Audio46 Headphones - Headphone Superstore — Local services in New York

Do not buy Cayin tube amps from this dealer. Without any warning Cayin will void your warranty if you roll tubes, even though the manual describes acceptable substitute tubes. I bought brand new WE300B tubes and the Cayin HA300 failed in one day. Western Electric kindly RMA'd the tubes but tested them as perfect and yet Cayin will not honor my warranty because they say I altered the amp by rolling tubes. Audio46 did not or was not able to help with this and although they are only the dealer, I still would not buy from them again because this happened. If they are aware customers of their products are being treated like this when they buy $4000 amplifiers, Audio46 should not engage with those products, manufactures or distributors. Worst experience.

In response to Audio46's comment: I did not burn my tubes. You clearly haven't done your research in this case which just shows the lack of care you take with customers. The tubes I installed were brand new and when RMA'd to Western Electric came back as perfect. The amp has a manufacturing defect but no one will take responsibility. It is advertised as compatible with 300B tubes but if it fails when a perfect pair of tubes are installed in it, it is supposedly the consumer's fault and issue.

What you say Cayin told you is incorrect. The distributor RSM only offered to service the unit at all when pressed repeatedly by me and yet he would decide when I paid to ship it across the border whether I'd end up paying for it (no quote even) or not. Unacceptable. He quoted from the get go that the simple fact that I rolled tubes meant warranty was out of the question. But then that distributor referred me to send my unit to VAS industries. When I asked the rep at Cayin about VAS they claimed that they do not and have not worked with VAS for a very long time. And yet when I ask Cayin to respect my warranty and RMA they say the same thing they told you, that the distributor offered to service my unit (and they would determine whether it was a manufacturing defect or not and decide whether to charge me for service and shipping or not). When I remind Cayin that they said they don't work with VAS anymore, their claim to be offering me anything whatsoever in response to the failure of their $4000 product is completely null.

Audio46 I appreciated that you responded to my situation, and that you checked in with Cayin, but you did not make any impact in their choice to refuse me warranty despite simply rolling brand new and perfectly tested Western Electric tubes. I have worked with dealers before who would make this process a hell of a lot smoother and make sure that either customers get the service they deserve or they stop working with manufacturers or distributors who don't respect their customers. Nowhere in Cayin's warranty or manual is there anything about rolling tubes voiding the warranty. In fact there is a diagram that shows the acceptable 300B tubes that one can substitute. Where I live, this confusion around warranty would be cause for a lawsuit. It's plain for me and anyone I tell to see. But in your business, nobody wants to take responsibility for the failure of their products. Big No Thank You.

from Western Electric: Wed, Nov 15, 1:32 PM to me

Thank you for your patience.

We have completed testing and inspection for both returned tubes as requested. During initial tests and subsequent testing for noise and other potential issues, no problems were discovered. Based on these tests, you have a strong matched pair and we cannot be sure what is causing them to interact poorly with your particular amplifier setup. One recommendation is to ensure the amp is biased properly before operation.

The tubes will be returned this week after cleaning and repackaging. Thank you for working with us to complete this RMA.

Best regards,

Western Electric Service & Support

I learned after that the blue in the tubes isn't necessarily symmetrical and WE tested the tubes as perfect. Cayin won't give me warranty because I THOUGHT a tube was faulty when in fact...

I've been to this store a couple of times, and ended up ordering some LCD-X's last summer from them online when I was out of town after demoing them in store about a week prior. Shoutout to Alex for helping me with those, super helpful and friendly dude! Every time I've been, the staff has been extremely patient and helpful, except for this most recent time I went.

I was making a return on some 7hz Timeless AE's, which I demoed and bought in store a few weeks prior. I was a little bit hesitant when buying them because I noticed some harsh sibilances, but ended up just purchasing them as the store was nearing closing time, hoping that after some listening, maybe the issue wouldn't bother me as much as I thought it would, and if it did, I could fall back on their 30 day return/exchange policy. A few staff members helped me and my friend out that time, I didn't get their names, but they were also incredibly helpful and patient! I listened to the IEMs a little more at home, and ultimately decided they weren't for me. The store is a bit far from my apartment, but I went in to make the return when I was in the area 20 days later.

When I went in for the return, I put the box and receipt down on their mat for inspection by Tony (who I think is the store's owner), where he checked them. He asked me if there was anything wrong with them, and I said no, but expressed that I found the high end a little bit harsh. While checking the box, he said "you lost 2 eartips," I asked if he was sure if that wasn't how it originally came, assuring him that I never changed the eartips since purchasing them, and he told me to look and pointed at each of the 4 empty slots in extra eartip case, telling me that there are 4 missing (2 sets). I said that I didn't know what happened, again telling him I never changed out the eartips. Although he seemed a little annoyed by this, he let me make the return regardless.

After going home and Googling it, photos from online reviews and unboxings indicate that these headphones did come with those four empty slots by default.

I asked if he could recommend me anything at a similar price point, and he said he didn't really know what I wanted. I told him that I liked how deep the bass got on the 7Hz's and the staging, and liked how those sounded a lot generally, but the harsh highs were what was holding me back. I also told him that I heard the new Moondrop Blessing 3's were coming out soon, and asked if he knew when those would be in stock, or if the Blessing 2's were available for demo. Unfortunately, he didn't know, and the Blessing 2's weren't available for demo. Unsure of an exact model, I asked if he could recommend any IEMs in that price range that I could try out, to which he responded that he doesn't know what I want and recommended that I do my own research before coming, so I said thank you and went home.

I feel that I gave a good general sense of what kind of sound signature I wanted and a point of reference/comparison in the 7hz Timeless AE's. Even if it was somewhat vague and no other product could exactly match those specifications, it was frustrating not being able to get a single recommendation that I could try out while at the store that day. I didn't come in with an exact model that they had available to demo, but typically the staff at the store is extremely helpful in helping customers find what they need, even when they don't necessarily come in with a specific idea of what they're looking for (which other staff did for other customers while I was in the store that day), so I don't know why it feels like I was being rushed out and not able to be given recommendations despite going in at around 4pm last Saturday (2 hours before their 6pm closing time). To me, the demo is the most valuable research you can do, which is why I really value small in-person stores like this. I still think it's a great store, but this most recent visit left me with a bad taste in my mouth that I...

Edit: My concern here is about an unapologetic failure of honesty and the presence of sales disinformation. I was intentionally misinformed about the condition of an open-box Kann Alpha and case. When I noticed that the brown leather case was worn during my inspection in-store, Tony told me the leather case's worn appearance was a design choice by the factory. He also mentioned that the unit had only been opened briefly in-store, so I didn't expect anticipate screen scratch damage.

On the day of the exchange, I called the store by phone and spoke with Tony, who confirmed that an exchange would be made. However, in-store, Tony was continually rude. He also wouldn't own up to the sales disinformation he had given me about the device and case - he denied it completely. Yet in my earlier emails to Audio46, I specifically mentioned the scratches on the case and unit and the disinformation, and this email prompted no resistance, but rather, a very favorable offer for exchange: trading in an open-box unit for a new one. The lack of pushback to my mention of dishonest salesmanship, combined with a generous exchange offer - it seemed that the store acknowledged that I had indeed been misled by Tony.

Given how easy it was for Tony to mislead me about the true condition of this open-box item and what it should look like new, it wouldn't surprise me that other similarly dishonest sales practices were taking place here. Rather than acknowledge that his [almost certainly purposeful] disinformation resulted in the need for a product exchange, Tony continued to be petty, difficult, and rude - whereas I hadn't experienced this issue with other store reps. That said, after some great difficulty, the store did finally honor their offer to exchange the product - an offer that was reaffirmed earlier that same day.

When I later requested an emailed receipt, I did not receive the receipt when Tony told me had sent it. Further, it took over 5 minutes of Tony's antics for the email to finally be received. The conversation was similar to the issue I had in-store: it began was an affirmation that I'd be sent an email.

Paraphrasing, when I asked him to follow through with his commitment to email me the receipt Tony told me: "Check your spam - you should have it there, wise guy".

Came for the audio gear - ended up staying for the circus.

Original 5* review: Excellent audio equipment and service! I look forward to...