The Deals Thread

Ha! Nicely played.

My tube amps (Atma-Sphere monoblocks) actually do have 24 tubes across both, but they're the real deal. Also they pump out a lot of heat along with the sweet tunes! Here's what one of the monoblocks looks like.

 

HE560's for CAD$599- https://headphonebar.com/collection...man-he560?mc_cid=898be2b0b5&mc_eid=7ff72cc4c3

 

Why go 24 when you could have 56!

http://www.atma-sphere.com/Products/#MA-3

 

Yeah, the MA-3's are the ultimate in OTL tube amp goodness, and that's 56 tubes per channel! They're also ~$150K per pair.

Think I'll stick with my M-60's.

 

Sennheiser HD558
$69.98
ON SALE
SAVE $80
Was $149.98

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sennhei...-ear-headphones-titan/1700513.p?skuId=1700513

 

That seems too good to be true. At $2000 it is an instant buy for me.

This seems like a hare-brained scheme to counter slowing sales. IMHO there are only a few people on the planet willing to spend 4K on a headphone and if they wanted a Utopia they've already bought one.

I've seen dealers go down to $2600 on Audiogon for ''open box'' units with full warranty.

The charity aspect is laughable and is just to save face I think. Anyway I'm happy to see prices come down. Anyone spending 4K these days on these is stupid or rich.

 

I guess it depends on how Focal is handling the $1,000 discount on their end. If it's a rebate that the dealers cash in to Focal, then it's no skin off their asses. If it pushes net sales higher for Focal, they ultimately profit too. More sales for everybody, more people listening to Focal products, everybody wins*.

*except people who have Utopias already. Then they get scalped on their resale value a bit, since nobody is gonna buy a used Utopia for $2,600 when you could get a brand new one with full warranty for the same price.

 

Slow sales and can probably file the difference as charitable donations for tax writeoffs. Focal is so generous! I'll still never be able to bring myself to spend that kinda cash on headphones.

 

New products often come out at a high price, and the price lowers quickly. the most common example of this is hardback books vs paperback books (for those of you under 30, google "book").

Pricing is fluid. When demand is high and supplies low, price goes up. Demand for Utopia may not be as high as Focal would want, but it's not 0. Probably not a fair statement to say everyone that wanted one has one. Many might be saving up. Many may not have heard it yet. At any rate, it's a sale. The trade-in is a gimmick, and the charity part is a write off for Focal which helps defray a part of the lower price.

Only time will tell how the sale is structured and if dealers can further discount the Utopia.

 

Decent price for Canucks on the JBL LSR308... $313/each (CAD)
http://www.economik.com/jbl/lsr308/

 

Sennheiser HDVA600 headphone amp for $699 with free shipping from BuyDig.

• https://www.buydig.com/shop/product/SRHDVA600
  
• Use coupon code: HDVA600

I removed the SlickDeals affiliate link, but if the above doesn't work, here's the SD thread. Can't seem to verify here if BuyDig is authorized dealer or not.

 

UK

Nighthawk Carbons £353, usually £600 i think. 1 left pretty sure its new.

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/headphones/audioquest-nighthawk-carbon-headphones?utm_source=pricespy&utm_medium=price_comparison&utm_campaign=pricespyuk-Multimedia&utm_term=9000-0031-7290

 

Not a steal of a deal but might push some folks that were thinking about purchasing CampFire Audio products (Note: Canadian retailer):

https://headphonebar.com/search?type=product&q=campfire

 

UK

Mojo for 350, about 45 odd quid cheaper than ive seen anywhere else

http://www.whybuynew.co.uk/accessories/headphones/chord-mojo-dac-headphone-amplifier.htm

 

Pro-Ject Dac Box DS is available for $250 in amazon. Not sure how good a dac it is.

 

Just saw this on the headphones deal site. I find this quite interesting as it really reveals the markups (I think) of these higher end products.

Focal Utopia + iFi PRO iCAN Head Amp + Astell&Kern AK 100 II DAP/DAC/amp for $4000
The FOCAL Utopia flagship headphone goes for $4000 in new condition at authorized dealers. For a limited time, authorized dealer Adorama.com is it in a bundle with a FREE iFi and Astell and Kern for the same price of $4000 with free shipping.

The two free items are:

• iFi Pro iCAN Headphone Amplifier
• Astell and Kern AK 100 II DAP/DAC/amp (which is also available in the Elear bundle)

The ifi PRO head-amp currently goes for $1700 but occasionally goes on sale for $1300. The AK 100 II is currently on sale at authorized dealers for $539 with a $900 regular price.

So these are definitely not throwaway freebies But if you don’t want them, you can always trade them or sell them or gift them to friends and families and such. They could end up subsidizing a chunk of the Utopia purchase price.

This is a limited time offer!

PS: if you were 49.95% vs 49.95% on whether to get this bundle, this may help tilt the scales: they are also including a Pig Hog 1/4″ TRS Female to 3.5mm (1/8″) Male Stereo Adapter for free!

 

Just to potentially spice up the above deal a bit, in prior bundles if you'd already bought something included in the bundle and called them up asking if you could buy the rest of the bundle at a discounted price they'd allow you to do so.

At least that was the case with the LCD-2 + iFi portable and LCD-3 + pro ican.

 

@AllanMarcus Thanks for posting this deal!

I just bit on it and I plan to sell the Focal Utopia and A&K AK100 II unopened, which should actually make the iFi Pro iCAN less than $1000!

 

You are welcome.

Buying new with no warranty is always a challenge for the buyer, and probably even worse than buying used from a trusted source. You might be able to give the buyer your receipt and say it was a gift, but Focal may not honor that (likely not). If you offer to help resolve any warranty issues, you will likely get a better response.

$2800 for the Utopia's and $500 for the AK100 are likely prices, which should net you $3200 (after shipping and insurance). $800 for the Pro iCan is an awesome deal!

that said, getting $500 for the AK100 might be hard, but even if you sell it for $300, you still only paid $1000 for the iFi, which is a great deal.

Good Luck.

Note, technically you cannot sell the AK100 at Head-fi since you got it for free. That would violate the "flipping" rule, as I understand it. You should have no problem selling it on USAudioMart, eBay, Craigslist, or even here.

 

@AllanMarcus I actually felt kinda bad about taking advantage of the deal and flipping it so I cancelled my order anyway. I do want to hear the iFi Pro iCAN but I'll do it on its own terms at some point.