The 420 SLs were my first introduction to 'proper' headphones when my dad purchased them back in the mid-late eighties. They got a fair bit of use and then went pretty much unoticed for a decade or so... *que thunderous drums* UNTIL NOW!!! 
I took them out of their box, put them on, plugged them into the Headmaster, pressed play and quickly took them off again. They were horribly muffled and wooly. I proceeded to take the pad covers off and removed the disintergrated foam discs and placed the flat, hard driver housings on my ears. Things were better but still too muffled (not to mention painful on the ears)
.
I sat and stared at my Grados, then the Senns, then my Grados again... ah ha!
I removed the pads from my 325s and tried to fit them onto the 420s housings. They were too small, so instead I placed the pads on the 420s housings and quickly sandwiched the pads between the headphones and my head.
I hit the play button once again, not expecting much difference but I was pleasantly suprised. The muffled sound had gone and things were much more balanced and lively. The treble seemed a bit hissy, and the overall sound was far less smooth than my 325s, but overall the sound was quite enjoyable. Certainly far far better than stock earbuds. I have to wonder how they would compare to SR-60s. I've never heard them, but this is kinda how I'd imagined they would sound...
I've been doing more listening* whilst writing this, and the treble is now sizzling my ears off
, but otherwise they are quite good. I will try to tame them a little...
Thought, comments and similar experiences welcome
.
P.S. I can't find a picture of them, but they are supra-aural, with flat, round driver housings and dull yellow/orange earpads and a wide plastic headband.
*CD used so far 'Supergrass - In It For The Money'
I took them out of their box, put them on, plugged them into the Headmaster, pressed play and quickly took them off again. They were horribly muffled and wooly. I proceeded to take the pad covers off and removed the disintergrated foam discs and placed the flat, hard driver housings on my ears. Things were better but still too muffled (not to mention painful on the ears)
.I sat and stared at my Grados, then the Senns, then my Grados again... ah ha!
I removed the pads from my 325s and tried to fit them onto the 420s housings. They were too small, so instead I placed the pads on the 420s housings and quickly sandwiched the pads between the headphones and my head.I hit the play button once again, not expecting much difference but I was pleasantly suprised. The muffled sound had gone and things were much more balanced and lively. The treble seemed a bit hissy, and the overall sound was far less smooth than my 325s, but overall the sound was quite enjoyable. Certainly far far better than stock earbuds. I have to wonder how they would compare to SR-60s. I've never heard them, but this is kinda how I'd imagined they would sound...
I've been doing more listening* whilst writing this, and the treble is now sizzling my ears off
, but otherwise they are quite good. I will try to tame them a little...Thought, comments and similar experiences welcome
.P.S. I can't find a picture of them, but they are supra-aural, with flat, round driver housings and dull yellow/orange earpads and a wide plastic headband.
*CD used so far 'Supergrass - In It For The Money'
