I'VE FOUND THEM!!! LABTEC ELITE-840's!!!! Only $16

[nwarawa]

These headphones aren't available anywhere anymore. They were the rage of the audiophile forums a couple years back. My pair finally broke after almost 3 years, so I started looking again, and found them here:

http://www.compuvisor.com/lael840helt.html

Cool thing is, if you order 2, the price goes down to only $15 each. Shipping was only $8 for the 2 for me. I cannot convey how awesome they sound. Bass is lackluster due to open design, but I once was actually fooled into thinking my speakers were on because the sound sounds like it's coming from outside the headphones.

No, they aren't built like sennheisers, but they do SOUND like some of the $300 models.

 

[pioneercrazed]

Look nice, only wished they had a mic built in... grr...

 

[bzo]

tempted to add 1 to my headphone collection, but $9.80 shipping for 1 to CA is kinda painful for a $15 item

 

[IEC]

The last thing I need is another pair of headphones, especially when I got in on the Onkyo 5.1 HTIB deal

But I would say these have got to be pretty decent phones - their drivers are 50mm compared to 30mm on most.

 

[Q]

Look nice

 

[blacklit]

thanks op, i decided to gamble on this. i think it's fugly but read a few mixed reviews.. generally liked what people said and became very curious. it's a steal at that price esp with what you and some others claim. i hope they live up to the hype that i took your word for. my last headphone purchase was the koss ksc75 -- those lived up to the hype

one concern, how are these that good with "lackluster" bass?

 

[blacklit]

fyi, it comes with a free labtec curve 465 earphone

 

[nwarawa]

When I say lackluster bass, I mean less then you normally expect with headphones. The sound isn't sealed in, so that typical muddled boominess is gone. After some break in the bass improves (as does the treble, which is a bit harsh at the beginning). If you have it hooked up to an amp like I do, just dial up the bass control a little.

I've listened to a lot of headphones, esp. from Sennheiser and Koss. I can't remember if it was the 570 or 595 that I really liked... these Labtec's have the same kind of sound, albeit less comfortable and don't have a detachable cord... but at $16??? You won't hear this quality of sound at this price anywhere else.

BTW, as blacklit said, if you need portable headphones, pick up the Koss KSC75. They're not as clear as the Elite 840's, but then again, they're not a big head piece like the Elite 840's. I picked up a set at Amazon... they're the best damn slip-over-the-ear I've ever heard.

Price still looks good on them too:

http://www.amazon.com/Koss-KSC75-Portab...-3744430-0684445?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

 

[I4AT]

lol apparently they come with another pair of slip-ons for free. How long is the cord on the 840s? I've got some KSC75s and the cord barely reaches from the back of my PC to me.

 

[BigShroom]

I'm tempted to get a set since I need a decent pair of headphones.

The only thing holding me back is I've never heard of Compuvisor and their rating on resellerratings.com is pretty lame(5/10).

Has anybody here ordered from them?

 

[nwarawa]

lol... yah... the KSC75 cord is short. I use them for my laptop and keep the 840s for my main PC. Speaking of the KSC75s... the free clip-ons with the 840s don't even compare to the KSC75s. They don't sound horrible in their own right, but nowhere near as good or as comfortable (pain in the ass to get on my ears) as the Koss.

BigShroom: yah, their reseller ratings almost killed the deal for me too, but I looked for feedback from a number of places and it was more positive on average. Plus, it was worth the risk: these things cost $40 back in the day, and you can't find them anywhere.

 

[f4phantom2500]

I'm getting an X-Fi XtremeMusic ($35+shipping, I know a former pc gamer who fell to the dark side...mac), and just moved into an apartment. Considering the lack of space in my room, the fact that I can't play speakers very loud, and the x-fi's abilities with headphones, would this be a good buy for me you think?

EDIT: fyi the speakers I have are Logitech Z-640's, and I used an Audigy 1 for the longest time, but got a 2 ZS a few weeks ago (but the X-Fi was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up lol), so keep that in mind...I know the speakers aren't the best but how would they compare to these headphones (I also have KSC75s for my mp3 player)?

How do the elite 840's compare to the other labtec elite headphones (830, 820...)? Because they seem to be going for dirt cheap on ebay (~$10 shipped brand new buy it now).

 

[blacklit]

x-fi xtrememusic for $35.. where? my friend will also join the dark side in ~6 months -- macbook.

 

[IdaGno]

thx OP - in for two before the modest price hike

 

[GeezerMan]

I use the Xtrememusic card myself. Nice card

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: blacklit
x-fi xtrememusic for $35.. where? my friend will also join the dark side in ~6 months -- macbook.

he had his x-fi lying around since he didn't use it anymore cuz he went to macs, so he sold it to me for a good price...it ended up being like $45 shipped but still...lol.

 

[GeezerMan]

You might want to consider selling the Xtrememusic card and buying the X-Fi platinum version. It gives you the same card the Xtrememusic is, and adds the I/O panel. It's nice to have the I/O panel for headphone hookup. Normally around 180.00 for the platinum version , but there have been many rebate deals for 100.00 off lately.
I just got one myself, so for 80.00 AR, I get the I/O panel and card. Not bad. Of course. you got to wait for the rebate.

 

[Mday]

the 830s are the best headphones i have ever used. mine broke a couple years back (accident). I was so =(

 

[junkiefp]

Looks nice but shipping kinda kills it...

 

[nwarawa]

 

[nwarawa]

f4: I used an X-Fi with these- sounds nice (the X-Fi has very little noise, and these headphones really showcase that clarity)

As for shipping killing the deal: don't compare shipping vs the cost of the product, add up the total and compare to the VALUE of the product. The cheapest you might of seen them back in the old days is maybe $25.

As for comparisons to the 830 and 825... can't say.

 

[GeezerMan]

Shipping cost can be a mental thing. As a seller on Ebay for 8 years, I see it all the time. Many people would rather buy an item for 20.00 plus 5.00 shipping rather than for 5.00
plus 10.00 shipping. They just hate the fact that shipping may be inflated. You'll get emails, " How dare you inflate shipping cost!"
"Yeah I paid more for it totally, but I got cheap shipping!" Dummies

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Shipping cost can be a mental thing. As a seller on Ebay for 8 years, I see it all the time. Many people would rather buy an item for 20.00 plus 5.00 shipping rather than for 5.00
plus 10.00 shipping. They just hate the fact that shipping may be inflated. You'll get emails, " How dare you inflate shipping cost!"
"Yeah I paid more for it totally, but I got cheap shipping!" Dummies

lol yeah i know what you mean. i saw a guy post a ram auction for $1 buy it now (probably worth $35~$50 then) and charged the rest in shipping...he went on in the description to say that the buy it now price doesn't matter, it's the total price you have to pay attention to, because people kept buying from "power sellers" who would charge like $20 instead of him just because the price sans shipping on the other auctions was cheaper.

 

[osiris3mc]

If you are looking for headphones for work, you just can't beat these: Link. I got em for x-mas and love em.

 

[f4phantom2500]

lol, too much $ for my tastes (i'm really really cheap), besides i ordered the 840's last night .