Forget It, Jack, It's Chinatown: Sennheiser HD598CS

Welcome to our newest feature: Forget It, Jack, It's Chinatown. In this feature, we will be exposing products that are made in China despite carrying a non-Chinese brand and not advertising their Chinese provenance. With any luck, this will provide definite answers to people who Google "xxx made in China". (I'm not the only person who does that. Right? Right?)

Today's episode: the Sennheiser HD598CS.

Once upon a time, Sennheiser headphones were made in Germany. Many of the better ones still are. But over the past five years, the company has gradually redefined its notion of which models deserve European manufacturing. The HD280 Pro, judging by the two pairs I've bought in the past few years, is made in Ireland, presumably to save some money on assembly.

The HD598 headphones used to be considered "mid-fi" items at least. (The definition of "mid-fi": Every piece of stereo equipment you have that costs less than what I spent on that same kind of equipment.) So when I saw Amazon had a killer $99 deal on them, I decided to grab a set. These "closed-back" models seemed tailor-made for long flights or long days in my Agile Seating Office Environment.

When they arrived, I checked the box to see if they were still German or if they'd been sent to Ireland. Imagine my surprise: The Sennheiser HD598CS is made in China. So if you're wondering where the Sennheiser HD598CS is made, now you know. Forget it, Jack, it's Chinatown.

I think I'll return these to Amazon and get my money back.