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Frankenphones from the past - Thoughts and ideas for a newb?

post #1 of 4
11/25/10 at 8:28am
Thread Starter 

Hey, i've read up on the basics in the audiophile world but i am still new to this! So im looking to build a funny little frankenphone and wanted to hear from someone who knows more than i do if i am way off or it actually has a chance to be interesting.

My plan so far:

Get my hands on a new pair of the 1979 classic AT ath-2 orthodynamic headphone and snatch the drivers. These are known for the fact that theyre open backed but not benefitting from it, rather the obvious (or so i've read). So to keep it funky and old i thought id take a pair of Koss pro4a phones and use those for the housing. then ill replace the cable with a home made one made of four single 99,991% silver cords braided and sleeved, with a neutric 1/4" jack in the end.

 

Any thoughts on my weird idea? Feel free to tell me if im completely off the fence and should keep the ath-2's openbacked or if you have any other ideas...

 

Cheers from the cold north!

Best regards - Victor J. Halgaard

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post #2 of 4
11/25/10 at 8:47am

VictorH: the problem you're likely to run into with this particular swap is a lack of bass due to the big difference in size between the ATH-2 and the big Koss. The little driver will be asked to "drive" a much larger volume of air. Compare the volume enclosed by the little ATH-2 earpads and the volume enclosed by the Koss earpads and you'll see what I mean. 

 

Analogous situation: play your stereo speakers in your living room, then take them outside on the lawn and listen for the difference.

 

For a fun project, sure, why not, go ahead and try it. It's just not likely to produce much bass, certainly nothing like you'd hear in a Pro 4A.

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post #3 of 4
11/25/10 at 9:22am
Thread Starter 

Yea, i feared the lack of bass. Its also what i've run into with the pro4a's before they screwed up though. In the end they lacked of allmost everything , then the left speaker died and i gave up on them.

the madness in the size difference didn't come to my mind in the first case though as i dont have the ath-2's yet.

If i was to get something usefull out of this would you reccomend to simply find a normal neodynium(or however its spelled) driver that can fill out the koss' or are the ath-2 so good that i should rethink the housing and/or keep the original on the ath's

 Bottomline: I read the ath-2 are fairly decent but would they compare to just finding a half decent new ordinary driver (non-orthodynamic)?

 

Im confused about the benefits of orthodynamics apart from being "fast". If its a trail i should do all i can to follow or just stick with the ordinary stuff...

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post #4 of 4
12/2/10 at 7:06pm

The ATH-2 is a kind of kit-- Audio-Technica left it unfinished and wants you to complete it. When you do you'll have a kind of proof-of-concept demonstrator: a headphone that, though it may not be perfect or able to beat out a modern $300 ordinary-type headphone, will demonstrate why people like orthodynamics. They are different. Not fantastically, amazingly, mind-bogglingly different, but they do some things better. Or they could if only their makers had paid just a little more attention to what they needed to sound good, back in the 1970s.

 

So I'd keep the ATH-2 intact, at least for now. For the Pro4A, you need a big dynamic-type driver, 40 or 50mm in diameter. Follow that trail for now.

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