Sennheiser HD800S loaner program

Since I'm sure a great number of us is interested in this headphone, let's see if we can get one for the loaner.

But we can't expect a single SuperBAF to pay for the whole thing, especially not if it's >$2000.

So I'm suggesting that we do a group donation in order to grab this thing. Donators are immediately put on the loaner list and can keep the headphone for however long depending on how much they contributed. Once the donation goal is reached, we can decide what to do with it (pawn it off in the market and recoup some funds? Have one of the donators who really really really want it pay the other guys?...), but I'd further suggest we keep it in the stash of SuperBAF's "weapons" that can be loaned to future donators of future loaner programs (though this would require us to "hire" someone to safeguard our stash. Arrrr!!!).

Personally, I see this as a great way to demo new expensive gears for a small fee... at the convenience of our homes and gears.

So, what say ye, SuperBAFs??



Oh, and just another thought: we can get an "interest list" to see how many people would be interested in a loaner such as this. Then gauge how much each person will have to pay based on MSRP, etc... so that way, if a lot of people are interested in a loaner, it won't cost a lot for each, and nobody will have to "overpay" to compensate for the group.

 

I'm in if we can keep this reasonable, and we can manage us to eu logistics

 

After all participants chime in and express interest, a total cost/participant amount can be determined, it would include price of headphones plus cost of shipping insured from US to EU. It could do a US tour first then a European tour.

At the end of the tour it could be raffled off to one of the participants?

 

How about asking Senn for a loaner before shelling out for retail?

 

"Hey. We're interested in taking your HD800S for a spin, take some measurements, talk shit, compare it to our $20 mods, and then tell you how we think it's overpriced. So... can we have one, please?"

^ if you can somehow express that in a nicer way...

 

No love for Australia?

 

Marv seemed hesitant about a similar idea:

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/loaner-program-weapons-master.319/ (see post #17)

 

^
Australia is too far below the horizon, Indonesia comes first!

"We're interested in taking a loan of your HD800S for an in-depth review to our 150+ members"... Don't express the not-nice things!

 

Oops, I didn't see that.

But the T1 is obviously a different case compared to this one. I am sure this will reach its loaner goal and possibly create an accounting nightmare in the end.

 

Probably you just ask. Considering that this community has been ground zero for hd800 mods, it's a chance for Sennheiser to both honor and one-up the HD800 mod community -- "here you go, fu bychz." [And honestly, the number of people who would remove the driver mesh to install a diy-doodad is probably slim. Relatively few people want irreversable mods that sink resale value. From what I can tell, nothing at SBAF is going to hurt Sennheiser one bit. Any such idea is hubris.]

 

I'm sure much less people are needed if bought from EU, given that HD800 regularly goes for 950€ here, and that even includes VAT.

 

90 dollars plus shipping is an awful lot to ask for to be part of a loaner program that would take up to a year. Imagine how much you'd have to pay to be part of a program that only took a couple months, or how long you'd have to wait to be part of the program if you only paid 30-40 dollars.

It's certainly doable, but I'm not sure about viable. The local hi-fi shop by me has the complete Sennheiser lineup all the way up to the HD800, so hopefully they'll get the HD800S in as well so I can try it out.

 

My 0.02 dollars:
1) A great idea overall but I think we should start with something cheaper because of what Marv says about taking 1 year to go around the investor's rigs.
2) Let's not ask the manufacturer because that's putting us in the same position as the HFers. Guilt can be a nasty weapon.
3) Why not wait till there's a used HD800s in the market? HF is full of dis-satisfied people.
4) I like the idea of a modded headphone going around but only after I've had listen to it un-modded first.

These are first thoughts that will likely change after I've recovered from my hypoglycaemia

 

There is already already an audiophile store online that rents stuff for a trial for 5% of retail plus you pay round=trip shipping, and they did have an HD-800. I always thought the money would be better spent for a night at the hotel of the closest meet that had them.

 

Please keep in mind that one possibility is to sell the gear at the end of the circuit. Consider that if we each contributed $100 and recovered 70% through sale, that is only $30 (plus shipping) to spend a decent amount of time with the gear in conditions far better than a meet. In my mind, that is money well spent.