Archives for January 2020

Sennheiser HD 6XX drops to $195 [MD]

While price-checking around for the HD600 lightning deal (Friday 1/31/20 at 8:24pm ET), I noticed a limited time discount on the new condition open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 6XX, currently going for $195 with free US shipping and returns at the Massdrop website. This is a big seller, it is a few thousand sales short of hitting the 100,000 units mark!

So now you have two options to consider, depending on whether the HD600 lightning deal price is competitive or not. Plenty has been written about all these headphones (600, 650, 6XX), and if you are reading this as of the time of writing, you have plenty of time to read through the various opinions, forums, blogs, etc…

Surprise! Sennheiser HD600 Lightning Deal starts Friday at 8:24pm ET

The Friday surprise is not coming from the world of politics but from the world of Amazon! According to the teaser in the Amazon Gold Box, starting at 8:24pm ET on Friday January 31st in 2020 for Prime members, and 8:54pm ET for non-members, there is going to be a lightning deal on the new condition Sennheiser HD 600 open-back over-ear headphones. The price on their website before the sale, as of the time of writing of this post is $299.

Gold Box Teaser for HD 600 Lightning Deal

The reason for this lightning deal may perhaps be the existence of the Massdrop blockbuster Sennheiser HD 6XX headphone currently going for $195 with free US shipping. Per the listing over there, this headphone sold over 92,000 units…

Friday: Even H4 Glasses (???), Beats, JBL, Etc

It looks like a number of headphones are featured in various retailer daily deals for Friday January 31st in 2020 as follows:

It’s a headphones party at the Best Buy website with the following daily offerings:

+ Even H4 Glasses for Your Ears (that’s what they call them, don’t blame me for this one 🙂 for $100
+ bluetooth 5.0 (about time for this to appear in wireless headphones and laptops); can’t tell exactly how “over the ear” they are from the pictures though;

+ Beats Studio ANC/bluetooth over-ears for $180

+ Beats PowerBeats PRO truly wireless, GeekSquad recertified for $130

Then we scoot on over to the Woot daily deals where they have the JBL E-55-BT closed back bluetooths for $50 in the blue color scheme, new condition with a 1-year warranty

The Woot party continues with a Tech Items You Need sale that includes a number of headphone/audio-related products:

+ Symphonized NRG Premium wood in-ears for $12
+ Symphonized has many variants of this, we have a text and pictures unboxing of the NRG 2.0 variant

+ Jabra Evolve 75 MS wireless on-ear headset for $160

+ AfterShockz Aeropex stiff neckband wireless for $100

+ Hifeer phone-use bluetooth headset (waterproof allegedly) for $12

+ DigitNow suitcase record player for $29 (!) with a built-in battery but only a 90-day Woot warranty

+ Ukelele time, VIVICTORY Concert Ukulele 23 Inch Mahogany Aquila String with Beginner kit for $35 but with only a 90-day Woot warranty

Bose QuietComfort QC35 II for $279 [Rose Gold]

If rose-gold is your favorite color scheme, you are in luck! This very color scheme of the new condition Bose QuietComfort QC35 II closed-back over-ear ANC with bluetooth headphones is on sale for $279 with free US shipping at B&H Photo.

Bose used to be dominating in the ANC, but these days the battle has many claiming victory, including Sony’s surprise (?) hit with the 1000X series. All the major players are hitting the $300-ish market segment with all kinds of things. Your favorite search engine will yield countless comparisons and even more always-correct opinions 🙂

Wedn: Gaming Headsets from Razer and HyperX ($25 to $130)

Wednesday January 29 in 2020 brings us various computer peripherals at the Amazon Mothership Gold Box. The sale includes six gaming headsets from Razer and HyperX, three of each, $25 (HyperX Cloud Stinger Core) to $130 in price range, with up to three per individual item per customer. The sale ends at 11:59pm pacific time [or earlier for any particular product that sells out ahead of time).

Also part of the sale a speed demon Lexar microSDXC card for those with DAPs and PADs (phones as DAPs) that can take of advantage of it (and have need of the speed). There’s also plenty of Lexar SDXC cards, keyboards, a Razer streaming mic, and more…

Wedn: NuForce BE Sport3 bluetooth earphones for $15 [or buy 4 for $50 total]

Good until 11:59pm eastern time on Wednesday January 29 in 2020, B&H Photo is offering, as one of their deals du jour, the new condition silver-gunmetal color scheme of the new condition NuForce BE Sport3 bluetooth earphones (of the exercise kind) for $15 with free US shipping… But wait, there’s more! You can buy a 4-pack of them for $50, making it $12.50 per pair. After all, we are less than 11 months away from Christmas, so it’s never too early to start stocking up on gifts 😉

This is a double-flange earphone and has an earhook, thus increasing its “exercise street cred” 🙂 It averages 4 out of 5 based on 25 customer reviews over there but it has just a 3.5 to 1 ratio of 5-stars vs 1-star, a statistical sign of potential trade-offs. Ideally one wants to see a ratio of 10:1 or better. That’s of course assuming other things equal, eg some products may have unusual or confusing features that the average consumer does not get or cannot be bothered, so they get the 1-star treatment when it’s more of a user error/misunderstanding. Or a product gets hyped in forums, magazines, social media or by celebrities, and its raining 5-stars even from people who haven’t opened the box yet 😉

Tuesday: HyperX Cloud Stinger wired headset for $35

It’s gaming headset action at the Tuesday 1/28/20 daily deals of the Best Buy website. $35 separate you from the new condition HyperX Cloud Stinger wired gaming headset. This is the red/black color scheme and it averages 4.5 out of 5 based on 1600+ customer reviews over there…

20% off used headphones at Amazon.com’s Warehouse Deals [900+ options]

Amazon.com’s Warehouse Deals [the USA mothership that is] is having a 20% off automatic discount in the shopping cart of over 20K items offered over there. The sale includes over 900 headphone options. Only used items sold by Amazon WD actual are eligible, not items sold by marketplace sellers.

Eligible items hint at the discount when you look at the used listings in detail. The discount happens automatically when you add an eligible item in the shopping cart. No coupon is needed.

I will try to price-check headphones on a time permitting basis but in the meantime please feel free to dig in because quantities are often limited and items of interest may be gone by the time I start price-checking…

This is a limited time offer but I know not when it expires…

PS: this is a parallel promotion to the previously mentioned Amazon Germany WD 20% off promotion…

EU: 20% off 400+ USED headphones at Amazon Germany

For a limited time, Amazon Germany has brought back the 20% off discount on select Amazon.de Warehouse Deals items. Of those, there are nearly 450 items returned under headphones. The eligible items indicate there’s a 20% off discount when you look at the detailed used listings. The discount gets applied automatically in the shopping cart ~ there’s no coupon code to enter.

Note that the discount only works on products sold by Amazon.de’s Warehouse Deals, not by marketplace sellers.

PS: I haven’t yet gone through the listings, more on these after I do so if I find anything exciting…

Print Magazine Sale: Stereophile $7.77 per year

Headphone magazines are very hard to come buy, especially in english, but there are some audio-related magazines and two of them are participating in this limited time sale at the Discount Mags website. These are print magazines, delivered via snail mail, to addresses in the USA. They do not auto-renew (thankfully).

Of the various options, these two are A/V related:

+ Stereophile for $7.77 per year

+ Sound and Vision for $7.55 per year

These prices are good for up to three years. You can use the offer for a new subscription for you, or a gift subscription for others, and you can also renew an existing subscription.

Remember, these are print magazines, not digital.

Wedn: HyperX Cloud Alpha S for $90

Two headphones among the daily deals for Wednesday January 15 in 2020 [it takes some practice not writing 2019] as follows:

+ at Best Buy, the new condition HyperX Cloud Alpha S Wired 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset is going for $90 with free S&H or pickup/ship-to-store ~ whatever’s available-possible

+ at Woot, from a 3rd-party refurbished iRecertify (which offers the 90-day warranty) you can get the refurbished Powerbeats 3 for $55 with up to ten pairs per customer at the sale price…

GeekSquad certified refurbished Apple/Beats headphones (33 options)

Best Buy is having a sale on Geek Squad certified refurbished Apple and Beats headphones including in-ears, truly wireless and over and on ears. A total of 33 options are available.

When you expand the Specifications area on an individual eligible product, you will see that they come with a 90-day warranty, which factors in the price BUT as usual, be sure to price-check any items whose price-ranges you are not familiar with…

Powerbeats 3 bluetooth eaprhones for $80 [limit 3]

It is $90 as a Best Buy daily deal, but Amazon actual has managed to outdo them, it’s the red-black color scheme of the new condition Power Beats 3 bluetooth earphones going for $80 with free US shipping and up to three pairs per customer at the sale price. The other two colors go for $90…

This is an “organic” Amazon price, so I have no clue if/when it will change. The earphones average 3.6 out of 5 based on nearly 3800 customer reviews and they have a rather low 2:1 5-star to 1-star ratio. Ideally you want to look at products with a 10:1 or better ratio. If nothing else, this should convince you to read reviews and forums and such before buying…

Thur: refurbished Audio Technica QuietPoint for $50 to $70

Good until 11:59pm central time on 1/2/20 [Happy New Year], Woot is having a sale on a couple of refurbished Audio Technica headphones with a 1-year Audio Technica warranty as follows:

+ ATH-ANC70 for $50

+ ATH-ANC7BSV-RB for $70

These are QuietPoint active noise cancelling headphones…

UPDATE: also a daily deal for Jan 2nd in 2020 are four color schemes of the new condition PowerBeats Pro truly-wireless earphones going for $200 per pair and you can buy as many as you like from Amazon actual. AppleCare+ for two years is offered optionally for +$29 per pair…