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Auditioning headphones (ethically)?

I've had some good headphones and I want to move up to some very good headphones. I'm thinking about the obvious ones in the $1500 range: 800s, Clear MG, Arya. 

Given that one needs to live with headphones for a while for both sound quality and comfort, how do people audition two or three pairs at once? Do you buy them from the same site and return what you don't want to keep? Do you buy them from different sources and return what you want? Are there any concerns about doing this, ethical or financial? I've read the policies on Headphones.com, the Cable Co., AudioAdvisor, etc--most have generous return policies but they seem to be centered on one-at-a-time purchases.

Anyway, all this is obvious. I'm sure many of you have faced this question. What do you guys do? 
northman

Showing 1 response by qjm101

qjm101
107 posts
 
Agree with ghdprentice.
Returning items costs the dealer money and purchasing items KNOWING you are going to return them is unethical. But it can get even worse: one of my other interests is backyard astronomy and on a related forum a member stated that he would decide on a certain telescope, buy 2 from 2 separate dealers, and then "take the best parts from each" and put the rejected parts on the other one and return it. He made no mention of whether or not what he was doing was ethical (and is it even legal as he was not returning exactly what was sent to him?) His only concern was  paying the return shipping charges which he called "the cost of doing business". I was speechless.
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