TheDudeAbides

...and?

It's this one: http://stores.ebay.com/AVGearShop

I have a two year old S4 that I love. Sound is balanced with a strong bass and well defined highs. I just bought a new one from an authorized seller (they say) online for my wife and I immediately noticed the following differences: Lows are a little weaker Highs are very dominant to the point of being overpowering. Depending on the track, snares for example sound almost shrill. The cord is entirely "rubbery," not mostly smooth as with the old one The 3.5 mm plug is straight whereas it is angled in the old one The brushing pattern on the metal box is horizontal (if you read "Klipsch") on the old one it is vertical. Also, the old box is more shiny the new one more rough. The cleaning tool was not included Otherwise, the headphones don't sound "bad" per se just not as good as my other pair. It's like the frequency response is shifted towards the highs. So my questions: Are the above design differences normal changes that Klipsch introduced over time or rather an indication that the headphones may be counterfeit? Can I expect the sound to normalize/improve towards how my old pair sounds after burn-in? Is there a way to verify that the online dealer is in fact authorized? The http://www.klipsch.com/authorized-online-dealers link comes back empty Thanks to anybody who can shed light on this and Merry Christmas, Chris