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Koss ESP-950: how does it compare to other electrostatic headphones like Stax, etc?

post #1 of 6
10/12/05 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
it is worth the $599?
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post #2 of 6
10/12/05 at 9:27pm
Several of us have written about it. Do a search under my name. I got a reconditioned ESP/950 for about $370, and liked it a lot better with a good power supply, in place of the wall wart that came with it. IMO, it's worth the price that you mentioned, but only when using the better supply (for an additional cost of approx. $75), or the battery pack. But, I don't know how long the batteries will last.
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post #3 of 6
10/12/05 at 10:12pm
I've got one coming in that I found used for $300 very soon now, so I'll post impressions when it arrives.
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post #4 of 6
10/12/05 at 11:40pm

I'm told that they sound wonderful...

...but are they heavy and clunkly like the earlier models (I used to have a pair)??

Laz
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post #5 of 6
10/13/05 at 12:56am
I remember a summary of various electrostatics that Kevin Gilmore wrote, in which he did mention that the ESP-950 headphone is very good, but the amp that it is packaged with is really, really lousy. KG's comments on using the headphone out of a KGSS were very favorable. It seems like it would be a very good value for the money used, but from what I've gathered, the amp needs to go.
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post #6 of 6
10/13/05 at 4:11pm
The 950's are much lighter than earlier Koss models. I own the 950' s and old Esp 9's as well as a number of Stax units. The 950's amp is ok especially with an upgraded power supply (I use and Elenco 3 amp). Certainly it is small in size, about 1/6 the size of my SRM3 although probably close in size to the Stax baby amps.

With the better power supply I find the sound very good, especially for pop/rock music. The dynamics may be better than most Stax combos. However the amp doesn't seem to give the purity of sound that the bigger Stax class A amps give.

They are a bargain compared to US prices on Stax. Of course you can buy Stax from Japan (EIFL, Audiocubes) but may have some warranty problems. Koss have an amazing lifetime warranty to the original owner.
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