keithpgdrb
Super Member
Thats pretty lame. Most of the people that I know of have gotten them off of either ebay, amazon, or a head-fi sale.
Koss ESP-9 Electrostatic Headphones
- Thread starter ehoove
- Start date
Thats pretty lame. Most of the people that I know of have gotten them off of either ebay, amazon, or a head-fi sale.
you really need to listen to a pair of HE-60's or HE-90's from Sennheiser... guarantee will blow away Koss and possibly Stax (that depends on your preferences)
I have a pair of HE60's and wouldent trade them for anything...
also "energizers" suck, get an actual electrostatic amplifier and you will be much happier!
mypasswordis
New Member
Hey, flecom. Nice to see you over here.
The K340 has both electrostatic and dynamic drivers, the electrostatic portion being an electret with step up transformer that handles the upper frequencies and the dynamic driver handling the lower frequencies. A bit of a surprise, there is no crossover circuit.
And if by energizers you mean transformer boxes, I would disagree and say that they can sound quite good when hooked up to good speaker amps.
The K340 has both electrostatic and dynamic drivers, the electrostatic portion being an electret with step up transformer that handles the upper frequencies and the dynamic driver handling the lower frequencies. A bit of a surprise, there is no crossover circuit.
And if by energizers you mean transformer boxes, I would disagree and say that they can sound quite good when hooked up to good speaker amps.
Koss ESP-9 problem
Hello,
I've just picked a pair of these interesting cans and discovered the following problem at first listening :
One of the channel is weaker in sound compared to the other...
Any idea on what to look for to fix this defect ?
Thanks for any info/help.
Catherine.
Hello,
I've just picked a pair of these interesting cans and discovered the following problem at first listening :
One of the channel is weaker in sound compared to the other...
Any idea on what to look for to fix this defect ?
Thanks for any info/help.
Catherine.
andrewto
Active Member
Figured this thread was going on for 3 years, why not coax a little more life out of it...
I just got a pair of ESP.9s for a steal. They (obviously) blow my Yamaha Rh-5MAs away--incredibly open, detailed, and accurate. First thing I did was listen to them in self-energizing mode, as the box didn't come with an AC cord. As mentioned before (here or on head-fi maybe), it's not that great, especially for music with varied dynamic levels--sounds like it has a slow compressor on it.
I then fashioned (hacked would probably be more accurate...) an AC cord out of an old computer cord. Dynamics are now fine, but there's a low-level 60hz hum that's annoying while playing soft music.
I just got replacement ear cushions from Koss (for the Pro/4aa) and as mentioned before, they're a stretch, but they fit, and they make the cans a lot more comfortable.
I have 2 questions: I've read that when the old ear cushions start to leak it can get in and short things out... I haven't noticed anything abnormal, but is there any general maintenance I should do? 2nd, any tricks to get rid of the hum? I read VinylDavid's post where he replaced some capacitors and resistors (or something like that) and it dropped to an almost unnoticeable level. I've tried reversing the AC plug as suggested on another forum and that didn't do anything. It's definitely not a ground loop, though.
OK, one more question: how do these older models stack up to the current generation of ESP-950s that Koss makes now?
I just got a pair of ESP.9s for a steal. They (obviously) blow my Yamaha Rh-5MAs away--incredibly open, detailed, and accurate. First thing I did was listen to them in self-energizing mode, as the box didn't come with an AC cord. As mentioned before (here or on head-fi maybe), it's not that great, especially for music with varied dynamic levels--sounds like it has a slow compressor on it.
I then fashioned (hacked would probably be more accurate...) an AC cord out of an old computer cord. Dynamics are now fine, but there's a low-level 60hz hum that's annoying while playing soft music.
I just got replacement ear cushions from Koss (for the Pro/4aa) and as mentioned before, they're a stretch, but they fit, and they make the cans a lot more comfortable.
I have 2 questions: I've read that when the old ear cushions start to leak it can get in and short things out... I haven't noticed anything abnormal, but is there any general maintenance I should do? 2nd, any tricks to get rid of the hum? I read VinylDavid's post where he replaced some capacitors and resistors (or something like that) and it dropped to an almost unnoticeable level. I've tried reversing the AC plug as suggested on another forum and that didn't do anything. It's definitely not a ground loop, though.
OK, one more question: how do these older models stack up to the current generation of ESP-950s that Koss makes now?
Brian
An Old Geezer
No help from this quarter. Mine have no hum but they are very late production; the very last pair Koss made. Also, there is no compression unless playing at a very low level so if playing at a normal level I'd suspect you have some caps to replace.
Are yous the 9s or the 9b? If the 9, then it might have something to do with the common ground also, a problem it had with the 9 and why they went to separate grounds for the 9b. At the time a number of makers were floating grounds or making dual mono amps the 9s did not work with and in the extreme according to Koss could blow the amp.
I too have wondered if they are better or worse than the 950 but never seen a comparison.
Are yous the 9s or the 9b? If the 9, then it might have something to do with the common ground also, a problem it had with the 9 and why they went to separate grounds for the 9b. At the time a number of makers were floating grounds or making dual mono amps the 9s did not work with and in the extreme according to Koss could blow the amp.
I too have wondered if they are better or worse than the 950 but never seen a comparison.
DaWoofer
Super Member
I have two energizer boxes and both exhibit the low level hum. I don't really notice a difference if they are energized or not. Of course you have to turn the volume up quite a bit more in the non-energized mode to get to the same SPL levels. But then again, I rarely use my headphones as they are uncomfortable for long listening periods. Perhaps I should replace the pads also.
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