Reviews by BlackbeardBen

What can I say that hasn't been said before about these?
 
For $15 you can hardly go wrong!  The tonal balance is similar to my Alessandro MS-1is, although with noticeably poorer bass extension.  The bass is also noticeably a bit muddy comparatively, but seems to improve a little with amplification.  Bass impact depends on how tight you have them on your ears - right now, with them a tiny bit looser than stock, both the MS-1i and my HD 600 have more bass impact.  That has surprised me a bit, especially after hearing the PortaPros and having been overwhelmed by relatively muddy mid-bass.
 
The detail isn't quite there at the same level as the MS-1i or any other 'phones on that level or higher, but again it's remarkable for the price.  Both midrange and treble have a similar level of detail - good but not great, and definitely not excellent on an absolute scale.
 
The soundstaging of the KSC75 is a bit of a surprise - so far I've noticed two things:  The ambience and sense that the sound is coming from farther away from your ears than a few fractions of an inch is excellent.  On the other hand, the imaging (i.e. preciseness of direction in which sounds appear to come from) is rather poor.
 
As for looks - well, they're rather hideous.  Like wearing a pair of clip-on aftermarket hubcaps of the cheapest kind on your ears.  This is only the second worst part of these headphones though...
 
The worst part of them for me, so far anyway, is the comfort.  "Ear rape" is an appropriate term.  I've been playing around with the clips, and unfortunately, it seems that when I loosen them up enough to be moderately comfortable, the drivers are too far away from my ears.  Tighten them back up to about stock for proper distancing of the drivers, and they pinch my pinnae painfully.
 
I don't know, maybe I'll get used to them or find a more comfortable configuration of the band.  I do admit that the headband-less design is intriguing in terms of portability.  I'm not a big fan of IEMs in terms of comfort or soundstaging, so that's not really an option for me.
 
One interesting possibility is that these may be decent headphones to sleep with - my preliminary wear testing seems to indicate that they aren't any less comfortable when resting the side of your head on a pillow.
 
 
UPDATE (January 8, 2012):  I've certainly come to like these a little bit more over time.  I don't use them very often, but I did get the clip clamping dialed in/got used to them.  They're reasonably comfortable now, but my ears are still a little sore after an hour or two.  It's a marked improvement and for the price not bad.
 
With more listening, I also found the sound to be rather sssssibilant.  -3 dB at 9000 Hz (0.7 Q) on the equalizer fixed that, and now the treble sounds much more refined.  I've also thrown in a little bit of bass and lower midrange boost to suit taste, but the important thing was taming the sibilance.
 
Now I probably wouldn't hesitate to have these as my only headphones for a short ultralightweight trip - I think I prefer them to my Shure E2c's.  Those were my gateway drug, too.

Note: The price paid is used from Amazon Marketplace.  Also, I've duplicated my review from the other product listing here on Head-Fi.  If it is possible, the two HD 600 pages ought to be merged.
 
The first thing about these the HD 600 is the excellent tonal balance - it's never harsh, but the highs are still there and very detailed.  Sometimes the finest details may get lost in very complex music thanks to being overshadowed by other parts of the music, but the resulting detailed smoothness is a very good thing.
 
The mids - ahh, they're to die for!  They're the highlight of the headphones.  They're detailed and lifelike, similar to the highs.  But they're so realistic sounding - even so more than the HD 800 and Beyer T1 I've auditioned.  As far as I'm concerned, the HD 800 (haven't heard the HD 650) still falls short here in comparison.  Guitars, brass, saxes, vocals, and more sound so much more realistic (and and have more visceral impact) than anything else I've heard (my new Alessandro MS1is come close, but not as much with the low mids).
 
Bass is fairly tight and at just about the right level for all types of music.  You'll never make anyone happy with any given quantity of bass, but I think these are as close to a neutral level as you'll get.  Very low bass can be a little loose, and rapid bass notes aren't as distinct as the HD 800, Beyer T1 or DT 880, but it's still excellent overall (and especially compared to lesser headphones).
 
Their soundstaging is very good - but there are, of course, far superior headphones for this.  Depth is good, width is good, and precision of placement is good - again, a very balanced sound.  The sense of spaciousness (a function of all three factors) falls a little short of the AKG K701, and of course the HD 800 and Beyer T1 - but of course is far more evident than the close-in Grado sound.  The "It sounds like they're playing in the room with me!" sensation never really happens to the same level that my speakers (Infinity Renaissance 90) can provide.
 
The build quality is very good - the headband and frames are supposedly made of carbon fiber, but after inspecting them (and seeing photos of cracked headbands) I believe it is probably a carbon fiber reinforced plastic instead.  Less impressive to your friends, perhaps, but an excellent material nonetheless.  They do of course feel slightly plasticky as a result (but it never feels like cheap plastic).
 
They're quite lightweight, and the padding is excellent - the velour earpads and headband are very comfy.  I know some complain about them being too tight - I can't really comment, since I bought mine used.  I never found them to be too tight myself.
 
They stand up to abuse admirably well - mine have lived in my backpack for four months straight and only have superficial damage to the grills (they get dented when sharing the backpack with my Nikon) to show for it.  They haven't been babied at all - just no abuse like trying to bend the headband over on itself...  Anyway, since everything is modular, you can easily replace any part that has broken.  I just got new pads and a cable to replace the worn originals.
 
The marbled finish does wear off a little over time, but it has yet to become detrimental to their appearance so far.  Oh, and by the way, the finish looks a whole lot cooler in person than in photos of the headphones.
 
I've found amp'ing them not to be as difficult as some seem to think.  A/B'ing my uDAC (my main source and amp) against a Beyerdynamic A1 amp, I really couldn't consistently tell any difference between them other than ultimate power output.  The Sansa Clip+ actually does an admirable job running them up to moderately loud levels (not short-term ear blasting, of course), and never clips with them when playing music.  It does, however, sound slightly (yet noticeably) less dynamic and with a narrower, less well defined soundstage in comparison to the uDAC. I forgot that I have a crossfeed plugin (HeadPlug MKII) running on Winamp, so I have to retract those opinions for now - although it does stand for now that I can't get a crossfeed with the Clip (without using an amp with one).
 
So, the verdict?  These are amazing headphones, deserving of their place as one of the best dynamic headphones available to this day (15 years after their first introduction!).  Their smooth, slightly warm (not dark!), but very realistic and - yes - exciting yet neutral sound is near-perfect in balance.  Soundstaging is perhaps the area I would like to see the most improvement, but it is good in this respect already.
 
You'll have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands.

Note: I bought these years ago at Best Buy.  Today they're quite a bit cheaper.
 
I think the pros/cons pretty much sums it up.  They're reasonably well balanced in sound, but it's all pretty muddy and detail-less.
 
They're really fragile - the forks that hold the cups break very easily.  By the time I threw them away, both sides had been repaired multiple times.
 
There's worse headphones to be sure.  But spend your money on Porta Pros instead if this is your budget...  Or better yet, spend $110 on a pair of Alessandro MS1is.

Note: These were received as a gift.
 
In short, I'm actually stunned at the level of performance that only $110 will bring - perhaps it's just the newness to me, but the level of detail of the Alessandros sounds on par with the HD 600s (i.e. excellent), and the sound signature is (IME) closer to the HD 600 than anything else I've listened to, just a bit more "exciting" sounding.
 
What I'm most surprised about is that the Alessandros don't seem bright in the least - I was bracing myself for that, but it never came.  Well, maybe just a tiny, tiny bit.  There's certainly more of an emphasis on the upper mids and lower highs - and bass (leaving the low mids standing out slightly in the HD 600, relatively speaking) - but it's not fatiguing like I found the Beyer DT 880 to be.
 
The bass is surprisingly very strong - almost verging on being bloaty at times, but never to the point where it offends me.  It's kind of like an exaggerated version of the HD 600 bass, perhaps not with as much extension.  Note definition is very good, however.
 
The most notable difference (beyond the price) may be the soundstage, of course.  The Alessandros are narrow, less precise, and closer sounding than the Sennheisers - I don't want to imagine how a K701 or HD 800 would A/B in comparison.  It's not horrible when just listening to them, but as soon as I went back to the HD 600 for the first time, I was astounded at how much more enveloping they sounded.  I guess some like the Grado presentation more (perhaps those who've never heard truly great speakers), but I can't say I'm one of them.  Holographic these are not.
 
Oh, and the other downside: Comfort.  The comfies are much better on my ears than the bowls - which are uncomfortable immediately upon putting on, and hurt after just a few minutes.  Still, I'm finding that after an hour or so my ears hurt a little from even the comfies.  I've stretched out the headband a little which has helped somewhat, although they weren't that tight to begin with and I kind of like not having the band touch my head at all.  Anyway, all the popular over-ear open headphones I've tried, including my HD 600, are way more comfortable.
 
I love the looks, however, and the sturdy build is excellent.  The cable isn't going to fall apart on you either; it's surprisingly very good.  The plastic of the cups is a little cheap feeling, but it doesn't feel like it's going to break - same with the headband and the vinyl pleather.
 
They're very easy to drive - the Sansa Clip+ does great for a portable, as does the uDAC.  Perhaps the uDAC has slightly more more depth and dynamics, but I can't say for sure.  It may just be the difference in using the HeadPlug MKII crossfeed plugin on Winamp.
 
So there you have it - these are superb headphones - at any price - marred really by only two things: Unrealistic in-your-face soundstaging and on-ear uncomfortableness (for me).  For the price, that's excellent.

Just a note: The price paid is used, off of Craigslist.
 
I wanted to like these - the build quality is absolutely beautiful!  The aluminum forks, stainless cup backings, and luxurious headband exude quality, but I just couldn't get over the sound signature.
 
Yes, they're very detailed.  However, it seemed more as a result of the recessed mids and bass than sheer resolution.  Everything that lives and dies in the midrange - vocals, horns, saxes, guitars, and so on - sounded dull and lifeless.  Cymbals and snare hits sounded great, on the other hand - but the treble often sounds quite harsh to my ears.  The bass, while a little on the light side, is very tight and controlled (more so than the Sennheiser HD 600), with no hint of a "one note" sound.
 
The soundstage, perhaps accentuated by the prevalence of the highs, is great.  It's a little better than the HD 600, with more precise placement and a good perception of depth, but not quite up to the level of the AKG K701.
 
Don't let the 32 ohm rating fool you - these aren't particularly easy headphones to drive (they're quite inefficient).  The Clip+ has trouble driving them to anything above quiet room levels, although it does sound quite good in comparison to my uDAC.  The HD 600, on the other hand, seems to improve a bit more with the uDAC (at least my limited testing seemed to indicate this was the case - maybe it's just a placebo effect), despite being able to play louder on the Clip+.
 
So my conclusion?  Technically, very proficient headphones.  They just sounded too harsh in the treble and too lifeless in the mids to be anything I'd like to hang on to.  For some music, it was great - but in particular, electric guitars and brass just sounded so sterile and unrealistic.

These are a fantastic pair of speakers - easily the best I've ever heard.  At $3800 new in the 1990s, I've read that they're among - if not the best sub-$10,000 speakers ever made.  Compared to the Kappa 8s I have, these are better in every respect except the difficulty of driving the 10" Watkins (dual voice coil) woofer.  Look at audioreview.com - there's 33 (excluding mine) unanimous 5-star reviews for these.  I drove 1200 miles from Michigan to Virginia to pick them up, and it was worth every mile.
 
The bass output isn't overwhelming like on many other speakers - it's tightly controlled and perfect in quantity for every genre of music.  The gain control on the Carver I use is essential as it lets you control the balance between the EMIT/EMIM/mid-bass coupler and the Watkins woofer.  The bass extension is the best I've ever heard.
 
The new High Energy EMIT and EMIM drivers are spectacular.  This is my first speaker with an EMIM midrange, but the new EMIT is definitely better than the older Kappa and RS series ones.  It's sweeter yet more detailed - an extremely difficult feat.  I honestly can't imagine a speaker with better highs.  The EMIM is really the star of the show though - I can't believe how much better it is than the Polydomes on my Kappa 8s and older RS 5s.  All of the excellent properties of the EMIT are carried down to the EMIM.  Vocals, horns, guitars - everything - sound spectacular.  The EMIM is so transparent that on a good recording I feel like I'm in the studio and the musicians are playing in front of me - but not too close.  The sense of depth is excellent - something I've never experienced before.
 
The best thing I can say about the mid-bass coupler is that it is entirely unobtrusive.  I never even notice it, it is so well integrated with the EMIM and woofer.  The lower midrange and upper bass is full and "right" sounding, never overwhelming.  The only time it ever sticks out is with recent poorly recorded albums that have a mid-bass hump to make it seem as if there is more bass on cheap speakers.  That's not a fault of the speaker though - just a result of the poor mastering that is demanded by users of iPod earbuds and laptop speakers.
 
The footprint of the speakers is nice, too.  They're actually quite small, accentuated by the trapezoidal shape.  They look awesome - the wood grain is rich even on my matte black speakers.  The built quality far exceeds my Kappa 8s - these are solid speakers.  The binding posts are solid metal, unlike the plastic-capped posts on every other speaker I've seen.  Unfortunately the grille frames broke on mine, but that was under the auspices of the previous owner.  The rubber surrounds are great as they're still supple almost 20 years later, but the foam in the rear EMIM diffuser is deteriorating as happens to all of these.
 
As I said before, these are easily the best speakers I've ever heard.  The Kappa 8s are good too, but these are just on another level.  The imaging is spectacular - and I don't even have a good room for setting these up.  In a big room with lots of space behind and around them I know they will be even better.  Same thing goes for the amps - I don't have the money for a Krell or Levinson or McIntosh, but the Carver and Adcom together do an excellent job of powering them.  I highly recommended them for amping the Renaissance 90s on a budget, but I'd love to hear a truly high-end amp powering them.