[musicday]

Dear Ken,
Why did the face plates remain of plastic like in the W60?
Many people had problems with them cracking very easily..Also many have their own cables so they will not really want to pay premium for the included cable.

 

[twister6]

Dear Ken,
Why did the face plates remain of plastic like in the W60?
Many people had problems with them cracking very easily..Also many have their own cables so they will not really want to pay premium for the included cable.

 
@KB is not a designer of Westone shells, so he is not the right person to address this question

  Regarding the new faceplate design, it's different from the original, and definitely a noticeable improvement.  In my opinion, it wasn't necessary an issue with the material but rather the size and the pressure applied when you tighten the screw.  Based on my initial impressions while using it for a few weeks, I definitely see the improvement, but only time will tell as I put more miles on it.  Click images below to expand the pictures.
 


 
Regarding the cable, it's not optional, it's a Free BONUS included with W80.  I don't work for a company or know the story behind the pricing, but the new price in theory reflects the updated design with more drivers while still keeping the same (actually a bit trimmer) shell, new tuning, new packaging, and you can think of ALO Cable as a free $300 bonus.  Based on using it so far, this cable can go head to head with some other cables that cost a few hundred more.  Funny, that I had exactly the same comment when I tested and reviewed Andromeda where I didn't expect SPC wire to have such an effect on low end performance.  The only thing I can tell you, if you buy W80 and have other cables that perform as good or you don't hear the sound difference (many people don't believe in cables, and that's fine), then I'm sure you can just sell it to recover some of your money back.
 



 
Personally, and you guys know that I review a ton of products and in contact with many manufacturers and as a reviewer try to be fair and unbiased, I was actually very excited about this collaboration and hope they will continue to work together.  I wouldn't mind seeing some luxury Campfire IEM cases featured in the future Westone products, or maybe seeing an all metal Westone shell (Ken has lots of experience with that).  When two well known companies collaborate together, they don't just benefit each other but also pass the benefit to their customers in a big way!

 

[KB]

Dear Ken,
Why did the face plates remain of plastic like in the W60?
Many people had problems with them cracking very easily..Also many have their own cables so they will not really want to pay premium for the included cable.

I cant answer for my friends at Westone on that sorry. 
 
As for the cable it really is a bonus to the consumer.
 
Cheers,
 
Ken

 

[javahut]

I'm sold (literally). can't wait to hear 'em. I love the westone sound "signature", and can't help but find out for myself how they've improved on it. w60 > ray samuels predator dac/amp. ready for the w80 to knock the w60 off its throne here.

 

[chef8489]

I cant wait for this to reach the custom side. Es80 baby.

 

[musicday]

Hope W80 will not cost £1499 in UK when released

 

[warrior1975]

I'm sure the cable is nice, and I love cables so I'd be very happy. I think the point musicday was making, or my interpretation of it is, send a regular cable and pass the savings off to the customer instead of including a premium cable. Some might prefer a regular stock cable because they may have a few nice cables. I know it's "free", but I'm sure the cable does add to the pricing in some way. Obviously not the full retail value. Again, not a complaint, just offering my unwanted 2 cents.

 

[musicday]

I'm sure the cable is nice, and I love cables so I'd be very happy. I think the point musicday was making, or my interpretation of it is, send a regular cable and pass the savings off to the customer instead of including a premium cable. Some might prefer a regular stock cable because they may have a few nice cables. I know it's "free", but I'm sure the cable does add to the pricing in some way. Obviously not the full retail value. Again, not a complaint, just offering my unwanted 2 cents.

Bingo my friend from another country.

 

[warrior1975]

Bingo my friend from another country.

Uh oh, I speak Musicday... Now I'm in trouble!!! just playing brother.

 

[TCD1975]

Hope W80 will not cost £1499 in UK when released

 
I was thinking the W80 would be somewhere in the £1,100 to £1,200 region.

The W60 is supposed to retail for £800 in the UK but usually goes for about £720 from authorised sellers.
 
With sterling currently falling in value, the price of stuff coming from America is getting more expensive, so who knows.
 

I know it's "free", but I'm sure the cable does add to the pricing in some way

 
I personally think the idea of the coming "free" is nonsense. The cost of an ALO cable is clearly going to be factored into the cost of the W80.

 

[DivergeUnify]

Meaningless graph

 

[musicday]

Bingo my friend from another country.

Uh oh, I speak Musicday... Now I'm in trouble!!! just playing brother.

If you were playing that's even worse,i wasn't
Price should be 1000 USD without the( free Alo cable) many will have no need for it and Definitely is not a free bonus.

 

[oknidius]

As for the cable it really is a bonus to the consumer.

Based on the initial PR I was hoping there was more collaboration and you guys maybe helped Westone finally fix their infamous cable issues, but reading more recent comments it sounds like ALO developped a superior cable and Westone is just buying it from you guys. Now I'm reconsidering my order for the W80. My 2-week old ES60 are already suffering from cable issues. For that price and so many years of client feedback you'd think Westone would finally learn. But it doesnt sound like the ALO collaboration for the W80 does much for Westone in that direction if they're just buying the cable and using their crappy connectors.

 

[twister6]

 

As for the cable it really is a bonus to the consumer.

Based on the initial PR I was hoping there was more collaboration and you guys maybe helped Westone finally fix their infamous cable issues, but reading more recent comments it sounds like ALO developped a superior cable and Westone is just buying it from you guys. Now I'm reconsidering my order for the W80. My 2-week old ES60 are already suffering from cable issues. For that price and so many years of client feedback you'd think Westone would finally learn. But it doesnt sound like the ALO collaboration for the W80 does much for Westone in that direction if they're just buying the cable and using their crappy connectors.

 
Based on what I have seen recently with AM Pro30, BT Cable, and W80, these are all new mmcx connectors, not the same as W60 or ES60.  I had issue with ES60 connector too, Westone fixed it with a quick turn around.
 
With a cable, I think it was more than just buying some off the shelf wires, because I think the final tuning of W80 was optimized using ALO wires to reach their goal sound sig.  I do wish Westone would use standard mmcx connectors rather then shorter ones, but what are you gonna do.  At least I'm happy that Ken's Ref8 cable uses standard connectors so you can use it with any pair of universal mmcx IEMs/CIEMs.
 
Regarding pricing, I'm just speaking out loud, but look at every other manufacturer.  They always partition their product line from entry level to mid and higher end with corresponding number of drivers and incremental price ladder.  So if 6-driver W60 cost $1k, I don't think it makes sense to introduce a brand new product with 8-drivers and charge the same, regardless of the cable.  They are not discontinuing W60 to replace it with W80.  It's not a replacement, it's their next W-series flagship.  Again, I'm just speculating, but I can bet that even without this Ref8 premium cable the price still would have been $1500.  IEM market is too competitive, and nobody going to take you seriously if you are going to release the next gen flagship at the same price as your 2+ years old flagship....  Just a reality.
 
Btw, don't know if you guys seen Brian Hunter's (audio-head) Live Stream video from RMAF he posted a few days ago on FB.  He went around talking to every manufacturer in there, include Westone marketing director, and if I understand correctly the first production batch (a few thousand units?) is already spoken for to distributors in Asia, that's why the worldwide release is a month later, to catch up.

 

[TCD1975]

  Regarding pricing, I'm just speaking out loud, but look at every other manufacturer.  They always partition their product line from entry level to mid and higher end with corresponding number of drivers and incremental price ladder.  So if 6-driver W60 cost $1k, I don't think it makes sense to introduce a brand new product with 8-drivers and charge the same, regardless of the cable.  They are not discontinuing W60 to replace it with W80.  It's not a replacement, it's their next W-series flagship.  Again, I'm just speculating, but I can bet that even without this Ref8 premium cable the price still would have been $1500.  IEM market is too competitive, and nobody going to take you seriously if you are going to release the next gen flagship at the same price as your 2+ years old flagship....  Just a reality.

 
If the W80 did not include the ALO cable, you really think Westone could justify a 50% price increase ($500) over the already expensive W60 ... for what boils down to two additional high-frequency tweeters and some cosmetic modification to the face plates ?!?!!??
 
I'm sorry, but the idea that the ALO cable isn't a significant contributory factor regarding the difference in cost between W60 and W80 doesn't ring true to me.