I married my wife almost 35 years ago - I’d be an unhappy guy if I did apply this approach to dating!
But yes, this is definitely borne of enthusiasm at discovering a new world, and there are bound to be casualties along the way…
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I’m practical enough that I’m not interested in owning headphones that I don’t actually have a use case for, so that keeps my clicky trigger finger in check. But yeah, I do ask myself from time to time if I actually want to own the gear I’m chasing or am I just curious to hear it?
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Visit local stores. Demo gear. Curiosity cured. I don’t have enough experience with these demos to be “sure,” but sure enough to control buying urges.
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Yeah, I’m lucky to be in NYC where there are plenty of audio showrooms, but given the current state of the world I have yet to become a regular at any of them yet. But I do plan to pay them a visit soon.
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I’m located near @chrisnyc75 so I likewise have the good fortune of being able to check things out locally. That said, I’ve got a list of headphones I’d like to hear that are only available used: the LCD2.1/2.2 pre-fazor, HE-500, and the old HE-6, among others. I don’t necessarily want to own these headphones. It’s more that I want to know what they’re like, as classics.
I’m a bit fickle, so polygamy works best. I’ve got plenty of saving to do for some of the stuff I’d like to have, ultimately, but I don’t see myself ending up with more than five headphones. After some youthful experimentation, I hope to settle down with three, ideally. 
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Where do you go for headphones? I went to Audio46 and had a truly weird/unwelcoming experience there and wasn’t sure where else to go.
What was your experience like? I’ve had good experiences at Audio46.
The person I dealt with seemed annoyed that I was there from the moment I got there honestly. Didn’t have any of the things I was interested in listening to even though they were available on the site (which I guess is my fault, I should have checked before I went I just made an assumption based on the web availability). Of what they did have, they seemed annoyed to get them out of the case. When I tried to offer that they let me know when they did have things in store, they pretty much told me they weren’t worth listening to or that they weren’t sure if they would restock them (Meze Empyrean, Ether 2, Sony Z1R - controversial HPs you would ideally want to hear first). Left my contact info and never heard from them again.
Wasn’t a busy day, I was one of 2 people in the store, but maybe I just went on a bad day. It was honestly a weird experience. They asked me what I owned already and I listed off my gear, which shows I’m clearly willing to spend money on the hobby and not there to waste their time, but still.
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Its a Bottlehead Crackatwoa
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Oh yes @Sturosen, this sounds so familiar. Unfortunately I can and often do suffer from bouts Upgradeitis.
Though with time it’s got a lot better and I am far more content now. I think that once you know in your own mind just what it is that you want then you can start to control it.
This is different from the quest to get that little extra performance that also afflicts lots of us.
Just a few random thoughts on the subject. By the way you have a fine collection of headphones. Above all take time to enjoy them. It’s so eady to get caught ip with getting the next best thing that you can fail to appreciate what you currently have.
Plus it cost a flipping fortune. Best of luck @Sturosen and happy listening.
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Wow, that sounds like a horrible experience. I hope you can find a place that appreciates your custom.
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I haven’t visited either yet, but I’ve been meaning to visit Audio46 and In Living Stereo Headphone Annex
I’ve been to both Audio46 and In Living Stereo, and I vastly prefer the headphone annex of In Living Stereo. When I visited Audio46, I found it to be a loud environment (music playing on a boombox…), and they don’t have any variety of source gear to use (and certainly not nicer source gear). In Living Stereo has an excellent selection of headphones up and down the price range ready to demo, with friendly staff who are eager to help, even if you aren’t looking to buy an LCD-4 that day. The room is quiet, and they have a selection of excellent source gear ready to go, and will plop you in front of a laptop with a streaming service (I believe Tidal or Qobuz - but don’t remember which it was) and let you listen to your heart’s content.
They treated me so well that I made it a point to buy my Utopia from them, given that I visited 5+ times to learn and listen and feel comfortable making that big a purchase. They even matched the CanJam special price that Focal was offering at the time (this was in early 2020 - the before times).
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I visited In Living Stereo for the first time this afternoon after hearing about it on this thread. Wow! Great selection of quality cans, especially Audeze. At this stage in the pandemic, it seems as though they are taking visitors by appointment only (i.e., the door is locked, you have to call in order to be let in, only one customer is allowed in at a time, etc.). I specifically went to see how my VC sounds on tubes, and I spent about an hour with a WA7 amp/dac and a WA22 paired with a Chord Mojo. If I had any doubts about getting a tube amp before today, they are totally gone now.
I’m hesitant to say anything negative about Audio46 because they have been infinitely patient with me. The experience you had at In Living Stereo leading up to purchasing your Utopia is similar to the experience I had at Audio46 before I got my Celestee. The customer service there, in my experience, is top notch, but the air conditioning is loud, it’s in the middle of Manhattan, customers are in and out of all the time, so the environment is on the noisier side, which isn’t great, of course, for demoing open back headphones.
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I’ve had mixed experiences with Audio46. One staff member was a bit brusque and not all that helpful. But my first proper headphone purchase, some six years ago now, was there. I had a budget of $200 and spent an ungodly amount of time going back and forth between the AKG K553 Pro and whatever version of the Audio Technica M50 was available then. (I can neither deny nor confirm that an iPhone was my source). The guy working that evening was very patient with me, too - just as @wkesquire experienced. And when I finally made my decision, he found a coupon/discount code/promotion thingy for the headphones I’d chosen, so I got them for $25 less than the amount I’d been quoted earlier.
I share @andris’s concern about sources; I’d recommend emailing before going to see what setups could be used to audition headphones.
I’ve yet to visit the Headphone Annex - it looks like a great spot.
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That’s how the shopping experience should be everywhere! If only…
Needs a little patience to mount it but paired with a good preamp and a tube amp this little (inexpensive) classic really sings.
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Great pick! Almost picked one up awhile back on my second turntable I used to own.
There is a company that sells custom wood shells for these and is done by yourself with the part. Pretty cool way to transform a cool cartridge into a work of art!
There are lots of choices listed on eBay if you search around. Here are a couple examples:
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Thanks for the hints.
There’s a company that makes graphite bodies for the DL 103 too.
Zu makes a great mod on that cartridge too.
I want to get an idea about how it works as it is. Then I’ll see if some mod is worth.
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Tell me more about those headphone hangars…