Archives for November 26, 2020

AKG K240 Semi-Open Over-Ears for $49

This is more of an homage buy, than a super-deal buy, and it may be useful for comparison/calibration of comments about other headphones since they’ve been around for a while and they’ve been had/used by many…

These refer to the semi-open over-ear AKG K240 (yes, first generation) going for $49 at authorized Samsung Harman Kardon AKG dealers 🙂 This includes Amazon and Adorama (option to buy together with H&A clamp holder for +$8), and at B&H Photo (option to buy together with Auray headphone stand or clamp for +$16 each)…

Hifiman HE-4XX Planars drop to $120

If you’ve been planar-curious but haven’t taken the jump in yet, here’s a lower risk price! Massdrop has dropped the price of the new condition wired open-back over-ear Hifiman HE-4XX planar magnetics to $120 with free US shipping and free US returns with a 1-year manufacturer warranty. My Oh My! These will ship in early December 2020.

You have an option to add a 3-year Drop warranty with accidental coverage for +$20, US buyers only. Normally I avoid optional $warranties$, but this is Hifiman 🙂 They average 4.4 out of 5 based on 1414 customer reviews over there, but do take a look at the 1-star reviews, thus mayhaps the $20 3-year Drop warranty is not a bad idea?

Black Friday Lightning Deals have no big names scheduled so far

In the published/teased Headphones Lightning Deals for Black Friday at Amazon, as of the time of writing, there are 85 options, but no big names scheduled. In some way this makes sense because the big names often appear when they go live or they are part of the day-change (12:01am pacific time).

Of those 85 teased lighting deals, there’s enough truly-wireless to outfit an army. But there are a few recognizable products as well:

+ starts 12:20am ET: KZ KS2 IEMs
+ there are multiple colors and variants on the product listing; sometimes only some of the options go on sale; on rare occasion it’s not the linked-to item that goes on sale but another option(s) ~ but the Lightning Deals teaser points to the “root item” (whatever that might be, mayhaps the first to be created for that multi-option listing?)

+ various Anker ANC/BT over-ears and wood-y Symphonized IEMs
+ we haz here a text & pictures unboxing of a wood-y Symphonized (not the ones scheduled in the lightning deals)

+ starts 2:05pm ET: Vogel On-Ears (multiple colors on the listing)
+ I haven’t seen these in-person, but comparing zoomed pictures with the old AmazonBasics On-Ears a few years ago, they look very very very similar;
+ they look similar (mayhaps different generation and customization?) to the Monoprice On-Ears which currently go for $15.50 minus a 15% off clip-on coupon
+ from what I recall AmazonBasics had two generations of these but they’ve either cancelled them or their contract ended or they are temporarily sold-out
+ I was planning to do a AmazonBasics vs Monoprice comparison of the two, but by the time I bought the Monoprice on sale, I had given away the AmazonBasics (for which I have pictures and notes somewhere ~ yes, I’m that organized!)

Monoprice headphones, speakers and tube amps sale

Monoprice is running a big headphones and speakers sale. We already mentioned a couple of them, but they have a total of 37 headphone options on sale, seven speakers and three tube amps…

+ the good old 8323 closed over-ears for $16 with free US shipping

+ Modern Retro over-ears for $21
+ closed-back, clone cousin of Superlux/Samsons

+ some of their more recent multi-driver IEMs

+ three tube amps (not dedicated headphone amps)

Bose QuietComfort QC35 II ANC/BT Over-Ears for $199

Now that everybody is making a competitive ANC/BT over-ear headphone, BOSE is feeling the pressure and they have decreased the price of their good old QuietComfort QC35 II to $199 with free US shipping at B&H Photo and Amazon and also at Adorama

Cleer Flow ANC/BT Over-Ears down to $70

Cleer Audio is jumping on the Black Friday hype train too with a big discount in an attempt to generate some attention and such. They are currently offering their new condition closed-back ANC/bluetooth over-ears “Cleer Flow” for $70 with free US shipping at New York’s B&H Photo

Philips SHP-9600 Open Over-Ears down to $100

The Philips open-back over-ear wired headphones are now expanding their reach in the US market. They have arrived at the B&H Photo website and during the Black Friday season, they have been discounted as follows:

+ SHP-9600 (latest model) down to $100

+ good old SHP-9500 down to $80
+ we have a text and pictures unboxing of it here

+ Philips X2 (previous generation) down to $145

Monoprice SonicSolace ANC/BT Over-Ears for $23 w/FS [updated]

Monoprice has an actual doorbuster! The new condition SonicSolace ANC/BT Over-Ears are on sale for just $23 with free US shipping in your choice of brown or black color scheme. This is a big drop in price indeed.

As of the time of writing this averages 4.2 out of 5 based on 400 customer reviews and they have 100 answered questions…

UPDATE: thanks to one of our readers for the comment! Apparently these have been on sale in this range; the last time I was tracking them these were going for 2X, that’s why I thought they were a BF doorbuster!

Audeze iSine 20 Planar In-Ears for $229

Good until Friday 11/27/20 at 10am eastern time (or before that if it sells out), as one of their deals du jour, Adorama is offering the new condition Audeze iSine 20 planar in-ears for $229 with free US shipping and handling. You also earn 1% store rewards on the purchase (to be used in future purchases)…

This is B-stock but per the listing it still comes with a 3-year Audeze warranty…

Thursday NewEgg’s 24 Hour Headphone Sale!

NewEgg is running a 24 hour Black Friday sale for Thursday 11/27/20 [Happy Thanksgiving] on their website that includes three pages of Headphone deals including:

+ Sennheiser ME2IEI in-ears for $35
+ Sennheiser HD 2.30i or G closed on-ears for $28

+ Samson SR860 semi-open over-ears for $40

+ various other brands including Sony, Bose, Jabra, Anker, TrebLab, etc

+ Beyerdynamic sale with eight options including:

++ Amiron Home open over-ears for $320
++ Lagoon ANC Traveler for $210
++ Xelento wireless bluetooth in-ears for $599
++ a couple of “CREATOR 24” bundles

AKG K92 Over-Ears with Tascam DR40X for $150

Part of the Black Friday – Cyber Monday festivities, Adorama is offering this AKG K92 + Tascam DR40X bundle for $150 with free US shipping. The K92 is a closed-back over-ear wired headphone while the DR40X is a 4-track digital audio recorder and USB audio interface. The Tascam is in the red color scheme.