Good for whats on the market

I recently purchased the sennheiser 130 model. Let me first start by saying that I am 46 years old and suffer from tinnitus in both ears. In my case my Tinnitus is accompanied by hearing loss. The reason I wanted a set of wireless headphones is :

· I did not want to disturb my wife in the early morning or if I am up late watching TV.
· I wanted wireless because I didn’t want a cord of 25-50 feet
· I wanted the freedom to move around the apartment (this ruled all line of sight headsets out). Line of sight would only work if I were in front of the sending unit.

I read all the reviews on this unit as well as the 140s and I was also considering the AR (acoustic research) model as well. In fact a few years ago I bought the AR's from Best Buy for my mother in law who as far as I know enjoys them. You may be asking why if I bought my mother in law the Ar's (acoustic research) why I didn't I buy those for myself?
When I bought the ARs I was looking at the sennehiser online but I needed them as soon as possible and couldn' wait for them to be delivered or read all of the reviews posted on various sites, so at the time I had to get them from a brick and mortar store. Since it has been over a year since I purchased the AR’s I read the current reviews and overall they were not that positive. When I read reviews I look for common complaints and there seems to be a lot of issues with the charging of the batteries.

After I purchased the RS130 I did have a bit of buyers remorse, because I felt because with my hearing loss maybe I should have bought the 140s. The reason I bought the 130's over the 140's was- price. I had some gift certificates from Amazon and I really didnt want to spend a lot on a set of headphones. With my gift certificates the cost for the 130s came out to be $30 bucks versus $89 (again after my certificates) if I bought the 140s. I felt if I really didn't like them I could always try to return them (see return section of my review)

Open ear design:
Let me first discuss the open ear design, you will either like it or hate it no real in betweens here. With the open ear system other people can hear what you are listening to especially if it is set loud. It may also be a distraction for others in the room if they need complete quite to read and you have the headsets set to loud. For me it really isn’t an issue since most of the time no one is in the room when I am using them. I was able to hear my wife in the kitchen one evening washing dishes and talking on the phone, so it doesn't block out background noise, if that is an issue to you then consider the 140's or another closed system. Even with a closed system I dont know how much noise it will really block (dogs barking, fire trucks, neighbors, dishes, kids playing, etc). I think you would really need noise canceling headphones for that which I don't believe the 140s are. But one thing is for sure, they will be quieter then the 130s but I don't know by how much.

Set up:
Very easy to set up. First you charge it up for 16 hours as instructed in the manual and then connected the audio connections and hook the power to the power strip. I have the audio connected via my cable box rather then the TV connections. The reason I did this was some people had said that if they have it connected to the TV and turn on the headphones the TV volume turns off. I haven't tried it the other way yet to find out if this is true. The written Manuel is very poor and frankly not worth the paper it is written on.

Base Unit
My only complaint about the base unit is I wish that it had an on off switch for the base unit power. This way I could manually turn the base unit off and not continue to charge the headset after it has a full charge. The base unit will flash until the headset has a full charge then it will have a steady red light. I cannot tell if the unit is still providing a charge to the headset. I would rather have a power on/off switch on the base and then after a complete charge place the headset on the base unit rack and let it discharge fully before recharging because in the long term I know it will affect the usefulness of the rechargeable batteries.

Sound:
I think the sound quality is very good, some people say in their reviews that the surround sound feature doesn't work. I tried it and when watching a TV show I could hear dialog in one of the ears and the street noise of the scene in the other so I think it does work. If you have the 140's there is also supposed to be a dialog enhancer and you can control the level of the volume on each side of the headset, both these features if the price was lower on the 140s would make it much more worth while for me. Also. I read one review that said the 130s sound was muddied I really didn't find the sound to be bad at all, in fact I heard some things in the background that I would have missed if I wasn’t using headphones, but with a closed system like the 140s you will probably get a deeper sound. Even without the dialog enhancer I have not had a problem hearing the dialog in a movie, at times you might have to turn the volume up but it really hasn’t been an issue for me. Too bad this model doesn't have volume controls on each side of the headset like the 140s-that would be a nice addition-but again I have had no problem with just one control.

I have even used these when my wife and I were both watching TV. My wife likes to watch at low volume (she doesnt have a hearing loss problem) and I had the headset on. I dont recommend this because to me it sounded like you are in a tunnel since you hear the sound in your ears as well as through the headset. If you are buying these with that in mind you might be better off with a closed system like the 140s. I did see a closed ear set at Sharper image and read the reviews which seemed positive-those were $89.00.

Hiss
I have it hooked up to my cable box audio connections and I really have not noticed any hiss, I did notice some distortion one day but I just changed the channel on the headset and that cleared it up. But again please remember I have a hearing loss and tinnitus, so I constantly have a ringing in my ears so if there is a hiss I may not be hearing it.

Range
I live in an apartment it close to 1,000 square feet. I can go anywhere in my apartment with the headset on with no problem. I have also walked out of my unit to the laundry room down the hall and again no distortion in the sound.

Comfort
I have no complaints they are very comfortable. I have no problem keeping these things on for a couple of hours while I watch a show or movie. I also read reviews that commented on the amount of foam in the ear cups being too thin. Again, I felt they were comfortable and the foam was not that thin it is pretty standard for headphones.

Ergonomics
Some people have also complained about the switch locations being in the back. I agree with that complaint. This is an awkward location, it would have been better if these were on the sides of the headphones or the front, but when I leaned back in my recliner it hasnt turned off the set yet or changed the volume, but I can see this happening. I just tilt the headset a bit so that these controls are not hitting the back of the pillow. I think it really is the only downside to these headphones but it’s no different on the 140s. If this is a major issue to you then look to another brand.

Return policy
I bought mine from Amazon although Amazon only shipped the item but did not sell them (from the web page it looked like Amazon was the seller), so read the return policy carefully before you buy. In a lot of cases once the box is open the seller will not accept a return (unless it is a defective unit) due to health concerns. I have noticed that very few brick and mortar stores that even have demo units of headphones, probably for just this reason, so if you buy most likely you are stuck Even the demo units were not hooked up so you could only tell if they were comfortable or not. If they do accept returns watch out for the restocking fees of 15-20% plus shipping.

Bottom line-Would I buy again?
Yes, like I said earlier if the 140s were closer in price I probably would go for that unit over the 130s but only because the features and closed system would be better with the type of hearing loss- but I think it would be only a slight improvement in my ability to hear. But for my current needs these will work fine and I cant see spending 89 bucks (after my gift certificates) for headphones.

If hearing loss isnt an issue for you then the only thing you really get in the 140s vs the 130s is that with the 140s you get a closed ear system and dialog enhancer and adjustable ear volume controls. Again if you dont have any hearing loss, or just slight hearing loss I dont that that is worth the huge difference in price. I believe deciding between the two really comes down to how you are going to use these headphones. If you are like me and only using them primarily when no one else is around and there is not a lot of outside noise to distract you, I dont think the open ear system is the one to buy. If you intend to use these to go into your backyard while listening to music or there is a lot of background noise, or you will use them when other people are in the room then go for the 140s or another brand with a closed system.