[doctorK53]

I've found two more topics.

1.
Mr. Kenji Nomura, a famous audio writer who hosted a trial event of YH-5000SE in Osaka, is going to introduce it on Tokyo local TV this Saturday. Unfortunately, I cannot watch it because I live outside the broadcast area. However, you can see a few new photos on the TV program's tweet.

2.
Another small but significant news from Yamaha official. Their owned media "Myujin" posted a YH-5000SE article on 29th November. Mostly it is a replication of already disclosed information and photos. However, at the end of the article, they wrote " the company plans to offer tours of the assembly process at the Kakegawa factory in the future".

 

[Whitigir]

Well, D-8000 is planar magnetic @voja , the diaphragm is Flat, and not Orthos like the YH-5000SE. Therefore, we can not call this to be an evolutions of D8000. It has nothing related to D-8000, except that Yamaha was the sole developers of both drivers, and that should speak for itself from Yamaha. This 5000SE is Yamaha successor to it classic orthos back in couple decades ago

 

[iFi audio]

Wonder how Pro-Ican do with it

Just a guess, but probably it'll do

The more we discover about this headphone, the more we can justify all the anticipation and "hype".

Sure, teasers are great and lead to cool speculative discussions. Nothing wrong with that!

 

[ThEvil0nE]

I love how it looks just like a pair of speaker drivers with a headband attached to it, structurally sound so to speak.

 

[catscratch]

450,000 yen is just over $3300 usd. And the US street price is $5000?

Have they learned nothing over the years? This is why the Japanese grey market exists, fellas. If you want to fight against it, don't cut the windings on your transformers, instead maybe try to not screw people over with regional prices.

Yeah, I'm not touching these, at least not at this price. Japanese street price or close to it, maybe.

 

[Whitigir]

450,000 yen is just over $3300 usd. And the US street price is $5000?

Have they learned nothing over the years? This is why the Japanese grey market exists, fellas. If you want to fight against it, don't cut the windings on your transformers, instead maybe try to not screw people over with regional prices.

Yeah, I'm not touching these, at least not at this price. Japanese street price or close to it, maybe.

Is that the pricing from Japan MSRP ?

 

[SolarCetacean]

Is that the pricing from Japan MSRP ?

450,000 Yen? Seems like the pre-tax sale price. I read that the listed Japan price of 495K Yen includes sales tax. A cursory search of Japanese sales tax suggests that the current sales tax in Japan is 10%, so 450K would be the price sans tax. I've heard rumors that some Japanese stores are willing to not charge sales tax if a person shows a foreign passport at the store.

 

[stacey]

450,000 Yen? Seems like the pre-tax sale price. I read that the listed Japan price of 495K Yen includes sales tax. A cursory search of Japanese sales tax suggests that the current sales tax in Japan is 10%, so 450K would be the price sans tax. I've heard rumors that some Japanese stores are willing to not charge sales tax if a person shows a foreign passport at the store.

That’s not a rumor, that’s Japanese law. And for me, the price doesn’t make much of a difference I can always buy it in Japan, I frequent Japan a lot thanks to my SO.

 

[doctorK53]

450,000 Yen? Seems like the pre-tax sale price

450,000 yen is MSRP without VAT.

450,000 yen is just over $3300 usd. And the US street price is $5000?

It is a matter of FX risk management (+shipment cost, +insurance, +tariff, etc).
450,000 yen is $3333 today, 3260 yesterday, 3000 in this October, 3980 this January, and 5700 in 2011. 　

Meze Elite is 538,000 yen in Japan and $4000 in the US. 538,000 yen is 3911$ today, but when they came last year the rate was $4800.
The price difference was even larger for Meze Empyrean and many complained and imported individually. (Can we call it a grey market in Romania?). In 2019 Meze changed the importers eventually and the price in Japan was down 20%. (But the new price was 358,000 yen = $3377 then, still 10% higher than US price).

What can we learn from this?

 

[Whitigir]

450,000 yen is MSRP without VAT.



It is a matter of FX risk management (+shipment cost, +insurance, +tariff, etc).
450,000 yen is $3333 today, 3260 yesterday, 3000 in this October, 3980 this January, and 5700 in 2011. 　

Meze Elite is 538,000 yen in Japan and $4000 in the US. 538,000 yen is 3911$ today, but when they came last year the rate was $4800.
The price difference was even larger for Meze Empyrean and many complained and imported individually. (Can we call it a grey market in Romania?). In 2019 Meze changed the importers eventually and the price in Japan was down 20%. (But the new price was 358,000 yen = $3377 then, still 10% higher than US price).

What can we learn from this?

Don’t forget that Yamaha USA need to have it own tram of distributions, managements, servicing centers….etc, and with the labor rate being this ridiculously high…

 

[stacey]

Don’t forget that Yamaha USA need to have it own tram of distributions, managements, servicing centers….etc, and with the labor rate being this ridiculously high…

That’s not fair.
A bowl of ramen in a mall in Tokyo is ¥1500. About 13 bucks.
Same bowl in San Francisco is $25. And both are high COL places.

And in California gas is about $7 a gallon in some places ( I can’t believe that I’m typing that). You can complain about labor costs, but look at how much basics cost now.

 

[Whitigir]

That’s not fair.
A bowl of ramen in a mall in Tokyo is ¥1500. About 13 bucks.
Same bowl in San Francisco is $25. And both are high COL places.

And in California gas is about $7 a gallon in some places ( I can’t believe that I’m typing that). You can complain about labor costs, but look at how much basics cost now.

That is just exactly what I meant “inflation”, period. That is why the US MSRP is what it is

 

[ThEvil0nE]

That is just exactly what I meant “inflation”, period. That is why the US MSRP is what it is

Sad but true. At least we know we're getting an almost all magnesium parts and not plastic.

 

[K3cT]

450,000 yen is just over $3300 usd. And the US street price is $5000?

Have they learned nothing over the years? This is why the Japanese grey market exists, fellas. If you want to fight against it, don't cut the windings on your transformers, instead maybe try to not screw people over with regional prices.

Yeah, I'm not touching these, at least not at this price. Japanese street price or close to it, maybe.

Grey market is another can of worms though. I still remember the endless drama happening in this very forum because STAX Japan refused to honour the warranty for those 1st gen SR-009 that were plagued with QC issues which were purchased from the grey market.

 

[ddlo]

the hk agent has put up an unboxing short video clip already. looks really great!!!

https://fb.watch/h9nfji6GWR/

hope they offer a price close to the japanese market. . .