B stock ZMF Eikon misunderstanings

I received my pair of ZMF Eikon today. No comments on the sound yet, but first thing I noticed was how they look. I would think that if Zach wants premium dollars for his phones, he would pay more attention to matching the grain on the cups. I worked in the office furniture industry for 15 years, and our company was known for matching wood grain. The cups on my THX00 Ebony, Mahogany and Rosewood cups, as well as my EMU Teaks at least have the wood grain running in a consistent direction, (horizontal). $500 or less for the headphones. Zach expects $1399 for Padauk cup ZMF Eickon's, in return I expect a high quality product, built with care and attention to detail. The Padauk cups on my Eickon have one cup with the wood grain running horizontal on the right cup, and vertical on the left cup. Something wrong there in the quality for a $1399 headphone that is supposed to be a flagship?

 

But now you know easier which cup is left and which is right.

 

Sounds familiar, are you Cute on Head-Fi?

If so I hope you have better luck with the Atticus, I genuinely didn't look to see the grain it wasn't something I would think about.

If you aren't Cute, well shoot him a PM, you're very like minded!

My impressions of Atticus were that it was very impressive for a closed back. The bass was honestly a little over the top with my warm and amp It was a great change of pace in sound signature compared to my HD800s. However, they really seemed to fatigue my ears. Perhaps because I'm so used to open backed everything. I was forced to sell them anyway so hopefully their new owner digs 'em.

I was also surprised at how much the Atticus seemed to burn in over the course of the week. They were constantly improving each time I listened.

 

Agreed. Had one pair sent to me where the cups looked different in colour (one was darker) AND grain.

 

I get the nitpicking considering the price for these headphones, different directions on the wood grains would probably bother me too, and a small concern as I’m interested purchasing Eikon in the future. However, if Zach just makes Eikon in bubinga, I’d throw my money at him without any hesitations.

 

This isn't cabinet / furniture making, guys. The cups aren't being milled from boards you can resaw and bookmatch, rather from blocks. If anyone has purchased bowl turning blocks, you'll know from experience that getting similar grain patterns from block to block is difficult at best. Trying to Match them would be an exercise in futility.

Having grain go the same direction on each cup could be easier to do, but from my perspective picking nits this small is silly.

I like that each cup is unique.

 

You bought this headphones used. You should have asked for pictures before purchasing. Maybe the original customer liked it that way or didn't mind which is why Zach built it that way. You should speak to the original owner about it or maybe Zach can swap one of the cups for a fee.

 

Almost positive that the seller was me lol

I didn't remember as that isnt something that bothers me, and every single photo I have is pointing at the left cup for some reason haha.

If this is the same buyer, he asked for more photos after I already shipped .

 

Hmm yea, if you got them used, beggers don't get to be choosy. I'd imagine Zach would be happy to send pictures of the cups, especially if he has a few in stock. It could be that the ugliness or un even grain on the wood was why the original owner got them, and he may have paid a bit less. I bought a touring/demo pair from him and I've noticed that grain is very even, running in similar directions. Also the TH X00 had a few HORRIBLE looking pairs of cup grain, so really if your going to be picky, then pay full price

 

Actually, I was the seller. They were B-stock Eikons Zachary sold me at a reduced price so I could get my hands on a set quicker. After comparing them to my Utopia and HEK V2 I decided to sell them rather than returning them as Zac was kind enough to give me that option.
I wasn't really bothered by the grain thing as I'm more about the sound. If the buyer wanted, I would have gladly given him a refund but he chose to get on these sites and complain.
Anyway, my apologies to those put off by all that's been said and the way things have been handled!

 

No I was the Atticus seller, I guess you were the Eikon though!

 

@Cradon, Well, that explains a lot of the nonsense I went through. Tried to contact you when I received these, and seems like you don't respond to PM, or email for whatever reason. If you would have told me these were B stock, I surely would not have purchased before you posted pictures, as that made me assume that Zach did not care about consistency and workmanship of his products. It makes me feel foolish about all of this. I assumed his grain matching would be up with EMU and THX00. I did the complaining on SBAF and Headfi, after trying to contact you many times, and now that it is too late to take back what was said, you still don't contact me, but post in this forum, and nothing yet on headfi, or to me by response to my many PM messages. Cripes Zach offered you a refund? I fully trust what I read here and on headfi, so I was not feeling too good, and I didn't have the option you did in returning them to Zach. You were the original buyer, and I was just looking for a way out of my frustration. Next time you sell something that is B stock, state that up front to avoid all of the confusion. I thought I was getting top quality at a good price. You made me learn a lesson when buying, always take time when making a purchase off the forums, trust what you see with your own eyes. My bad, big time, and I apologize to Zach and everyone on this thread for my comments. Been sending you PM's for several days, and I still haven't received any response, other than your post above!

Sorry to everyone here!

 

To sell b-stock headphones without telling the truth to the buyer is really not cool!

@Cash, I hope that you will also explain what happened on HF.

 

Cradon, you sold B-stock without telling the buyer? thats not cool. if Cash want to return them to you, you need to accept and deal with ZMF for refund.

 

Thanks, but the way things went down on headfi, everyone rushed to Zach's defense, and I don't blame them at all. There were so many attacks on headfi, and then so many posts deleted by the mods over there, that I would find it difficult to explain over there. Still trying to communicate with @Cradon with no success, but I will PM Zach, at some point, and make sure where I was coming from. Just shows how the spin on this escalated to a point of no return for me!

 

You never clarified did you buy my Atticus or was that someone else? If it was you I did kinda wanna know how the wood turned out, it was not B-Stock.

 

Yea I saw the mess on HF. I would have been frustrated as well. I hope that you will PM Zach to tell him the truth..

 

@Galm, yes I purchased your Atticus, rushed into that too didn't I, should have asked for pictures from you. Guess I trusted sellers on the forums too much. No problems with your sale of the Atticus, just @Cradon should have said B Stock. I need closure on all of this, lessons learned for the future. I am more than happy with my EMU Teak and THX00 with EMU Ebony cups, both have iterations of the Dekoni pads, fenestrated and sheepskin, and the basic Lawton mod. Happy that Tyil put the EMU Teak on his wall of fame.

FYI, I resold your Atticus when I saw the mismatch with vertical grain on the left cup as well. That is why I contacted you asking for more pictures after you already shipped them. After I got the Eikon, I contacted you asking the same about the Atticus, but it was too late.

 

This thread sucks now. Please take all this personal transaction noise to PM.