Show us your vintage headphones! - Page 44

Quote:

Originally Posted by takato14 

God, I wanna live in Germany, that's where all the awesome vintage cans are. 

 

My guess is you wanna keep both don't you xP

I think I really want to get my hands on some more of that yellow foamy stuff that looks like rock-wool insulation (any advice on that would be very welcome).

Then if I can make the Watson sound even better with that stuff I would consider letting the Universum go..... but they're such a nice pair to own. It's another case of passion vs. insanity... I've just got too many headphones.

Good luck finding that yellow stuff. I don't know anybody that has found the actual source for it. You can find discs of it in any old Stax electrets, and it is also in some of the Vintage orthos also, but that means spending the $ for a botched set of Stax, or taking some from an ortho. Either way sounds like $$$.

 And most likely it will simply be a disc of it also, not a huge square slab like you have there.

I do hope you uncover what it is and where to get some though.

Has anyone tried comparing this stuff to rock-wool insulation? 

I don't have any lying around as it's fairly hazardous. 

I'm guessing due to it's hazardous nature nobody has tried it, but I don't lose anything by asking.

Can't help you there, GREQ. I'd imagine it wouldn't work very well, it's too inconsistent in its thickness and composition.

I've got a bunch of things headed my way: The shell and drivers from a 4AAA Plus and 2 4AAA drivers. The drivers are to repair my 4AAA (left driver has a loose connection to the voice coil ), and I'm also going to use the headband and cups from the 4AAA Plus shell to make my 4AAAs look really nice. I'll post a bunch of pictures when the parts arrive.

Turns out I'm actually getting 3 of each driver, the 4AAA Plus shell, and a boatload of other 4AAA parts as well. Very excited.

Quote:

Originally Posted by takato14 

Turns out I'm actually getting 3 of each driver, the 4AAA Plus shell, and a boatload of other 4AAA parts as well. Very excited.

Got any foster-cans in mind to house them?

Not sure if anyone is interested in fixing them:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-rare-vintage-Pioneer-SE-700-piezoelectric-headphones-/300785246098?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item4608329f92

I really want the SE700 or SS-100 best designs I ever saw!

Too bad that one is not working..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcaneex 

Too bad that one is not working..

Most likely, the headphone has a short in the cable. The cable is the worst part of the headphone and is prone to breakage at both the headphone end and the termination. I had to fix my own SE-700 in both of these places.

The headphone isn't easy to work on but the repair job was fairly easy when I got the metal ring off the earcup.

Personally, if you're patient enough, I'd say that one is worth the time to repair as long as you can get it for a good (<= $70) price, AND if you have an amp powerful enough for them. They sound horrid out of anything portable and are silent with most equipment. You'd need at least an Asgard to even start driving them properly, and a speaker amp is a much better choice.

Overall they're really smooth and flat, the response has no weird peaks or recessions. It's a very pleasant tonality and they're fairly detailed and controlled throughout the whole spectrum. The low end has a steep rolloff due to limitations in piezoelectric technology, and the highs aren't optimal but extend enough for my tastes. If you don't mind bass-light, they're a good set.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GREQ 

Quote:

Originally Posted by takato14 

Turns out I'm actually getting 3 of each driver, the 4AAA Plus shell, and a boatload of other 4AAA parts as well. Very excited.

Got any foster-cans in mind to house them?

I actually plan on experimenting with the series 1 drivers in an open enclosure first; the soundstage is massive in a closed headphone and I can only imagine what these drivers could do in an open enclosure. 

Well that's sad that it won't be driven easily with a portable device.. guess I can delete them from my list.

Also, I've got no damn idea on how to fix headphones n stuff so I won't even try.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcaneex 

Well that's sad that it won't be driven easily with a portable device.. guess I can delete them from my list.

Also, I've got no damn idea on how to fix headphones n stuff so I won't even try.

Don't get me wrong: the SE-700 sounds decent out of the AudioQuest Dragonfly, which I believe was 150 mW into 32 ohms; a portable amp like the FiiO E12 should probably be able to get enough volume out of them. But they're open-backed so you're not going to like using them portably.

Here are my JVC STH-10E's (the "E" stands for Euro) :) 

In the Past i had AKG K240 Rebrands from Sinn7 called Monitor|S which were compared to the JVC's sounding like some Cheap Plastic Cans with a Tight but not really Clean Bass on 'em :D

The sound of these JVC's is easily describable : They are really Natural Sounding i would say , for instance no Distortion or the slightest hint of it when Playing at Full Blast (i gotta say i love listening to Dubstep / Drum and Bass / Electronic of all sorts , preferably in FLAC or WAV). And they exactly give me the Sound i would like to Hear when im listening to Electronica. 

The Highrange of the JVC's is Soft and Silky but still present in the Soundstage , not overly exaggerated like the Sinn7 Monitor|S.

And the Mid's..  Best i've Heard in a Long Time - really exciting it makes me want to re-listen everything in my Music Library to see if i can hear something new which i didnt before :D

Here are some Specs :

70mm Parabolic-Curve Shaped Moving Coil Drivers

Impedance : 8 Ohm

Frequency Response : 20-20.000hz

Distortion : Less than 1% at Rated Input of 1mW)

Diameter of Coil : 13.2mm

Max Rated Input : 500mW

(i might add that im producing / mixing down / mastering music myself for approx. 8 years and am into studio equipment and sound design quite heavily)

http://i.imgur.com/ou7iHbg.jpg

http://www.abload.de/img/2kyuwc.jpg

I suddenly dont know how to add Photos correctly on here :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by n00ked 

Here are my JVC STH-10E's .........

 

What you described sounds exactly like paper cone drivers to me.

Not in a bad way - some paper cone (speaker) headphones are surprisingly smooth and enjoyable. They tend to have fairly lush mids that aren't exactly muddy... more like overly smoothed out. 

Also they look like the ultimate 70's clone-rebrand that pops up over and over again (with paper cone drivers).

Do you have a photo of the drivers? Just out of curiosity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GREQ 

What you described sounds exactly like paper cone drivers to me.

Not in a bad way - some paper cone (speaker) headphones are surprisingly smooth and enjoyable. They tend to have fairly lush mids that aren't exactly muddy... more like overly smoothed out. 

 

Also they look like the ultimate 70's clone-rebrand that pops up over and over again (with paper cone drivers).

Do you have a photo of the drivers? Just out of curiosity.

Well they were Produced from 1979-1982 , and they were manufactured in Japan as far as i know. The owner from where i bought them , told me that they were pretty Pricy back in 1981. But i couldnt find any more info on them since they are somewhat rare in Germany. 

They also were sold on the American Market under the name : Nivico STH-10 (and as everybody should know in that time 79 'til 82 JVC produced some of the Best Quadrophonic Tube Receivers available. i guess they could be Paper-Cones but cant tell because they sound really Flat and Neutral over the whole Frequency Range (they have a hearable drop in the 20hz range but thats not really important since most Modern Electronic Music Tracks dont go that low)

For Driver Pic's i would have to open them , which i dont trust that well if i dont know how to do that since theres no Factory Manual :(

Heres a Brochure from JVC from way back :

http://www30.zippyshare.com/v/36362137/file.html

and besides that , they didnt cost me a fortune - only 8 Bucks off of Ebay :D But im Surprised by how Nice they Sound.. If i'd Shop for Headphones i'd probably want them to Sound exactly like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by n00ked 

Heres a Brochure from JVC from way back :

 

It says it's a 70mm driver, which is almost certainly a paper cone. 

The part that interests me the most is the way it talks about the felt damping of 3 out of 4 holes in the back of the driver. Sounds like they put some effort into it! Good find!