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Show us your vintage headphones! - Page 3

post #31 of 849
5/31/09 at 2:40pm
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post #32 of 849
5/31/09 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
btw the build quality on the pioneer se305 is fantastic, nice details, vinyl covered earcups. i will probably seek out a monitor 10 next
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post #33 of 849
5/31/09 at 3:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by auris View Post
HD424X, purchased around 1975. 2000 ohm.
Actually the 424X had 600 ohm drivers and wasn't around until 1979/1980 or so. (The old HD424 was made ca. 1976..79, AFAIK.) Yours looks to be in good shape.

I have a somewhat less well-kept original HD424. Save for the headband padding, it looks the same. Got some new earpads for the one, at a later stage I also replaced the (partly disintegrated) damping foam in the drivers. The bass is kinda anemic, other than that the sound isn't too bad.

Too bad I don't have my trusty HD420SL (mid-80s midrange model) with me right now. Ah, there's one older picture featuring it, still with the original cable (think it was a -9K model for hanging from the ceiling or somesuch - the replacement cable cost me far more than the cans themselves, which were firmly in single-digit € territory at the time and unused but in need of new earpad foam):

Those were the days when my nightstand looked as tidy as that... now there are Kenwood KT-80, KT-1000, a Grundig sonoclock 900, an old Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 system in addition to the same modified BTech. (The Grundig T7000 later saw a much-needed alignment tweak. and disappeared somewhere, possibly on the attic.) The 420SLs are my favorite semi-portable cans these days, the nightstand is graced by my trusty HD590s.

cardude, I don't think the RS-1 really qualifies as vintage, even if some might say it looks the part...
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post #34 of 849
5/31/09 at 3:56pm

Sharp HP-400H

Picked up from eBay a couple of weeks ago...



Firstly - out of the box, they were very smelly and greasy, had to give them a good clean!



Each cup contains a 90mm woofer and 30mm tweeter apparently, this is only what I have heard - haven't opened them up.

Sound is smoooth and warm with rolled a off but quite clean treble, very easy to listen to and pretty comfortable but a little heavy!
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post #35 of 849
5/31/09 at 4:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sgrossklass View Post
Actually the 424X had 600 ohm drivers and wasn't around until 1979/1980 or so. (The old HD424 was made ca. 1976..79, AFAIK.) Yours looks to be in good shape.
FWIW I have some 424X (in minty condition previously unused and boxed) They are 2000 ohms, or so it says on the user guide.
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post #36 of 849
5/31/09 at 4:50pm
Interesting, in time our current phones will look dated too...
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post #37 of 849
5/31/09 at 5:11pm
Quote:
Actually the 424X had 600 ohm drivers and wasn't around until 1979/1980 or so. (The old HD424 was made ca. 1976..79, AFAIK.) Yours looks to be in good shape.
Now that I'm really thinking about it, I think you're right on the date range. Initially, my only remembrance was that my first wife (circa 1975-1980) pitched a fit when I came home with them. I have repressed most of my memories from that time period.

I got the 2000 ohm figure from the box top pictured. The sales brochure says the same: "2000 ohms per channel. Can be connected directly to either high or low impedance outputs." You may very well be right about the 600 ohm impedance, although I do remember someone else on this board a few years back saying his pair was 2000 ohm.

Quote:
Yours looks to be in good shape.
They are. I doubt I have listened to them more than 10 hours or so since buying them. They've pretty much lived in their box.

They are very comfortable and have a pleasant smooth sound, though they don't begin to compare to the better headphones available today.

Btw, I like your photo with the Grundig receiver. I have one of their old tube units (FM/AM/SW) with a record changer built-in.
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post #38 of 849
5/31/09 at 6:20pm
I'm at work right now and the firewall won't let me upload pictures, but I'll try to get them up soon.

I too have a vintage pair of Pioneer SE305's. I snatched them off of eBay for 50.00 including the leather bound box with, brochure, and white silk and orange foam pad lining. They were in "Cherry condition" other than the leather earpads being a bit checked and flat. I took out the paper cone speakers and replaced them with Denon AHD2000 drivers, Drilled out a few more holes in the plastic driver panels for more "Air", Lined the cups with Dynamat, and recabled them balanced with some nice Canare Star Quad and mini XLR connectors. The drivers are angled about 30 degrees and the new Denon earpads are also angled so there is quite a bit of angle going on.
I tried to use the original coiled cord but it sounded like a tin can compared to the new Canare. I Put the SQ above the Denon 5K stock but not as precise and comtroled as the 7K's. probably because of the lack of wood and smaller cups. They are as comfortable as the stock Denons for long periods of time.
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post #39 of 849
7/19/09 at 10:23pm
Sorry for the thread digging, but I didn't want to start a new thread for something which I believe can be answered here.

Is it relatively common practice to use vintage headphone housings and replace the drivers with some new ones?

I just went hunting on ebay and found at least 5 vintage headphones I am in love with right now but, they'll probably sound like ass, but I want to make them work. From the post above, what should I keep in mind when doing this?
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post #40 of 849
7/19/09 at 10:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonyhong View Post
Sorry for the thread digging, but I didn't want to start a new thread for something which I believe can be answered here.

Is it relatively common practice to use vintage headphone housings and replace the drivers with some new ones?

I just went hunting on ebay and found at least 5 vintage headphones I am in love with right now but, they'll probably sound like ass, but I want to make them work. From the post above, what should I keep in mind when doing this?
some peeps do. i know putting orthodynamic drivers in other housings is common here. look for quality housings that will withstand tinkering with. old pioneers, sansui, numark - all are built like a tank
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post #41 of 849
7/20/09 at 12:08am
I was really lucky as the Denon Drivers were only a couple of mm's larger than the stock drivers. I didn't have to much modifying. The hard part was getting the new mogami lapel mic cable through the headband from left to right. I was not happy with the SQ at first but then I took each piece from the Denons including the dense foam between the front of the drivers and the earpads and tried to duplicate thier placement in the Denon AHD2000's. Each peice of faom is vital to the SQ of the drivers. Also 200 USD for a set of Denons to canibalize is a bit steep, but I really like the Denon Sig. so it made sense to start there.
So in short you have to be creative when updating the drivers in old headphones but the results can be rewarding.
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post #42 of 849
7/20/09 at 12:17am
I love vintage headphones!
Here's mine:

I bought this pair in new condition with the instruction manual and all its original packaging materials and silica gel!!!
Very good sounding and comfortable headphones in my opinion. I had to replace the inner ear pads with some makeshift ones because they turned to dust on contact with my ears when I first tried them on.



This is also a great pair to look out for. Extremely comfortable!
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post #43 of 849
7/20/09 at 12:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by boomy3555 View Post
So in short you have to be creative when updating the drivers in old headphones but the results can be rewarding.
Call me crazy but I love the sound quality of paper cone drivers. The Lafayette F-990 uses 3 inch cones!! Huge soundstage.
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post #44 of 849
7/20/09 at 1:21am
Keep 'em coming, guys! These are great!
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post #45 of 849
7/20/09 at 1:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ourfpshero View Post
i written about these b4. stanton dynaphase sixty. the epitome of american 'bigger is better' thinking. these are the ultimate unwieldy musclecar of headphones. large, heavy (2 pounds), dual speakers with crossovers in each cup. plug it into a weak source and they sound like junk. amp it up, feed it bass, and they shine. will pound your brain into mush if desired, unlimited bass capability. i eq'd up to 20 db of extra bass end into these and they just kept on going!
"i eq'd up to 20 db of extra bass end into these and they just kept on going!"
Sounds like MY KINDA PHONES!!! Want
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