RA Bock Single Head Cardiology Stethoscope - Precision Engineered Acoustic Device with Pressure Sensitive Diaphragm and Dual Channel Design for Clinical Excellence

I purchased this RA Bock Single Head Cardiology Stethoscope because I was impressed with the manufactures’ obvious pride in their product, the general high level of reviews, and lastly the price. I have been a practicing physician for over 30 years. Throughout this time, I have always used Littman stethoscopes due to their superlative acoustics, their build quality, and their unbelievable endurance. The only reason I have replaced my stethoscopes over the years has been due to them being lost or more often stolen. I am a big Littman fan, but I try to be very honest and objective in anything I review. The bottom line if you don’t want to read the whole review is this stethoscope would be similar to the Consumer Reports “Best Buy”. Not the all around best, but superior to the Littman in overall value. Packaging Very professional. Comes in a thick cardboard box with molded foam insert. There is a plastic snap case with 2 sets of ear plugs (one of them is designed for small ear canals, the other is a spare set of the soft plugs), and an extra diaphragm. One nitpicking observation, the diaphragm included on the scope is black and is very sharp looking. The spare is a white/straw color. Fit and Finish of the RA Bock compared to the Littman Master Cardiology The Littman Master Cardiology is superior. The RA Bock tubing has some small areas where the molding is not perfect. Purely cosmetic. The machining of the RA Bock head is good, but there are some slight rough areas and does not have the flawless finish of the Littman. The rim piece holding the diaphram has a small seam where it becomes a circle that the Littman does not have. This same rim piece also doesn’t have quite the same feel in stiffness / elasticity that the Littman has. Again, seems to be purely cosmetic. Weight seems similar in both scopes and the weight of the head is great for those of us that don’t like carrying hammers around for testing reflexes. Performance The ear pieces are set at the correct angle and so are very comfortable. The ear plugs included were also very comfortable and had a good seal for myself and my colleagues that I had try it. The tubing on the RA Bock is a little “sticky” that I think it probably just due to it being new. The tubing of the RA Bock definitely transmits more outside sound from being touched than the Littman. One of my colleagues found this distracting, myself and others did not. The chest piece works exactly like the Littman with some subjective differences noted by several of us. I found the acoustics excellent. Some of my collieagues agreed, others thought the Littman better. I would have liked to do some blind testing, but everyone thought I was going a bit overboard for testing a stethoscope. Repair / Replace The standard ear pieces are just put on the tubing using simple friction. They fit well and don’t slide. The small ear pieces have actual threads to screw on. Taking the diaphragm rim off and replacing it was simple and straightforward. Overall Impression While the Littman has some cosmetic advantage, it has perhaps a slight to none advantage in performance. The RA Bock tubing does transmit more sound through it than the Littman, and may be distracting to some. The overall acoustics are excellent and to me are similar in quality to the Littman recognizing that most hearing is very subjective. The overall value though is what sells this stethoscope for me. I think most people needing a quality stethoscope will find the RA Bock to be similar to the Littman at a much lesser price. The lifetime warranty is nice, but I have never had a stethoscope fail on me, so having a warranty is not a significant selling point to me. Druthers A significant point that I think needs to be in the product description is whether the material are completely latex free. I contacted the manufacturer and they assured me that it is latex free. Most health professionals need to be concerned about that and having a product made with latex could be a deal breaker for some. It would also be nice to have tubing that comes in different colors. Black is so boring and it also helps distinguish different people’s property since ’scopes are borrowed frequently.

As a caveat, I’m not a cardiologist. I use my stethoscope to listen for fluid in the lungs, wheezing in asthma exacerbation, abdominal sounds, and basic heart sounds (or absence there of). This was the brand I used in medical school. I think in a hospital every physician should have a Cardio IV stethoscope. If you’re the one making the calls, you should have the best. Recently, my cardio IV decided to walk off for a day (luckily I had my name engraved on it), I decided to pick this up as a backup. The acoustics on this are phenomenal, possibly as good as my Lippmann. I gave this stethoscope a dry run on myself, and it definitely allows you to do everything a non-cardiologist needs to do. I can’t say how durable this is, but my last stethoscope from these guys lasted 4 years of medical school before I gifted it to my younger cousin. I think this stethoscope would be perfect for any nurse, PA, medical student etc. I think any attending or resident should use the gold standard, and the Lippmann is that. This stethoscope is pretty comfortable to wear around the neck, and for $40 you get an incredible value for a quality stethoscope. I’ve used MDF, and their stethoscope with longer tubing tend to be a bit less comfortable to wear and balance on the neck. If you’re debating what stethoscope to purchase, I’d recommend this stethoscope. I think it’s a bit better value than the Lippmann classic for acoustics. Also, there’s less RA Bochs around, so you’re more likely to find this at a hospital or less likely to have it accidentally borrowed. You can use this to pickup any sounds a non-cardiologist needs to hear. That said, it will sit in the hospital as my backup stethoscope. I’ll still use my cardio IV every day, but in a pinch I have no problem counting on this stethoscope. If you’re any type of healthcare related student or work in outpatient medicine, this stethoscope will do everything you need it to. This brand got me through medical school, and in residency my family bought me a nice Lippmann which is great. If you’re a resident on a budget, I think this would be an alternative if you can’t afford a Lippmann Cardio IV or need a cheap replacement because yours grew legs and walked off. 5/5.

I just bought this and it has arrived. There was no international shipping so i had to go through a third party to ship it to me which was a bit of a hassle. Product wise, it is a good product and certainly value for money. I am a physician and currently work in an emergency department. I am currently using a Tycos Harvey Elite which i have used since 1994. This is a stand by stethoscope for me as i lost my standby stethoscope. I would likely bring it with me for use. So far, i like the acoustics and i don't see a significant difference in terms of this scope with Littmans and my Harvey Elite. The weight balance could be improved as the head piece seems a bit heavier than needed. I like the weight balance of my Harvey Elite better. Overall, i am more than happy. Let's see the durability. While i still prefer my Harvey elite, this one is to me unbeatable for the price. And certainly, if i am going into part-time practice, i would be more than happy with this. This is a competent stethoscope and defintely comes across as better value than most cardioscopes on the market. My only question is the durability which i have no way of assessing at this point and my only minor preference would be the weight balance.

2 years after original purchase, my stethoscope tubing has become super stiff and permanently in a C-shape with markedly worsened acoustics. I tried to contact R.A. Bock to see if there was a way to buy replacement tubing and they sent me replacement tubing free of cost! The new tubing worked perfectly and I'm a happy customer. I'd recommend this stethoscope to anyone, they really stand behind their products. -------------- Original review: So, I bought this to replace my trusty Master Cardiology after I finally forgot it somewhere in the hospital one too many times. I saw that the reviews were mostly positive and the company seemed to care enough to go through everyone's reviews and address any complaints, so I gave this stethoscope a shot. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the acoustics. I agree that the sound is arguably better than my old Littmann's. Just got it in, so I haven't had the chance to test it out on any good positive exam findings or use it in the noisy ED, but I'll try to post update after I have it a while. Also, I had seen a review on here that said that the tubing was too stiff and that the metal seemed too lightweight/felt plasticky. The tubing was definitely stiffer on my Littmann and the metal pieces are solid and identical to the Littmann's. Hope this is helpful. Overall, great product for the money; will definitely recommend this to anyone in need of an affordable replacement stethoscope.

I gave this one star because the only reviews I really read are the one star ones. The negative reviews left for this are such a croc, so I wanted people to see a real review. I have been an ER nurse for a couple of decades now, and I have always used Littman Stethoscopes. I thought I would try this one because my Littman in over 10 years old and feeling the strain, and I had gift card money to burn from Christmas. So here goes. These are trying to emulate the Littman Stets. Littman is the gold standard in my book. I paid around $50 for this one, and I recently bought the comparable model Littman for my paramedic school daughter for around $225. The material quality for the Bock gets a 9/10. The Littman gets a 10, the Bock is slightly lighter, and the tubing is not quit as supple. Acoustics are pretty much a wash. The Littman may have a little better quality sound, but it was hard to tell, so I will count them equal. Longevity remains to be seen. I will try to remember in 10 years to come back and tell you if the bock is still going strong. There does not appear to be a warranty like the Littman's have, and I am not sure that you can get the Bock refurbished like you can the Littman. But at less than 1/4th the price, if it lasts 3 years, it will still be a good value. I hope this helps.

I purchased this stethoscope for work after the one I had used throughout nursing school was lost/stolen. I put off from purchasing a new one thinking that my old one would turn up, but after almost a month of hoping mine would turn up and having to snag a stethoscope from a night-shift nurse going off shift or having to use a cheap disposable one, I finally decided to purchase a new one. My stethoscope from nursing school was a light-weight Littmann's, but I really didn't want to pay over $100 for it to get it possibly lost/stolen again, so I decided to look around on Amazon for a decent priced, but well-reviewed stethoscopes. The RA Bock Single Head Cardiology seemed to be a good pick since the reviews were relatively high and the stethoscope was pretty cheap. I purchased it thinking I wouldn't really have anything to lose, since it was less than $50. I received the product in a nice box with extra ear buds, instruction manuals, and a note from the person who put the stethoscope together in the factory. The stethoscope looked very nice, well-made and felt really sturdy. My excitement quickly disappeared as I put the ear buds in and immediately noticed that there was a very poor seal of the ear buds to my ears, making it very difficult to hear anything. I re-read the manual (trying not to panic) and tried adjusting the metal pieces going into the black plastic tubes extending to the head of the scope. That did not help either. I realized that the entire extension of the tubing itself was somehow twisted--making it impossible for me to press the head of the stethoscope down to auscultate without the rest of the tube twisting and pulling the metal tip and ear bud away from my ears. The only way for me to create a decent seal was to keep my left hand on one of the metal tubes and push it back into my ear while holding the head of the stethoscope down. My immediate thought was to return the stethoscope and purchase a Littmann, but I worked the next day and figured I had already bought it (and for cheap), so I decided to keep the RA Bock for a while and make a new purchase at a later time. I've had it for a couple of months now, and it does its job, it's just a little annoying to use because I constantly have to keep one hand on the ear piece to get a good enough seal to hear my patients properly. This is especially an issue when auscultating NG tubes for placement because I can't hold my ear piece in place, hold the head of the stethoscope down on the patient AND push the air bolus in with the plunger. I am also always a little embarrassed to let my co-workers use it, because the seal isn't great and I have to explain to them that they need to hold it in place to hear properly. I would advise medical personnel who need to do frequent head to toe assessments, or auscultate patients frequently, to purchase a better stethoscope. If you only need to do focused assessments, then by all means, this would work fine. Unfortunately, I work in an ICU and am required to do a minimum of 6 full assessments each shift. Honestly, I plan to keep this for about a year before purchasing another Littmann stethoscope, and I am very much looking forward to being able to use both hands freely while listening to my patients in the future. ***PROs:*** - Sturdy - Inexpensive - Decent sound when there is a good seal ***CONs:*** - Twisted tubing - Poor ear seal - Heavy - Difficult to handle when listening to patients

I love this stethoscope! I am near the end of my RN program, and I wanted to refrain from posting a comment until I've really had the opportunity to give this stethoscope good use. For starters, I researched stethoscopes at the beginning of my nursing program (two years ago) and I was always told that if I could afford it, I should buy a cardiology stethoscope. Immediately, Littmann's were the first ones I researched but the price was not reasonable for my budget at all. I decided to look on Amazon and discovered this stethoscope. I read the reviews and noticed all of the excellent comments. I was also impressed that the company was quick to respond to negative comments, too. I was grateful the company was so responsive because when anyone posted about a problem, the company was quick to fix the problem. And it was very interesting to see who would actually take the offer of assistance and who was just being a troll. As for the stethoscope, I have used mine extensively at many clinical sites and at my externship at a heart hospital. Hands down, I've heard all heart sounds and can make out a bp with such ease. Nurses and doctors have all commented on how sturdy it is and how amazingly clear it is. And it really is very clear. My parents gifted me a stethoscope with an acrylic heartshaped bell and that was adorable but completely horrible and my inlaws gifted me a Lightweight Littmann. Both were no match for this stethoscope. I do admit that I was worried that the low price of this stethoscope would mean it was of an inferior quality, but that was not so. This is a high quality, professional stethoscope. You definitely won't go wrong with this!

I will not buy again because this product does not last long. I used one for 10 months, and just got tired of the diaphragm and ear pieces falling off. Although the customer service was responsive and sent me extra diaphragms free of charge, I've run out of replacements. They fall off one after another, and the sound quality deteriorates as they accumulate wear and tear, until they crack. Before this, I had a Littman classic from nursing school. It was more expensive because of the brand, but parts lasted longer, and they don't just fall off just from being carried in my pocket or bag. Sure the RA Bock instruction says to tighten your ear pieces daily... Which I did, but they unscrew and fall off. Hence, I developed a habit of randomly tightening my ear pieces while walking, sitting, charting, whatever, because they would fall off and I would have to look in each patient room for them... I probably should have permanently glued them on. The diaphragm, well, once they accumulate wear and tear then eventually crack, what's the point for the "cardiology" sound quality? However, based on my last experience with the customer service, I'm confident that they would offer to do something about my disappointment if I were to contact them. I simply can't have a product that gets me funny looks from my co-workers and patients as I look for my fallen ear pieces on the floor (I thank His/Her Almighty that I found them every time), or that requires me to embarrassingly excuse myself out of the patient room while I put my diaphragm back together before proceeding with my job. I'm off to try another product, with lifetime warranty on certain parts. (Funny how warranty has become important to me...)