SANSUI ss-20

[imglocked]

Bought these on ebay a while back and am now just listening to them . . . sound good to me! . . . cleaned em up and aside from the missing badges look like new . . . they are a boring off-white, so it may be time to jazz 'em up a touch . . . candy apple red perhaps? . . . anyway, as I said, I do like them but I am wondering just where they stand in the headphone universe; well regarded, workaday, or other . . . I do have the original box and I gotta say it seems a fair bit fancy for mediocre 'phones . . .

 

[Trance88]

Ever since I've had an interest in vintage headphones, I've wanted one of these. They have 2 way (Woofer and tweeter) speakers right?

 

[Arkay]

I've had a pair for years. Haven't listened to them for a while, but they were pretty good for headphones from that era. Headphones are one area where the top end has really improved over the years; the best cans today can run sonic circles around these oldies, but the better old ones can still be enjoyable to listen to --and a very few still really hold their own pretty well. I remember fiddling with various tweaks/mods, and IIRC the one thing I did to the SS-20s that really helped the sound was to stick a blob of Blu-tac on the back of the motor (magnet) assembly, inside the headphones. That was all; every other experiment I did made the sound worse, but that one blob on the back of the "motor" really helped improve the sound. It should just cover the circle, and be about as thick as a nickel, or a bit more than that. The result is better balance, improved bass, improved detail clarity -- You might want to try that.

 

[Artie]

Pics please.

 

[Mystery]

I've had a pair for years. Haven't listened to them for a while, but they were pretty good for headphones from that era. Headphones are one area where the top end has really improved over the years; the best cans today can run sonic circles around these oldies, but the better old ones can still be enjoyable to listen to --and a very few still really hold their own pretty well. I remember fiddling with various tweaks/mods, and IIRC the one thing I did to the SS-20s that really helped the sound was to stick a blob of Blu-tac on the back of the motor (magnet) assembly, inside the headphones. That was all; every other experiment I did made the sound worse, but that one blob on the back of the "motor" really helped improve the sound. It should just cover the circle, and be about as thick as a nickel, or a bit more than that. The result is better balance, improved bass, improved detail clarity -- You might want to try that.

Reviving the thread with a question...

I opened mine up and put tape on the back side casing.
May be it needs to go on the back of magnet? :scratch2:
Thanks for clarification.

 

[hujev]

Hello fellow 1970s hi-fi enthusiasts!
I just bought a pair of these SS20s (conveniently named after the Soviet mobile nuclear missile) NOS ($40, which seemed fair enough).
I'd like to try that blob-mod mentioned above by Arkay (and apparently a common headphone trick) - can somebody explain or provide an educational link to the concept?
Is the idea to provide pressure/stabilization between the speaker magnet and the headphone case, or just to have some extra mass on the back of it? How much do I use?
Probably the former, but figured I'd better get it right...
I'm a fan of silicone adhesive/caulk (great for glue, flexible, holds everything, easy enough to get off of surfaces when needed, cheap, etc.) - would that work as well?
Thanks in advance of course!

 

[Ramseybella]

I have a pair and find them just so so sounding!! I like the nice massive comfy playboy couch feel of these giant Bell Huey pilot chopper cans. I had a lot of Pioneers way back in high school.
Noise canceling back than was "TURN IT UP".. Reason i am half def now.