Now shipping: Sennheiser HD 660 S2

Hide your e-wallets! IF you cannot wait to get your head and hands and ears on this, the highly anticipated Sennheiser HD 660 S2 open-back over-ears wired headphone is here, at the early adopter price of $600 AND more importantly it is currently in-stock and shipping at its starting price of $600 at Amazon and at B&H Photo

Why this and why at this price over the many other options out there? This question has been answered, is currently being answered, and will also be getting answered in the future, just check your favorite audio forums, blogs, YouTubes and social media!

FOCAL Elegia Closed Over-Ears for $329

For a limited time, in the world of audiophile closed-back wired over-ears, Adorama is offering the new condition FOCAL ELEGIA headphones for $329! With a 1-year FOCAL warranty. The price you see is the price you pay. No coupons, no rebates!

At Adorama, this averages 4.7 out of 5 based on 101 customer reviews. They also have 299 answers on the question “Why Did You Chose This” 🙂

I do not know when the sale ends…

Orders placed will ship on Wednesday September 28 in 2022 because Adorama is currently observing the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

Go FOCAL Go? 🙂

FOCAL Elex Open Over-Ears for $599 [Massdrop X]

For a limited time, Massdrop is offering the new condition Massdrop X FOCAL Elex wired open-back over-ear dynamic driver headphones for $599 with free US shipping and a 2-year manufacturer warranty.

These are an “in-stock drop”, so they will ship in about two business days after purchase. Not like the other legendarily long Massdrop shipment waits 🙂

Per the listing over there, nearly 5000 units have been sold so far from Massdrop…

Sennheiser HD 8XX Open Over-Ears down to $949

As part of the Black Friday festivities, Massdrop is giving a healthy discount to their Sennheiser co-flagship. That’s right, for a limited time, $949 gets you the new condition wired open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 8XX headphones. This is based on the “HD 800 S” and made in Germany as well.

Massdrop offers 30 day returns (from the day of delivery) for both US and international shoppers. It comes with a 2-year warranty. It is estimated to ship on December 1st (in 2021)…

Audiophile Week sale at Massdrop (18 options)

If you are a fan of Massdrop or the specific headphones they sell, you are in luck, they are currently running an Audiophile week sale with 18 options. We break them down by product type:

Over Ears
+ 1More Triple Driver open-back for $140
+ Massdrop X Beyerdynamic DT 177X GO for $349
+ Drop + Dan Clark Aeon Closed X for $379
+ Drop + Dan Clark Aeon Open X for $399
+ Massdrop x FOCAL Elex for $549

In-Ears
+ Moondrop KXXX for $152
+ Mangird Tea for $260 (PRO TIP: you can’t make tea with these!)
+ Westone W80-V3 for $750
+ IKKO OH7 for $799

Truly Wireless
+ Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 PRO for $85

DAC/amps
+ Drop + THX AAA One linear amp for $159
+ DarkVoice 336SE OTL amp for $260
+ Drop + THX AAA 789 linear amp for $219
+ XDuoo TA-10R tube DAC/amp in red for $285

Accessories
+ Dekoni Bulletz tips for $13
+ ADV dual suspension stand for $25
+ ADV dual stand (hanger style) for $35

Focal Clear down to $990

Focal has by now accumulated a number of audiophile-tier headphones, and one of their first is currently on sale, the new condition wired open-back over-ear Focal Clear is on sale for a limited time for $990 at headphones.com

Headphones.com also has a parallel and very informative YouTube channel.

And if you happen to be reading this right when I post this, they have a live drawing for their Audeze LCD-X1 (2021) Giveway planned for 4/30/21 at 10pm eastern time…

They even have a 13-minute video explaining their reviewing process, YouTube-embedded below:

Massdrop X Focal Elex Open Over-Ears for $550

It’s not FOCAL week, I just post whatever deals I run into 🙂 As one of their Black Friday offerings, Massdrop is offering their new condition Massdrop X Focal Elex open-back over-ear wired headphones for $550 with a 2-year manufacturer warranty. Per the listing this is handmade in France!

This is estimated to ship in mid-December. Given the COVID situation, it may or may not arrive by the year-ending holidays, so YMMV (as with everything these days)…

There’s also an optional $20 off combined purchase discount if you purchase it together with the DROP + THX AAAâ„¢ 789 LINEAR AMPLIFIER. You add this from the product listing page, not from the shopping cart like you used to…

Focal Elegia over-ears for $690, OB for $519, Used for $479

As part of the Black Friday festivities, for a limited time, Adorama is offering the new condition closed-back wired over-ear FOCAL Elegia [Audiophile Elegy?] for $690 with free US shipping and handling…

On the same listing you will see a used option for $479 and open-box for $519… Used quantities may be limited, so YMMV depending on when you read this and how much demand there is for the Elegia…

Wedn: Beyerdynamic Amiron Home for $374 after coupon

Beyer is Dynamic at the Newegg daily deals for Wednesday 5/20/20, and for this day, thanks to promo code 93XPJ95 you can get the new condition open-back over-ears Beyerdynamic AMIRON Home “Tesla” headphone for $374 with free US shipping. This is sold and shipped by NewEGG itself, not marketplace sellers. Up to three pairs per customer during the promotion…

But that’s not all, other sellers have related offers as well in their deals du jour:

+ at Best Buy you can get their Insignia bluetooth necklace-style earphones for $20, and the unlocked LG V40 ThinQ for $300 with activation or without activation. Keep in mind the latest model is the V60 with the quasi-dual screens…

+ if you prefer even older LG V-series as PADs (phones as DAPs) Woot has a refurbished Scratch and Dent smartphone sale that includes the LG V10 and V20 from $40 to $120

+ at the Amazon Germany Gold Box you can get the Anker Soundcore Spirit X exercise bluetooth earphones for 26 euro…

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…

Focal Elegia Closed Over-Ears for $598

FOCAL’s first attempt to enter the consumer headphone market was not greeted as a liberator but their subsequent entry into the open-back audiophile world generated a whole lot more excitement. And soon after that they also released closed-back headphones. One of them is the Elegia over-ears and they are currently on sale for $598 with free shipping by a trio of marketplace sellers (including World Wide Audio) through Amazon

Black Friday doorbuster: Sennheiser HD 6XX for $180

The sale that was promised is here! The new condition open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 6XX headphones are on sale as a limited time Black Friday offer at Massdrop for $180 with free US shipping and returns. This being a collaboration between the two companies, it comes with a full two-year warranty, although optionally you can purchase a 3-year Massdrop extended warranty.

This being an in-stock drop, it will ship in about one business day after the purchase closes, in our case, as of the time of writing, the shipping estimate is December 2nd (and for those traumatized by previous long Massdrop waits, yes, it is in 2019) 😉

Philips X2HR Open Over-Ears down to $100

The popularity of the ANC/bluetooth combos mayhaps has a blessing in disguise benefits for fans of wired headphones ~ it “encourages” sellers and manufacturers to offer more competitive prices. Mayhaps this (and/or other reasons) has now dropped the price of the new condition open-back over-ear Philips X2HR to $100 with free shipping by Amazon actual

Fans in the EU can either tempt the trans-atlatic trip or get it for 119 euro from Amazon Germany (with up to five per customer). With the euro being stronger than the dollar, the difference is more than 19…

Big Monoprice Monolith sale with new low prices (17 options, headphones, amps, etc)

Monoprice has launched a big Monolith audio sale featuring 17 different products, mostly of headphone interest!

On the headphone front, the open-back over-ear M1060 planars go for $200 while their closed counterpart (the M1060C) go for $250. On the dynamic front, the M600 open over-ears are down to $60, while the M650 are down to $80. A not-so-subtle name-homage to the world-famous Sennheiser HD6?? duo 🙂

Back to the planars, the M560C closed-back (as that “C” hints at) is down to $170, while the sole earphone (can’t really call them in-ears) of the lot, the M300 is down to $70.

Come on Barbie, let’s have an electrostatic party because their Electrostatic headphone with amp combo is down to $354~.

Find them all at the Monolith audio sale

Speaking of amps, the big old Tube amplifier is down to $190, while vinyl fans have the Monolith turntable at their disposal for $150.

On the balanced headphone amp front, the Cavalli Liquid Platinum is down to $700, while their portable THX AAA DAC/amp goes for $250.

The rest of the sale items are speakers of different kinds. For those, check our imaginary speakers blog 🙂

FOCAL ELEX open over-ears drops to $600 [MD]

In addition to the “in-stock drops” (aka conventional online retail) Massdrop has also “discovered” discounting! As of the time of writing, the new condition FOCAL ELEX open-backs, part of the X line of co-branded Massdrop products, are down to $600 with free US shipping. Props to Massdrop for keeping prices round, eg $600, not doing the silly $599.99 that many retailers do.

This is indeed an in-stock drop, so it will ship within one business day after purchase. No long waits. Since it is an “X” product, made and sold in co-operation with the manufacturer, it comes with a 2-year FOCAL warranty. It is handmade in Fwance per the listing…

PS: yes, I am aware Massdrop has been renamed to “Drop”, but “Drop”, although a shorter one-word name that is desirable among the e-commerce world, it just doesn’t not have the uniqueness and personality of “Massdrop”. It can also confuse some as “Dropbox” is a lot more well-known than “Drop”. But then again, they can mayhaps find a theme song in the Cocteau Twins mesmerizing Pearly Dew Drops drops 😉

Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO (250 ohm) with Slappa Case and Wooden Stand for $450

Also part of the previously mentioned eBay labor day festivities, BuyDig (the online presence of Beach Camera from the East Coast) is offering a new condition bundle, the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO (250 ohm) open-back over-ear headphones bundled with the Slappa hardbody Pro full size headphone case and the Deco Gear wooden omega-shaped (as in the letter omega) stand, all together for $449 with free US shipping.

Don’t forget to use as part of your payment any eBay Bucks, personal eBay coupons and PayPal credits you may have…

Surprise Massdrop Combo: Sennheiser HD6XX _AND_ Sony WH-1000X M3 for $400 TOTAL

Well this is a surprise and a temptation that may be hard to resist for practical audiophiles. For $400 at the Massdrop website, you get two headphones, the audiophile-loved open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD-6XX, AND the utilitarian Sony WH-1000X M3 closed-back over-ear with bluetooth and ANC.

And better yet, both headphones come with a warranty. The HD-6XX comes with a 2-year manufacturer warranty, and the Sony WH-1000X M3 comes with a 1-year Sony warranty per the listing over there.

This is a pre-order with two days left to purchase (as of the time of writing of this post). The orders will ship mid-September from Massdrop.

PS: if you only want one of the two, you can always gift or sell or trade the other one. Or you can send it to me LOL 🙂

Monoprice Summer Clearance with FREE US shipping: Protein Leather Pads for $10, M600 Open Over-Ears for $60, Monolith Tube amp for $280, Electrostatic Headphone + Amp for $350, Etc

The Monoprice Overstock sale has some potentially interesting offerings for headphone fans as well. A total of seven options show when you filter for headphones including:

+ Memory Foam Protein Leather earpads for $10

+ MP20 in-ears for $12

+ M600 open-back dynamic over-ears for $60

+ M1060 planar open over-ears for $250

+ monster-sized Monolith Tube amplifier for $280

+ Electrostatic headphone with dedicated amplifier for $350

+ the M300 planar earphones go for $100 [corrected typo] which was their previous price

+ find them all in the Headphones Clearance page

All the items mentioned above come with free US standard shipping during this promotion. No coupon is needed. When the free shipping offer ends, it will simply stop being mentioned at the individual Monoprice product pages.

Philips Fidelio X2-HR Open Over-Ears for $150

This time they are available for all to buy, not just Prime members! The Philips headphone brand has been resurrected ~ thank the Seven Gods for the Cylon Resurrection ship hidden behind the moon!

So you can now get the new condition Philips Fidelio X2-HR open-back over-ear headphones for $150 with free US shipping with up to six per customer (they may have just six left, not have a “limit 6” per customer).

Optionally, while logged on to your Amazon account, you may see an offer for an installment plan. In my case, I see an offer that says five monthly payments of $50. As long as it gets paid without issue, there’s no financing fee (eg, they’ll take $30 out of your credit/debit card for five months in a row ~ if the card doesn’t explode it’s all good).

PS: as to the differences between the X2 and the X2-HR, there’s plenty to find in the forums and the audiophoolia blogs…

EU: Philips X2HR/OO Open Over-Ears for 139 euro

And now we fly back to the European Union where Prime members at Amazon Germany can get the new condition open-back over-ear Philips X2HR/00 headphones for 139 euro with free shipping within Germany. Yes, the open-back Philips headphones are back! The price is close enough to the SHP-9500, making it a more difficult decision…

Philips X2-HR Open Over-Ears for $160 [Prime Deal]

Prime members, start your engines! Good until 1pm eastern (or earlier if sold out) you can get the new condition open-back over-ear Philips X2-HR headphones for $160 with free shipping (obviously since these offers are for Prime members only). This is sold and shipped by Amazon.

PS: yes, the critically acclaimed open-back Philips headphones have made a comeback. More on that after Prime Days ends 🙂

Used FOCAL ELEGIA closed over-ears for $599

The new condition FOCAL Elegia closed-back over-ears currently go for $699 but if you prefer the way of the used, authorized dealer OneCall has a “Used – Very Good” condition listing going for $599 through Amazon Warehouse Deals. Prime members will get Prime-like delivery speed even though it ships from OneCall (state of Washington, from the “Go Zags” neighborhood)…

EU: Sennheiser HD 660S for 377 euro

Germany being the motherland of Sennheiser has its benefits. For example, the new condition open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 660S is on sale for 377 euro with free shipping within Germany by Amazon Germany actual. You can buy up to three pairs at the sale price. This is not a lightning deal, so expiration time/date is unknown to me…

Focal Elear Open Over-Ears for $549

IF you are looking to get the open-back over-ear Focal Elear in new condition, as of the time of writing, Amazon actual is offering them for $549 per pair. You can buy as many as you like at the price. This is not a lightning deal, so there’s no public expiration date…

FOCAL has multiple options these days on the open-back front and of course the competition is not sitting idly either. Check your favorite forums and websites if you need ideas on what to pick and what to avoid…

EU: Sennheiser HD660S for 389 euro

The price is on a downward trend at the moment for the new condition Sennheiser HD 660 S open-back over-ear headphones, they are currently on sale for 389 euro from Amazon Germany actual.

This of course is competing with its other siblings, the good old HD600 and HD650 from traditional audio retailers, and the relatively new HD6XX from Massdrop. In the US, you can get two HD6XX headphones for the price of one HD660 S which is more expensive than Europe. In the EU on the other hand, Massdrop prices include customs/duties/taxes and shipping, bringing the prices closer together depending on location. Plus there’s the matter of warranty…

Used Focal ELEAR open over-ear for $529

If you are interested in getting a used Focal Elear headphone and are not tempted by the Massdrop variant, Hifi Heaven is offering a “Used – Very Condition” option for $530 with free shipping at Amazon Warehouse Deals. Next up for $569 is an open-box return by Fique and a “Used – Like New” condition by “Hifi Summit”. These three ship directly from the marketplace sellers with free shipping but not Prime or Prime-like shipping.

FOCAL CLEAR PRO available on eBay as well

If you are stocked up on eBay Gift Cards and/or eBay Bucks, or plan to take advantage of the Chase Q2 5% PayPal cashback rewards [up to $1500 per individual credit card; must activate offer], Sweetwater’s [no, not the one from Westworld] eBay store has TWO new condition FOCAL CLEAR PROFESSIONAL (the red/black color scheme) for their regular price of $1700 with free shipping.

[DEAD] Used Sennheiser HD 660 S for $400

As of a 4/22/18 recheck, this sold out at $400 in USED…

[Read more…]

Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen (Special Edition) for $699 after coupon

It’s Tesla time! No, not the electric cars, but the Beyerdynamic headphones. More specifically the second generation Beyerdynamic T1 in the Special Edition black color scheme offered at BuyDig.com for $699 with free shipping thanks to coupon code TESLA which expires 4/22/18 (or earlier if sold out)

[DEAD] Open Box Sennheiser HD 800 for $909

As of a 4/17/18 AM re-check, this sold out at this price…

The open-back over-ear Sennheiser HD 800 headphones are available in “Like New – Open Box” condition for $909 with free shipping at Blinq directly or through Amazon Warehouse Deals (AWD). Both the Blinq website and AWD say there are two left. Since these ship directly from Blinq, we can assume that there is a total of two, not two at each place.

FOCAL ELEX Open Over-Ears return for $700 [MD]

Hot on the heels of the return of the HD 6XX and HD 58X, Massdrop has also brought back another drop, it’s the new condition FOCAL ELEX Open Over-Ears going for $700 with free US shipping. These will ship in late May 2018 from Massdrop with a 2-year FOCAL warranty since this is a co-operation. The offer runs until the end of the month, however, it may sell out ahead of time. 755 units are available and per the stats there, 690+ have been claimed! So don’t sleep on it for too many nights if you are thinking to jump in.

Used Audio Technica ATH-AD1000X for $239

The open-back over-ear Audio Technica ATH-AD1000X headphones are currently available in “Used – Very Good” condition (cosmetic imperfections, damaged original packaging) for $239~ with free shipping by Amazon Warehouse Deals actual or for $253 in “Used – Like New”. These are not shown in the “default view” but when you filter it by Used Options only you can see them.

Back On: Sennheiser HD6XX and HD58X at Massdrop

The window has opened once again to order these two Massdrop exclusive Sennheiser open-back over-ear headphones with the following deadlines:

  • HD 58X Jubilee for $150 with free US shipping. Offer runs until the end of April 2018 with orders shipping late July 2018 from Massdrop/li>
  • x Massdrop HD6XX for $200 with free US shipping. Offer runs until the end of April 2018 with orders shipping late August 2018 from Massdrop, with all sales final and a 2-year Sennheiser warranty.
  • maximum five of each per member. Non-US shoppers pay $15 flat shipping. All sales final. Include 2-year Sennheiser warranty<

Now shipping: Klipsch Heritage HP-3 for $1200

These headphones took their sweet time to come out, the Klipsch Heritage headphones were announced at CES 2017 but they are still hard to find. But as of the time of writing, they are in-stock for $1200 by “HiDef Lifestyle”, a Pennsylvania A/V dealer through Amazon (four units left) and also through eBay and … Nordstrom