Vintage Headphones
- Thread starter olddrum1
- Start date
Arby
Active Member
I had a pair of these many years ago. I got a pair delivered a few days ago from Ebay in EXCELLENT condition. Cleaned the pots (Volume and Tone on each earpiece) with Deoxit and Faderlube and good as new. Not as nice sounding as my AKG-K240S or my ATHPro700SV Headphones but I'm happy to have a pair again.
Robinhawaii
Super Member
Pioneer SE-700 are my daily drivers, which are a Kynar piezoelectric headphone.
Rob
Rob
Robinhawaii
Super Member
It took a while to find the best set of tubes to drive them, but I'm happy with the results.
Rob
ms_enj
Ceci n'est pas une blonde
My everyday headphones are a pair of Sennheiser HD 560 Ovations, made circa 1989.
Purchased a few months ago from my local rubbish dump's recycling centre for $1 in a very poor state, I stripped them down, cleaned out all the crumbling damping foam from in and around the drivers, scrubbed off the dirt, and fitted a new set of ear pads and foams.
Turns out under all that gunk and dirt, there was a great sounding pair of headphones waiting to be resurrected.
I haven't made a new headband for them yet (my sewing machine is packed away), but I have a piece of black denim that will be perfect to replace the aged and cracked leather.
These cans are have been a labour of love for me, and after 25 years, they still sound like they are absolute Spitzenklasse, especially when driven by some tubes!
Purchased a few months ago from my local rubbish dump's recycling centre for $1 in a very poor state, I stripped them down, cleaned out all the crumbling damping foam from in and around the drivers, scrubbed off the dirt, and fitted a new set of ear pads and foams.
Turns out under all that gunk and dirt, there was a great sounding pair of headphones waiting to be resurrected.
I haven't made a new headband for them yet (my sewing machine is packed away), but I have a piece of black denim that will be perfect to replace the aged and cracked leather.
These cans are have been a labour of love for me, and after 25 years, they still sound like they are absolute Spitzenklasse, especially when driven by some tubes!
cubiclecrush
Well-Known Member
These are full of nostalgia for me as they came from a stash of gear inside my Dad's console stereo and I remember using them as a wee tot. They were almost bigger than my head at the time....
Realistic Nova10 Headphones
Realistic Nova10 Headphones
Brian
An Old Geezer
Been considering a 2nd pair and want fully enclosed and not a set of stats requiring running them off the speaker outputs.
My tester phones, the EV/Game HP-5, are nothing special in anyway other than being one of the earlier phones introduced into the market.
I do have a set of Sony something or other. Better than the EV but response has a definite bias and rolloff. Good for my Playbook and cell phone. In going online, you know where I was taken back with the number of Koss K6 series phones on sale and variations. Interesting as I had begun to think about getting a set of Pro4 series phones.
I then remembered that David's phones powered off his (my) Sherwood 7650 are Lowery badged K6 phones repurposed from our organ. Back in high school he wanted a set of phones as he was playing trumpet in the orchestra and wanted to listen to music at night. So, we hit the shops and for about a month he went back and forth listening to to types, makes, models and ignored the price tag. When shopping he dragged along the K6 for a point of reference. Early on he decided a fully enclosed over the ear was working best as to type. To make a long story short, in the end he asked if he could have the K6 set. He did like the Pro4AAA sound better but said he could never imagine them on his head for 8 hours unless he was lying down.
He found other phones clearly superior, especially in the bass but from the upper bass up, he felt the K6 to be outstanding in the audio range though they do not go to lightspeed. The bass did not go as low as newer phones seemed to go but as far down as they go the integration was very good and there was no loss of detail. He decided to ask for the K6 based on cost benefit. The Koss were already paid for and the price points for phones he considered that were clearly better for what he wanted started in the $300 range and he felt the newer offerings including the Pro4AAA seemed to be tuned with rock in mind and he listens to classical almost exclusively. I know his musical tastes have changed since then.
I thought I would throw them on and see they do on classical station 96.3 through the Sony STR6045 receiver. Definitely not competitive with the ESPs but, not expected they would be. Male voice is nasal, response not as deep nor high, the rolloff is evident Less detail with far more noticeable veil. On the plus side COMFORTABLE for long term listening. The perceived response curve from upper bass to where the highs rolloff seems almost ruler flat. I can hear why he decided to go with them vs a new set.
Prices on the auction site are all over the place from dirt cheap to fully funding the National debt. As I do not see him giving them up for dear old dad, guess I will put them on the list as a possible 2nd set. I also like they are the early adjustable twin wire design and not the type used with the Pro4, ESP (except 950) that has the weak plastic end pieces that eventually pop off and if not fixed right will lead to the headband eventually just popping apart.
My tester phones, the EV/Game HP-5, are nothing special in anyway other than being one of the earlier phones introduced into the market.
I do have a set of Sony something or other. Better than the EV but response has a definite bias and rolloff. Good for my Playbook and cell phone. In going online, you know where I was taken back with the number of Koss K6 series phones on sale and variations. Interesting as I had begun to think about getting a set of Pro4 series phones.
I then remembered that David's phones powered off his (my) Sherwood 7650 are Lowery badged K6 phones repurposed from our organ. Back in high school he wanted a set of phones as he was playing trumpet in the orchestra and wanted to listen to music at night. So, we hit the shops and for about a month he went back and forth listening to to types, makes, models and ignored the price tag. When shopping he dragged along the K6 for a point of reference. Early on he decided a fully enclosed over the ear was working best as to type. To make a long story short, in the end he asked if he could have the K6 set. He did like the Pro4AAA sound better but said he could never imagine them on his head for 8 hours unless he was lying down.
He found other phones clearly superior, especially in the bass but from the upper bass up, he felt the K6 to be outstanding in the audio range though they do not go to lightspeed. The bass did not go as low as newer phones seemed to go but as far down as they go the integration was very good and there was no loss of detail. He decided to ask for the K6 based on cost benefit. The Koss were already paid for and the price points for phones he considered that were clearly better for what he wanted started in the $300 range and he felt the newer offerings including the Pro4AAA seemed to be tuned with rock in mind and he listens to classical almost exclusively. I know his musical tastes have changed since then.
I thought I would throw them on and see they do on classical station 96.3 through the Sony STR6045 receiver. Definitely not competitive with the ESPs but, not expected they would be. Male voice is nasal, response not as deep nor high, the rolloff is evident Less detail with far more noticeable veil. On the plus side COMFORTABLE for long term listening. The perceived response curve from upper bass to where the highs rolloff seems almost ruler flat. I can hear why he decided to go with them vs a new set.
Prices on the auction site are all over the place from dirt cheap to fully funding the National debt. As I do not see him giving them up for dear old dad, guess I will put them on the list as a possible 2nd set. I also like they are the early adjustable twin wire design and not the type used with the Pro4, ESP (except 950) that has the weak plastic end pieces that eventually pop off and if not fixed right will lead to the headband eventually just popping apart.
illinoisteve
Super Member
I have a pair of Pioneer SE-405s. They have volume controls on each side only. I wish I could figure out how to get to them to clean them (or bypass them as I'd just as soon control volume at the amp). I'm not sure they have quite the frequency response of my cheapo Sony MDR-V150s, but certainly they embrace you with the audio they provide.
Got the Stax SR-40 many years ago.
I have a set here as well, better than many modern cans, and certainly better than just about any other vintage can. I also had the Koss hv-1 back
in my youth.
Onegizmobob
Active Member
Marantz SE-1S electrostatics. Bought them used in 1979.
