[goosebill]

Shipping to my place is a royal pain, packages too big to fit in a mailbox often get lost stolen or damaged. If I want to pick something up at a walk-in store, where can I go? Target and Walmart only seem to carry generic low-end crap. BestBuy has some Sennheisers and other stuff tucked away in a special section, but selection is very limited. Are there any stores that sell a large variety of headphone gear and/or products from namebrands like Superlux, AKG, or FiiO?

 

[007shark76]

You might find who does your local home theater installs. They might have expanded to include some headphones. Other than that, I have found a couple of headphone boutique shops in my area that only carry mainly Beats and V-Moda. Another option is to buy from sites like Audio Advisor and get Fedex shipping with signature required.

 

[HBen]

there is a very cool headphone shop in zürich close to the ETH named "k55" which I can recommend

on a more serious note:
Yes there are good hifi stores which sell high end headphones. Try some high end audio shops and go from there.
If you want a serious recommendation for a shop near you, you first need to let us know where exactly your home is and to which places you often travel to or plan to travel to ^^

 

[bfreedma]

Most bigger cities still have at least one brick and mortar store left.

On most manufacturer's websites, you can find local stores based on your zip code.

 

[goosebill]

I'd prefer a place somewhere in the eastern half of MA, but I'll take what I can get.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Shipping to my place is a royal pain, packages too big to fit in a mailbox often get lost stolen or damaged. If I want to pick something up at a walk-in store, where can I go? Target and Walmart only seem to carry generic low-end crap. BestBuy has some Sennheisers and other stuff tucked away in a special section, but selection is very limited. Are there any stores that sell a large variety of headphone gear and/or products from namebrands like Superlux, AKG, or FiiO?

It depends on whether any more densely populated, relatively high income city near you has one and if you're even willing to look for one and go there.

Kind of like this one in central Metro Manila...and it's just one of two Audeze and HiFiMan dealer in one mall. That said, this city is more comparable to having NYC and DC together, or put another way, if the Federal government didn't move the capital to DC.

Other than that...try local classifieds like Craigslist or any audio forums that might have a bigger membership within your state/county/prefecture/etc. You'd probably still have to drive out or take a train though, so if you're still not willing to travel farther out, then there's really no way for you to even get to any of this stuff.

Alternately, if your primary concern at this point is packages getting lost, can't you arrange for local pick up at the nearest USPS or FedEx office? Even our local couriers here allow this.

I'd prefer a place somewhere in the eastern half of MA, but I'll take what I can get.

Go to a manufacturer's website, like Grado's. Look for where you can input your zip code and set a distance radius. If there are any Grado dealers that you can get to, then they would at least have some Grados but maybe some other stuff.

 

[zazex]

I'd prefer a place somewhere in the eastern half of MA, but I'll take what I can get.

It's not around the corner from the eastern half of MA,
but it's "do-able: drive or take a train to NYC. There are
a few stores there stocking some pretty high end headphones.
For example B&H on 9th Ave. and West 34th Street. You can
call them to confirm they have the item you want in stock, and
pay for it with a credit card so as to be sure it's waiting there for you
when you arrive.

(BTW, headphones are not their main business - cameras and lenses are.)

A couple of other suggestions - businesses which run "offices"; i.e. you can
rent an office on a month to month basis, and then they have a menu of services.
They'll answer your phone for you if you pay for that "a la carte" service. If you
don't need it, don't use it and there's no charge for it.

More importantly, they will receive packages for you and hold them for you -
they will also forward them to an address you specify. So, if there is such
a place (it seems more are opening every day) reasonably close to you,
you can have the items you buy shipped there rather than to your home.

Also, there might be a store or other retail business near you.
Perhaps one where you're already a customer - a pharmacy, or
a small grocery perhaps. They might be willing to accept a package
on your behalf from time to time. And you'll avoid all of the issues
you mentioned in your post. Presumably, you can then shop online
to your heart's content and simply give the business's address as
the (your) receiving address.

 

[ubs28]

Based on my experience you should have no trouble finding AKG headphones in stores that sell music equipment.

Hifi shops these days also have large collection of headphones and DAC / Amp as they have seen the growing headphone market.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Based on my experience you should have no trouble finding AKG headphones in stores that sell music equipment.

The problem is that Guitar Center would have AKG and Shure, and all you can plug into have high output impedance. At best they might have some consoles that have 10ohms, so the AKGs won't do that badly.