product. It's a marketing trick.

 

[grokit]

So by that logic Sennheiser should bring to market a $20,000 headphone, making the HD800 seem like a reasonable bargain in comparison.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

So by that logic Sennheiser should bring to market a $20,000 headphone, making the HD800 seem like a reasonable bargain in comparison.

Well, Sennheiser did bring out the Orpheus.  There have been whispers of Sennheiser returning to electrostats, but I don't know if they'll actually do it during Depression 2.0.
 
Though Ultrasone recently rolled out the Ed. 10, for much of the same reasons.  They probably think an ultra-expensive headphone will give their brand more credibility.

 

[Anaxilus]

People that can pay $20,000 for a phone don't care what the economy looks like.

 

[alphaphoenix]

The bandwagon....are you coming aboard?  If so,  the company succeeded.
 

 

[leqin]

Quote:

Not sure where you get $77.94, unless that includes overseas shipping. I get $43.57 for a pair of HD650 earcushions. Still too expensive, but better anyways. The stock cable isn't a bad deal at all though, at $12.55.
 
http://www.sennheiserusa.com/serviceandsupport_part-finder

I live in the UK and I tried to be really nice to all of the people who I know on this forum who happen to live in the USA by doing the mental calculation exactly what price they would cost in the USA, so - if you ordered them from the cheapest.... not the most expensive.... the cheapest possible way you could buy them from a company who's got them in stock in the UK, which happens to be Connect Audio from Slough in Berkshire and also on eBay - then that is how much they will cost you - £50 or $77.94.
 
Funnily enough I see that the price seems to have gone down today and they now want £49.50 (UK Pounds) which is $77.70 (US Dollars)

 

[baka1969]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik  
" baka1969, the general rule is that if people are willing to pay extraordinary sums, then the price of productswill rise to that level whether or not they're worth it. Also, a lot of that stuff gets positioned not necessarily to sell them. People who can actually pay for a $150k turntable are extremely few. Instead, they use it to leverage their company name. It might seem reasonable, by comparison, to buy their $10k turntable which promises to use technology used in their $150k rig. It's designed to condition people to think that the company makes the "best" turntable on the market rather than to actually sell the halo product. It's a marketing trick."



LoL I know exactly what you're saying. Supply/demand. Statement products to sell the rest of the highly profitable lineup. You don't have to look far to see that a good deal of these companies are treating audiophiles as suckers though. You, yourself have posted about it, the snake oil products and bloated prices. It's pervasive.

 

[pataburd]

Spare parts.  The defense industry has been making a killing in this market for years.