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.

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 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.

It’s a cheap stethoscope with very poor diaphragm. Sound quality is very poor and not reliable when trying to identify heart sounds and murmurs. BP readings are not accurate either.