[swbf2cheater]

They were $649 on Newegg not that long ago and I had a 20% off coupon for Headphones that went right to my spam box and I didn't see it until weeks after its deadline.  I bought a computer and it came with a 20% thank you for buying this expensive computer from us, here is a 20% off thing for any headphones.  Kicking myself........

 

[Mr.Sneis]

Funny for such an old old headphone for the recent surge in popularity.

 

[spritzer]

Just wait until Koss discontinues them, then they will be the second coming and with the price to match.... 

 

[obobskivich]

Just wait until Koss discontinues them, then they will be the second coming and with the price to match.... 

Do you really see them being discontinued any time soon? I mean, they've been around for ages, and Koss hasn't really indicated they're on about any new flagships.

 

[spritzer]

Koss still make headphones from the 70's so who knows but the ESP950 is at least 23 years old... 

 

[kevin gilmore]

koss still makes the esp900 for medical use. (magnetic resonance imaging)
 
Only electrostatic headphones can be used inside these systems because
they can be made completely out of non-magnetic materials.
 
Very cool for diagnosing auditory problems.
 
I have a pair around somewhere.

 

[obobskivich]

koss still makes the esp900 for medical use. (magnetic resonance imaging)

Only electrostatic headphones can be used inside these systems because
they can be made completely out of non-magnetic materials.

Very cool for diagnosing auditory problems.

I have a pair around somewhere.

ESP/900? Is that the closed-back 'stat that nikon_god ended up with a few years ago? Or something different? (The only closed stats I'm aware of (and feel free to correct me) are the ESP/6, ESP/9, ESP/10 (which are more fairly "semi-closed" I think), and SR-4070, but then there's that set nikon_god has that look like A/130s with the 950 drivers in them...).

Did a bit of Google-fu and saw a few mentions to ESP/900 in some medical journals. I want to know more and how much they cost and so on...

 

[Reticuli2]

I thought I saw a pair of those 900s on Through the Wormhole last week.

 

[stuckonsound]

Hi all! I'm trying to gather some opinions on how the ESP950 fairs against some of the newer orthos. I used to have a HE-5LE and a LCD-2, but sold both as I spent my first winter in Alaska with me and my family living in a small cabin where open headphones didn't fair well. And I needed money for extra expenses. Now I'm in a more proper house and would like to get a more high end open headphone for some of that magic I've been missing lately. I'm thinking either the HE-500 or ESP-950 would be nice. The ESP would be more economical in the short term being that it comes with an amp. (Sold my HA-160D too).

Anyways, I'd like to hear how these two compare in terms of speed, transparency, tonal naturality, and soundstage.

 

[M3NTAL]

The LCD-2 to ESP-950 comparo has been done in here already. They are complementary phones not ones I would put against each other and expect a clear winner. They both do things differently. With the 4 different areas of concern you listed - I'd give the 950 a 3/4 victory over the LCD-2.  They (950) are faster, more transparent and have better soundstage and imaging. I personally thought the LCD-2 sounded more natural.. this is more of a personal choice, so someone else could probably think the 950 was more natural. The way electrostats render bass is where the naturalness goes away for me, every thing else is great on the 950.

 

[livewire]

THIS ^^^
 
The LCD-2 has good bass, the 950 does bass well for a stat. Elsewhere, the 950 excels.

 

[stuckonsound]

Thanks for the info. I'm leaning toward the ESP-950. It would be nice to try a stat and I could alway upgrade the amp later.

THIS ^^^

The LCD-2 has good bass, the 950 does bass well for a stat. Elsewhere, the 950 excels.

The LCD-2 to ESP-950 comparo has been done in here already. They are complementary phones not ones I would put against each other and expect a clear winner. They both do things differently. With the 4 different areas of concern you listed - I'd give the 950 a 3/4 victory over the LCD-2.  They (950) are faster, more transparent and have better soundstage and imaging. I personally thought the LCD-2 sounded more natural.. this is more of a personal choice, so someone else could probably think the 950 was more natural. The way electrostats render bass is where the naturalness goes away for me, every thing else is great on the 950.

 

[livewire]

The ESP-950 does very well with my KGSSHV. The extra power improves the bass response, but it still isnt as good as the orthos.
Dont feel that a better amp is a necessity tho. The Koss E-90 plastic amp aint no slouch. It sounds great! 

 

[obobskivich]

I'd like to add on the bass, imho the 950 does better than a lot of non-basshead cans in terms of musicality/extension - for example the Sennheiser HD 580; it extends deeper and hits harder. That doesn't mean it will compete with true basshead models (like what you might get from Ultrasone), but it's certainly not "lean" or "thin" along the lines of the K701 or MDR-SA5000. I don't know if you've heard any of those cans, but I commonly see people assuming (incorrectly) that the ESP/950 (as an electrostat) will have no bass whatsoever and they need an ortho in order to hear anything under 300hz. That simply isn't the case. Now if you want to rattle your skull apart, the 950s are probably not a good choice. I haven't tried the orthos (because tbh I don't like lots of bass or heavy cans), so ymmv. Regarding their natural-ness/musicality; they're among the best I've heard - but that's just me.


And imho their amp is perfect (I haven't even bothered looking at more expensive aluminum boxes) - does everything it needs to do, and they sound suberb. So what's the point in spending another $2000?

 

[wink]

Quote:

So what's the point in spending another $2000?

This is Head-Fi sacrilege.
 
"Sorry about your wallet" must be your catch-cry..........