The Deals Thread

15% off everything @ Monoprice again, through Monday. Promo code is STARS

 

Quite a few things on sale at Drop currently - some discounts are new, some not so new. Highlights include HD6XX at $219 down from $279; Elex at $599 down from $799; ER2SE at $70 down from $160 (although these are ~$100 in other places).

 

Fear Inoculum 5lp down to $85 on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Inoculum-Limited-Vinyl-Tool/dp/B09T8F2ZQF

 

MEE Audio balanced MMCX / 2.5mm cable with 4-pole (ie balanced; rare) & 3-pole (SE) 3.5mm, and balanced 4.4mm (pentacon) adaptors, $40 at Drop:

https://drop.com/buy/mee-audio-mmcx-balanced-audio-cable-with-adapters

I've had one of these for a while, and have used it with a few different earphone pairs. It's a little bit stiff but not inconveniently so, and is not massive and thick. The 4.4mm adaptor can be fiddly but the other plugs, including the MMCX connectors, seem fine.

Construction is silver-plated copper, probably nothing special; sonically nothing positive or negative jumped out at me. What makes it well worth the $40 IMO (vs $100 direct from MEE) is the versatility you get with the adaptor set.

 

Monolith Liquid Platinum Balanced Limited Edition DAC Digital‑to‑Analog Converter by Alex Cavalli (AKM4499)
$499.99
https://electronics.woot.com/offers/monolith-liquid-platinum-balanced-dac

plus various other items
https://electronics.woot.com/plus/random-audio-26

 

Pair of B-Stock Schiit Tyr mono amplifiers, $1450 each (regular $1600).
https://www.schiit.com/b-stocks

 

I wanted to bring your attention to this ebay seller Dr.bag. I bought a 12AV5 sweep tube amp and matching preamp pair from him 10 years ago. Still works flawlessly and wonderful sound. But his skills and parts choices do appear to have improved. He uses oddball tubes that are inexpensive and easy to obtain too so the tube cost is low. He builds the amps or whatever and listens to them for months before he sells them so you know they will work. I recommend you give these a look.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/155167956557?hash=item2420bb1e4d:g:knEAAOSwyVZi9k41

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155167957373?hash=item2420bb217d:g:i90AAOSwFD1i9tLJ

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155167958616?hash=item2420bb2658:g:2okAAOSwGFBi98KW

You can obtain any of these tubes inexpensively from here .....

https://vacuumtubesinc.com/

 

HE-6se for $450 on Adorama

 

Hopefully worth mentioning that Kinki Studio will be raising their prices by Oct. 1. If anybody was hesitating to purchase one of these I want to say that my experience is that the EX-M7 is one of the best power amps I have ever heard. If I was a reasonable man I would sell my $10K boutique power amp and buy a set of Kinki monos. Just a heads up if anyone was considering any of their products. They're excellent, and prices are going to increase very soon.

https://www.kinki-studio.com/post/price-increase-notice

 

Don't know if this qualifies as a 'deal' per se, but after trying two Chinese HD800 replacement headband pads that didn't fit, I came across this: Amazon.com: Desing Wish Universal Replacement Headphone Headband Cover, Headband Cushion Pad Cover Compatible with Sony, Bose, Beats, JBL Head Band Protector for Noise Canceling Stereo Headset (Silver Grey) : Electronics

It fits the 800's like the proverbial glove, and even has a loop to hang the 'phones. I stuck mine right over the stocker, and am a happy boy. It fits nice and snug with no sliding around. Sennheiser's replacement parts dept. never has the stockers in stock, and after installing this cover, I will probably just stick with it.

 

20% off eBay

 

To add to this, though refurbished, this coupon stacks with this already good deal: https://www.ebay.com/itm/314074071401
The Sony WH-1000XM5 has been my main headphone since they launched for a variety of reasons. This price has me thinking about getting another pair just because.

 

Unable to apply that coupon to the refurb model.

 

Huh, it is one of the items that they are advertising with the code on my splash and the item itself has the code shown. Not sure why it isn't working (just tried it, too).

 

Does this apply to auctions like tubes? Or just specific items? I might binge on some nice tubes if so!

 

I read it as everything except 'Coins & Paper Money, Gift Cards & Coupons, Vehicles in eBay Motors, and Real Estate categories'

 

I've tried it on multiple 2A3 tubes and it didn't work on any tubes, new or used.

 

Boooooo

 

It looks like it only appears to specific items in their “Pre Black Friday Event” listings. I don’t think it’s site wide.

 

Wiim Mini Streamer for $79 (20% off) on Amazon. Seems to be a today only deal. I just snagged one as I've been wanting to try one for a bit. I just want native bit-rate Qobuz streaming to my pre pro and the Wiim Mini seems capable via optical out. I read somewhere recently that there may be a Wiim "Pro" coming so they may be wanting to move stock.