UK ACS custom fit IEM experience and recommendation

[phillevy]

Having had ACS custom tips on my ER4P's for the last 2 years and being resident the UK I have longed for their custom monitors for some time. Last month I came into a small inheritance so decided to take the plunge and get some T1's.

I realise there are other threads discussing how these sound and can only say that I'm overwhelmed what an improvement these are over my beloved Ety's. This is certainly no case of diminishing returns and it feels like I'm being bathed in the most smooth detailed sound
imaginable.
 
What I really wanted to share with people in the UK, especially those that are London-based was the fantastic customer service I got from ACS along with Monika Schumacher from http://www.protection4hearing.co.uk/
Monika provided a fantastic personal service visiting me at every stage from impression-taking to product delivery/fitting. She liased with ACS at every stage to make sure I got my T1's in little more than a week. I had some initial fitting teething problems which were promptly sorted with another visit from Monika and discussions with Mat from ACS. Some extra laquer was applied which solved the problem and it took just another 3 days to sort. Even then Monika took new impressions as a precaution and ACS were prepared to completely remould if the problem remained, letting me keep the old ones in the meantime - this fortunately was not required.

So for anyone in the UK, ACS monitors are a no-brainer in my opinion and if you live in the
South-East/London then I can't recommend Monika and her company http://www.protection4hearing.co.uk/ any higher.

BTW I'm aware that ACS are about to re-vamp with detachable cables if that is important to
anyone. I discussed this at length with them and decided this was not something I was bothered about.

 

[ZimmerX]

Good to hear you had such a successful venture with them. I got custom tips for my Westone 2's last year; but was quite disappointed with the outcome. Part of the inlet on one of them was blocked and the fit was far from perfect. However, it was my fault entirely for not returning them (I was going on holiday two days after I got them, so when I got back I forgot) and I do regret that decision.
 
I feel that at £649; which is the equivalent of 1030USD; that T1 is not a reasonable price in comparison with the competition. If I had that amount of money to spend on customs, I'd go the extra $115 and go for the JH16 Pro... Although I do know that with ACS you get your impressions as well - but I don't know how much they would cost to get them done seperately. I don't imagine too much, especially when you're shelling out £650 on them.

 

[phillevy]

I realise the price consideration and other choices make it is not so clear cut a choice for anyone in the US - however, being in the UK I think it was a far easier decision to make - and I love the feel of that silicone!

 

[ZimmerX]

 
Quote:

I realise the price consideration and other choices make it is not so clear cut a choice for anyone in the US - however, being in the UK I think it was a far easier decision to make - and I love the feel of that silicone!

Haha, I am in the UK mate. I think in this day and age and how shipping/communication and payment is done, choosing such a thing as customs shouldn't be down to where you live. Entirely different for normal earphones if you get them the same price but delivered from the same country; but if you're spending that much money and wanting the best of the best, then I'd always consider all the options.
 
The silicone feel that has always intrigued me. I did like the feel of the customs in my ears (albeit not for long!) and I would never be too sure about shoving hard plastic in them... but people who have acryllic customs swear by them, so I guess my fears aren't justified!

 

[zenpunk]

To clarify things the ACS T1 costs £649 while the JH16 would cost close to £1100 when impression, tax, duty and postage are included (that's if you get a perfect fit the first time). Personally I would go for the Minerva at £350.

 

[ZimmerX]

 
Quote:

To clarify things the ACS T1 costs £649 while the JH16 would cost close to £1100 when impression, tax, duty and postage are included (that's if you get a perfect fit the first time). Personally I would go for the Minerva at £350.

Well that clarifies cost a bit then! I've never paid for impressions so I don't know the cost of that... However, that's an extra $650... I'm quite postive tax and duty would be an approximate $250, with shipping at $100? Where is the extra $300? Surely cannot be for the impressions! :O

 

[phillevy]

Quote:

 


Haha, I am in the UK mate. I think in this day and age and how shipping/communication and payment is done, choosing such a thing as customs shouldn't be down to where you live. Entirely different for normal earphones if you get them the same price but delivered from the same country; but if you're spending that much money and wanting the best of the best, then I'd always consider all the options.

 

LOL I didn't notice - I realise anything is obtainable now, but dealing directly with a UK based company is a big draw for me. For that reason Unique melody is another good option now in the UK if you prefer acrylics. 
 
 

 

[DaeO]

While shipping is $75 from the US, there are no tax and duty costs according to an email  I got last week, saying that they ship as 'low value sample stock' for international shipping.  Just saying like!

 
Quote:

To clarify things the ACS T1 costs £649 while the JH16 would cost close to £1100 when impression, tax, duty and postage are included (that's if you get a perfect fit the first time). Personally I would go for the Minerva at £350.

 

 

[phillevy]

It was the possibility of them needing to be returned for adjustment/remoulding that further put me off of US products - my initial set came in just over a week and the adjustment was 3 days - any other problems down the line I know I can get easily and quickly sorted. I know it is very debatable as to which IEM's are best for the money - I just wanted to share with anyone in the UK the great buying experience using Monika/ACS. As to whether the T1 is worth the outlay, that is another discussion altogether!

 

[ZimmerX]

 
Quote:

While shipping is $75 from the US, there are no tax and duty costs according to an email  I got last week, saying that they ship as 'low value sample stock' for international shipping.  Just saying like!

 


 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the £1100 is waaaay overshot the actual price it would cost you. Frankly, there are few companies that offer international shipping that don't change the customs declarations to get them sent through cheaper. I would have expected JHAudio to do what everyone else does, and you confirmed it. I emailed them about 7 months ago about the possiblity of them, and they quoted me something similar. So £1100 is way off the mark. Even if you sent them back.
 

 

[DaeO]

Quote:

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the £1100 is waaaay overshot the actual price it would cost you. Frankly, there are few companies that offer international shipping that don't change the customs declarations to get them sent through cheaper. I would have expected JHAudio to do what everyone else does, and you confirmed it. I emailed them about 7 months ago about the possiblity of them, and they quoted me something similar. So £1100 is way off the mark. Even if you sent them back.
 

And with their 15% off they do every so often (black friday last year they called it and one in May this), it makes the price of them seem much more appealing, and takes the price of the JH13 down to about £600 with no tax or customs.
 
However, I do see the appeal of buying from the UK, as the negative stories about JH, Spiralear and 1964ears are a bit worrying for an overseas buyer, as countless refits will cost £££ and the shipping costs back won't be cheap.
 
Congrats Phillevy, hope you enjoy mate

 

[zenpunk]

Anyway, the subject has already been argued here: 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/456975/jh-audio-in-the-uk
Good luck in getting some JH16 at £600, plus some people are really naive if they believe JH Audio will sent such expensive iems marked as gift of low value without insurance... unless JH Audio have very poor business sense, which I doubt.

 

[DaeO]

So they can't go to the post office and insure the item for its correct value, and then mark the box as "low value"?  Not sure have that makes very poor business sense?  Anyway, as you've said its been discussed previously, before this thread goes further OT.
 
Quote:

Anyway, the subject has already been argued here: 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/456975/jh-audio-in-the-uk
Good luck in getting some JH16 at £600, plus some people are really naive if they believe JH Audio will sent such expensive iems marked as gift of low value without insurance... unless JH Audio have very poor business sense, which I doubt.

 

 

[ZimmerX]

Quote:

So they can't go to the post office and insure the item for its correct value, and then mark the box as "low value"?  Not sure have that makes very poor business sense?  Anyway, as you've said its been discussed previously, before this thread goes further OT.
 


 

Well, they can, but it seems they won't.
 
In saying that, unless you're sending it through terrible USPS, marking it at low value does not increase the chances of it getting lost and with a courier like FedEx or DHL the likelyhood of them losing it is slim.
 

 

[DaeO]

Quote:

Well, they can, but it seems they won't. However, you cannot do what you said about insuring the item for correct value and then marking the box as something entirely different - the insurance is set from the value put on the box, so you either have to put it at face value and get it insured properly or risk it being lost and not getting anything back.
 
In saying that, unless you're sending it through terrible USPS, marking it at low value does not increase the chances of it getting lost and with a courier like FedEx or DHL the likelyhood of them losing it is slim.
 

I'm really suprised by your responses, especially as your a MOT.  I regular post things outside of the UK, did it today infact, and the postage paid to the post office and the customs forms completed and stuck to the front of the box are two totally different things - you pay the post office for postage and the customs for the tax.  Its not rocket science!
 
I'm not going to post about this any further as we've already re-railed this thread enough, apologies OP, but am a bit suprised by your assertions and assumptions, which appear to be incorrect IMO, not only about postage and customs, but also JH shipping procedures!