we find good deals for you!
The official BOSE eBay store (won’t it tarnish their reputation among the business executives if they sell on eBay? #troll) is offering the new condition Bose SoundLink Bluetooth On-Ears for $170 with free shipping with a limit of up to three units per customer.
They are close in price going for $180 at some of the membership clubs, BJs and Sam’s.
If you are chasing the Sony MDR-Z1R closed-back flagship, and want to get it in new condition at an authorized Sony USA dealer, there are three units available of it for $2300 by Audio Advice on eBay. Audio Advice is a B&M A/V retailer with two stores in North Carolina. Roy Williams NOT included 🙂
PS: you can always double-check using the Sony Retailers directory page.
A new installment of our Weekly Round-UP of the world of headphones is up! This is Episode #11 of “This Week in Headphoolia” covering the week ending Sunday May 7 (2017). We have the usual assortment of reviews (text and videos), news-bytes, some “learnings”, and even some attempts to bring humor to the world of audiophiles that at times can be rather humor-resistant 🙂
UrbanEars has just launched a big sale at Amazon’s. A total of 33 models are participating in the sale, in a mix of on-ears (most of them) and some earphones as well. Prices range from $15 to $136. You can sort them by price or drill down the sub-categories under “Electronics”.
The Sony XB950B1 and XB950N1 headphones that were part of Sony’s announcements at CES 2017 have both dropped $50 today at various authorized Sony dealers. So with the discounting in place, the XB950N1 closed over-ears with ANC and bluetooth are going for $198 in green or black color schemes. On the other hand, if you prefer used, there is a “Used – Acceptable” option for $139~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual.
Meanwhile the XB950B1 which has Bluetooth but no ANC is on sale for $148 with free shipping in black, blue or red. The lowest used price for this $111, so it’s much closer than the N1 above.
Both of these headphones support NFC and LDAC. LDAC is getting baked into Android “O” after Sony and The Google reached an agreement a few weeks ago.
PS: here is a visual explainer of LDAC at Sony Electronics.
They are back on sale again, all three colors of the new condition Jaybird X3 Sport Bluetooth earphones are on sale for $100 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon actual. These average 3.8 out of 5 based on 530+ customer reviews, and have over 100 questions answered. They have a very low “review intensity ratio” (48 vs 18, less than 3:1), which suggest here are potential issues and trade-offs, so be sure to read up on them before buying.
This offer expired…
This daily deal is no more…
The Sony PHA1A portable headphone DAC/amp goes for $300 in new condition at authorized Sony dealers, but if you want to save a sizeable chunk of that price, you can get it in “Used – Very Good” condition for $174~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD) actual. They also have “Used – Like New” condition options for $185~.
Since there is a total of nine listings at the moment from AWD actual (not marketplace sellers), there are good chances price pressure may build up and cause the prices to drop further down. So if you don’t like the current price, you may want to pay attention to it if interested.
IF you are trying to find the closed-back Sony MDR-10R in new condition with a 1-year warranty from Sony, they are currently on offer for $85 with free shipping and free returns at Groupon Goods. Especially if you have Groupon gift cards or store credit or coupons (their website will prompt you of offers and new customer coupons through banners and such).
RazorDog Audio is offering a store display unit of the Hifiman HE 560 planar magnetic headphones for $624 with free shipping through their eBay store. This was a store display, not a store demo. Their eBay listing describes it as:
“Taken out of the box for store displays. Always kept inside glass display, never used. Comes in original package. Has no marks or dings.”
It’s back on again, the closed-back over-ear AKG K553 PRO studio headphones are fully unlocked at Massdrop for $110 with free shipping. This is the recurring Massdrop price and they have plenty of these to go around since they have new drops all the time. This one in particular is running for the next seven days and will ship mid-to-late May 2017. As usual, it is an “all sales final” promotion.
PS: there is some intra-AKG competition to this, every few weeks the official Harman Audio store has the AKG K550 II on sale for $90. The K550 IIs are not on sale as of the time of writing.
As of 5/9/17 AM re-check, this sale ended and Amazon actual is not offering it. This means likely that they temporarily yanked it. They usually do this at the end of sales. Not sure why they can’t just change the price, but it happens often enough…
The Mojo hype train is still strong. As of a 5/9/17 AM re-check, this used option got scooped up…
The Chord Mojo goes for $500 at the moment in new condition, but if you want to save some, you can get it in “Used – Like New” Open-Box condition from authorized dealer Gramophone (Maryland) through Amazon Warehouse Daels for $449 with free shipping (not Prime eligible). Their particular listing says this comes with a full warranty.
The Sennheiser RS120 Wireless (RF) headphones are available in “Used – Very Good” condition for $29~ by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual. There are multiple listings of this, so there’s always the possibility of price pressure dropping the price further down.
These are RF wireless (not bluetooth). You get the transmitter base and a headset. The headset can only be used with the transmitter base, it does not have a 3.5mm input. They average 4.1 out of 5 based on over 13,500 customer reviews. A couple of issues of these are a quick disconnect on silence in the audio and wonky AC adapter connection to the tranmitter base.
Two back to back Sennheiser IE in-ear sales. First up, the new condition Sennheiser IE80 go for the very specific price of $206.61 at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of up to three units per customer.
These average 4.3 out of 5 based on 300+ customer reviews. They have just under a 7:1 “review intensity ratio” at the moment. The more reviews are published, the more useful the “review intensity ratio” is since it can “absorb” review aberrations (haters, lovers, shills, the confused, the clueless, etc).
Sennheiser sale time continues! The new condition Sennheiser IE60 in-ears are currently on sale for $117~ at Amazon by Amazon actual with a limit of up to three units per customer. This is not a lightning deal.
A trio of marketplace sellers fulfilled by Amazon are price-matching each other on the new condition semi-open over-ears Superlux HD 681 headphones at exactly $28. Free shipping for Prime members or with a $35+ order. They average 4.1 out of 5 based on 400+ customer reviews, and they have a 14:1 “review intensity ratio”, a pretty good one!
These look similar to the Samson SR850 but they are not identical. Their earcup covers are different and from the looks of it the earpad material is different. I’ve only used the Samson, so I can only go by the pictures of the Superlux.
There’s plenty of talk on these headphones online as they are frequent “guests” of bang-for-the-buck lists and discussions.
As of a late 5/6/17 re-check, this sold out and cannot be ordered at the moment…
As of a 5/6/17 re-check, the used units sold out. They are not available in used condition and no longer shown as a used option under the new-condition listing. Congratulations to the lucky shopper(s) who scooped them up at this price.
On the “Phones as DAPs” front, for the more adventurous shoppers, eBay Seller “Cellular Stream” (98.2%, Lincolnshire), is offering “New – Other” condition of the Sprint-locked LG V20 smartphone, model LS997, for $300 with free shipping. Limit up to five per buyer.
Cellular-wise, you can only use it on Sprint and any of the Sprint-approved MVNOs (Ting, FreedomPOP, etC). It is LOCKED to Sprint. It comes with a 30-day warranty from the seller, no LG warranty. The LS997 is the Sprint-designated model (see Tech Walls or use your favorite search engine).
Per the listing, you get the phone, the battery, the OEM LG charger, and a USB-C cable. No original box, nothing else included. The listing promises a Clean ESN.
If you are planning to use it strictly as a Wifi-only DAP and Media Player (5.7″ screen and microSD card along with 64GB on-board storage and 4GB RAM), then the cellular part is not as important. However, this being Sprint-locked, it means (other things equal) that if you decide to sell it in the future, it will fetch less than a GSM-unlocked model would.
Also, since you are only getting a 30-day seller warranty, this increases the risk. All of these factors, along with the seller’s feedback score, contribute to this being offered for $300 instead of a lot more.
If any of the above does not make you comfortable, DO NOT BUY!
On the budget side of the things, the closed-back on-ear Panasonic RP-HF300M (available in four different colors with slightly varying prices per color) are on sale as low as $22~ by Amazon actual [CORRECTED LINK] in the black-and-blue color-scheme with a limit of up to three per customer. It looks like a marketplace seller (Focus Camera) may be triggering some kind of a price-match by Amazon’s own price-bots.
If you want Noble without the sticker shock, fully unlocked at the moment at Massdrop are the Noble X Universal IEMs (another one of their exclusives) offered for $250 with free shipping. This offer runs longer than usual (it is good for the next 14 days from today) and will ship late May 2017. As usual, all sales final so keep that in mind. These are universal, not custom, which is why they can be delivered relatively quickly (in terms of MD speed).
This daily deal expired but returns about once a week or so these days…
This is yo-yo-ing on price, and it is now down to $100 again, it is the new condition closed back Beyerdynamic DT 770 (16 ohm) going for $100 with free shipping by BuyDig’s eBAY store. This is new condition with USA warranty.
Wood action again, the AudioQuest Nighthawk is available in “Used – Very Good” condition (original packaging, includes all original accessories) for $349 with free shipping by Audio Advice (100%, 553 ratings) by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual.
PS: IGNORE the listing by the 0% feedback seller (two ratings) going for $240. It’s a disaster.
The around-ear AudioQuest NightHawk Carbon Semi-Open headphones go for $700 in new condition at authorized dealers, but if you are comfortable going used, they are available in “Used – Like New” (damaged original packaging) for $590 by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual. These are dynamic drivers, not everything these days is planar you know 🙂
This was going for $614 in mid-April, so if interested but prefer a lower price, you may want to keep an eye out on this listing.
NOTE: make sure you avoid the “Just Launched” and low-rated sellers that may be offering things at much lower prices or ask you to email them before buying. You have not won the deal lottery, unfortunately they are scammers and Amazon hasn’t apparently yet found a way to permanently shut them down.
All three different color schemes of the Sennheiser CX 3.00 earphones are currently on sale for the very specific price of $26.67, with a limit of up to three per color per customer at Amazon by Amazon actual. They average 3.9 out of 5 based on 360 customer reviews over there. Their review intensity ratio is just over 7:1.
PS: the “Review Intensity Ratio” is a metric I use to look at the intensity in the reviews, the lovers (5-stars) versus the haters (1-stars). This metric alone should never be used to make a purchase decision, but it is a handy data point.
This daily deal expired…
This lightning deal expired but returns every few weeks. The price was around $59 this time around…
This sale ended, but these “starfish” go on sale every few weeks/months…
The official Verizon Wireless website has a “headphone of the month” feature, and at the moment, this title belongs to the new condition Apple Earpods with Lightning Cable for $20 with free shipping. Limit up to ten units per customer. No coupon needed. This is Apple model MMTN2AM/A. This is a limited time offer.
If you are a Dell power user, this is a little bit of a money maker deal. The Sony MDR-ZX110-ANC (closed with active noise cancelling) are on sale for $48 at the Dell website. During this promotion (it is mentioned prominently on the page over there while it is running), you will receive a $25 Dell promotional eGift card by mail, and IF you are a member of the Dell Advantage Loyalty Rewards (free to join), you will also receive a $25 reward there. So you pay $48 + taxes (if applicable) and you get $50 to spend in future purchases at Dell 🙂
If you are not familiar with how these $25 promotional offers work, check the terms and conditions of these offers over there!
The new condition Google Chromecast Audio (only one generation made so far) is on sale for $30 with free shipping with a limit of up to five units per customer at GOOGLE’s eBAY store.
We have a useful text and pictures unboxing here, but no review yet 🙂 This is what’s included in the box, so in terms of reusable accessories, you get a yellow interconnect (two ring / three pole), a microUSB to USB cable, and a USB AC charging head.
If you are a member of the free Musician’s Friend Backstage Pass rewards program, or don’t mind signing up for it, for the month of May 2017, they have a promotion that can get you 16% or even 24% back in Backstage Rewards with the purchase of 1400+ eligible products from their website.
Of headphone interest, there are 27 headphones in the PRO audio category and another 13 of them under Consumer Electronics.
As usual with Musician’s Friend, price-check any product you are not familiar with price-wise, since their prices can be all over the place, from very competitive to MSRP.
Among the eligible items listed above:
+ various AudioFLY earphones
+ various Floyd Rose Over/On-ears
+ various CAD and Marantz and Beyerdynamic studio headphones
Each item that is eligible for this promotion mentions it on its individual product page, below the green “Add to Cart” button (when viewing on a desktop browser).
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