[sgrossklass]

Someone in the German Hifi-Forum was asking for any kind of information on these cans (like ~age, technical data, perhaps even value) that he had once gotten from his father. Reportedly sound is good. Here's a pic of them, as you can see they are in excellent condition for being 20+ years old. The xformers must obviously be integrated into the earcups. So, what do the experts say (or anyone else who knows these cans, for that matter)?

 

[facelvega]

OEM from one of the smaller Japanese companies, if I recall. I know that Wualta and presumably Carl know more. Also, Duggeh once had the dynamic version of the similar housing, presumably from the same OEM company.

 

[Duggeh]

The NAD 16 was the dynamic version, they were, to be blunt, dreadful. Ive never heard of the NAD18 electrets before now. Theres also a NAD20 electrostatic with matching amp, which apparently isnt too bad a headphone, but I've never seen one go for a sane price.

 

[tyre]

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[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass Here's a pic of them..

Cheese o' Pete-- from that angle, the thing looks exactly like the legendary Fostex T50! Putting "RP" in the model name makes it doubly intriguing. But apparently they're elektret, not isodynamik, eh? Weeeeirrrrrd. And if they are electrets, yes, the transformers must be inside the cups.

Any possibility of getting more photos? Any chance he wants to sell 'em?

They look somewhat like the NAD 20E 'stats, but if we could just see the backs of the cups..


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[Carl]

Those RP18s look quite attractive for a 70s electret. The pads look much less like a device of torture than the ones on Stax's electrets from the period were.

I can only imagine that a stepup transformer capable of fitting into that form-factor would sound like. I guess it would be possible to bypass it if you were feeling really trick, however, but it's doubtful it'd be worth the effort. All in all, it looks more like something buy for the sake of getting a piece of history more than to sound good. Of course, some old 'trets do surprise...

 

[spritzer]

I would guess that these had an external adapter much like the Koss ESP-6.

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would guess that these had an external adapter much like the Koss ESP-6.

I believe it was the ESP-9 that had the adaptor. The ESP-6 had the transformers in the cups, if memory serves, but at least that was a ginormous circumaural.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe it was the ESP-9 that had the adaptor. The ESP-6 had the transformers in the cups, if memory serves, but at least that was a ginormous circumaural.

They both had an adapter. The ESP-6 had transformers in the cups but it also had a little box with a normal headphone socket to connect to a speaker amp because they were so power hungry.

 

[tyre]

They do seem rather thin to have the transformers inside the earcups. You'd think that with transformers that small it would limit low end frequency response.

 

[Duggeh]

The Echo ED-1000 was similarly slim and it had small transformers inside the cups. And yes, limited bass response and peak volume.

 

[sgrossklass]

According to the owner, the grille does not look like the 20E's, it seems to be a wire grille like the small one in the center of the 20E (but covering almost the whole back). Oh, and he currently has no real use for the cans. (I'm kinda intrigued myself, as long as the price is right that is - head-fi induced wallet depression, y'see.)

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass /img/forum/go_quote.gif According to the owner, the grille seems to be a wire grille like the small one in the center of the 20E (but covering almost the whole back).

Whoa, now it really sounds like the design of the old T50.

Yeah, depending on who made these, they could be great or scuzzy. We'll just have to get our inquisitive hands on them, bah goom.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah, depending on who made these, they could be great or scuzzy. We'll just have to get our inquisitive hands on them, bah goom.

sgrossklass, I think this is a job for you. Refer the owner to this thread, and ask if he'll send you the headphones for a week or two to take a look at them and test them. I promise to ueberweisen you or the seller 3,90 for a DHL paeckchen to cover 1/2 of the shipping. (or I could just finally send you that HD540 grille I once mentioned)

-FV

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by facelvega I promise to ueberweisen you or the seller...

That sounds like that secret experimental brew never released to the public in my home town of St.Louis-- Anheuser-Busch Ueberweiser. They found that if young executives drank it, they were immediately transferred. No one knew why. Our family suddenly found itself in Syracuse. But enough of that, we want those Fost-- I mean, NAD 'phones for harmless experiments using a Varian spectrophotometer and an ice pick. Tell the owner not to worry; they're both very small. [suppresses evil chuckle]


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