UE-10 Pro Questions for UK Owners - $1,600 Price Tag

[Dork Knight]

I've decided to go through the UK dealer, so rather than $900 + the cost of impressions in the USA it'll cost me about $1,700 with impressions in the UK.

I really do want to give them a go, however, I'm in two minds due to the cost. An L3000 has just sold for $2k and it's made me think what the hell am I doing spending $1,700 on a custom IEM.

Everything's up in the air at the moment.

A quick question to the readers of this thread; What would you do looking at the overall cost of the UE-10?

The Westone 3 and another decent set of cans looks like the most obvious choice as the majority of my listening is done at home.

 

[chowk]

I was going to ask where you'll be using most but you've already said home. Are you currently more a full-sized can user or an IEM user? Do you want soundstage (cans) or isolation / convenience / mobility (iems)?

If I had to buy them, I would probably get impressions made in the UK and order from the US. 900 to 1700 is to me a very big price disparity, not incl shipping / customs. You only get 1 year warranty but you could almost buy two pairs.

I think customs will probably be the next step for me. But the cost is really the limiting factor - I can afford them but I don't THINK the cost will justify the improvement in SQ and fit over what I currently have.

Is there any reason why you have to buy? Is your gear broken or crap? Are you looking for an upgrade? Or is this an impulse buy on reaction to the W3 delay?

 

[Dork Knight]

I'm most definitely more a full-sized can user but require a pair of IEMs with good SQ, the delay of the Westone 3 made me think why don't I just go custom but the every increasing cost is becoming a major factor - Especially when I could reorder the Westone 3 and pickup a K1000 or W5000 which I've fancied for a long while.

The estimated price of the UE-10 direct from UE is $1,200 (including Custom Duty & VAT), then there's the impressions and shipping which will bring the cost to around $1,400 to $1,450 (this is a rough estimate but I have a feeling it might be more). So it makes more sense to order from the UK Dealer after considering everything, IMO.

I passed on my Future Sonics EM3 to a friend so at the moment I have no IEMs, I've been holding out on an IEM for a while now as nothing has really taken my fancy apart from the UE-10 and the Westone 3.

And thank you for your response chowk.

 

[chowk]

Happy to respond Dork Knight, it's not my money anyways

I realize it's a tough decision to make.

One of the ways I can justify buying something is to think how much usage I would get out of it. If I'll enjoy / use it everyday over the course of x years then y pounds isn't really that expensive in the whole scheme of things.

Given that you're a full-sized can user, would you be using the UE10Pro enough to justify the cost? Would you get more usage / enjoyment from K1000 / W5000s?

 

[Dork Knight]

I would definitely get more use and no doubt much enjoyment from the K1000 and/or W5000, if I opted to go back to the Westone 3 and one of the cans then it should be <$1,500.

I believe it would be the most sensible option.

 

[chowk]

Looks like you're all set then.

If you get Westone3 + cans of your choice and decide you want the 10Pro, you can always sell them and put that towards your 10Pro. Can't do that the other way round...

 

[Dork Knight]

Very True.

Cheers chowk

 

[shuy]

with the price disparity, u cld personally fly to US, get it done, n have a holiday at the same time. y pay all that excess for essentially a longer warranty?

 

[Trager]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dork Knight /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would definitely get more use and no doubt much enjoyment from the K1000 and/or W5000, if I opted to go back to the Westone 3 and one of the cans then it should be <$1,500. I believe it would be the most sensible option.

Of course, that's assuming the W3 actually sees the light of day sometime this summer... seeing as how there have been no statements on the matter other than 'early summer' from Westone, I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Dork Knight]

I've reordered the Westone 3, placed an order for the W5000 and I'm keeping an eye out on the second hand market to see if anything takes my fancy to tied me over.

Sigh, this hobby nearly always makes me want to cry - So much I want and so little money.