That was my first headphone, too, bought in the mid to late 1970's while in high school. I shared a house with a couple of roommates right after college, and those headphones did not survive the multiple users. I later bought another pair (can't remember the year, late '80's at a guess), and I still use that set almost every day. I love the isolation from external sound and use them on a noisy Schwinn Airdyne exercise bike. They let me hear with perfect clarity the soundtrack to the DVD sets of old television programs I like to watch while pedaling (going through episodes of Frank Cannon again at present).Koss Pro 4AA--which were made just of few miles from my house.
I remember the Pioneers with volume controls. Mine were most likely bought from the BX from one of the bases. I don't know what happened to them.My first headphones looked similar and I think they were Pioneers, with volume control on each side. Bought when in the army in Germany, 1972. About 15 years ago, I checked them and found a lot of noise when adjusting the volume control knobs, so I threw them out. Probably just needed some cleaner, but , at the time I just didn't know.
Koss K6 with a sliding volume control on each ear cup. Heavy, hot, sounded like crapola. Soured me on headphones for years, till I heard my first set of Stax.
Radio Shack had a version, too. Brown plastic. They weighed as much as my whole head. Didn't dare use them during the summer, way too hot. Like you, I seldom used them. About six years later, I heard the Stax SR-44 and had to have them.I had a pair like that when I was a teenager. I don't remember the brand, but I remember them being big and having the sliding volume controls. I rarely used them. It was a long time before I tried any other headphones.
The first set I got was Lafeyette brand, but they looked almost exactly like these, Carl! I always suspected they were made by Pioneer. Sounded great to me at 15 years old.When I was sophomore in high school on Okinawa, a friend who was senior, gave me some Pioneers similar to these below. Because I saved him from drowning. One of the first albums I listened to was Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. I thought it was entirely instrumental and when a voice said glockenspiel, it freaked the crap out of me. I had just recently saw The Exorcist.
First real pair of quality headphones that I heard up until that time was a Sennheiser HD 414 that my girlfriend`s brother had in 1973.
I instantly fell in love with them, as they sounded great and could be worn for hours with no discomfort and I really liked that they didn`t completely isolate you from the outside world, and I purchased a set in a year or two.
When in 76/77 the HD 424`s came out, I tried out a pair at my local HiFi store, and had to buy a pair.
I really also liked their larger ear frames and foam.
They seemed even more comfortable to me for extended use, both in stereo and shortwave listening.
I still have them, but the foam has rotted, already replaced once in the mid 80`s, and wonder if I can get replacements.
In the early nineties I bought another pair of Sennheiser headphones HD 540 ref. I`s that are a traditional style(isolation type) and still own them too.
I remember reading some time in the seventies that NASA had chose the HD 414`s for use on Sky Lab.
Also, I`m puzzled about the claim of their 2000 ohm impedance being difficult to drive to desired levels ?!?!
I don`t recall having any problems with that issue, using them from a ~ 1 watt SW radio`s output all the way to a 1000 watt Metron A- 4000 rack mount power amplifier that actually had a headphone jack, and I cranked that amp up to such incredible high levels that the bass notes seem to compress my friend`s and myself`s head, but remained clean, and being such high impedance, there was little likelihood of burning out the transducers..
Anyway folks, that`s my experience with Sennheiser headphones.
Kind regards, OKB
I had 5 pairs of the Pro4AAAs' for my studio. The cushions were filled with air, which eventually leaked out. Solid phones. Excellent isolation, especially good for studio use with a wide frequency response, but they are heavy, about 18 ozs. Still have them.The original Pro 4AA ear pads were liquid (gel?) filled. Sometimes they leaked. Eventually they got hard.