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I knew it

Pity about the YH-1000. Yeah, don't mention anything here until after it's over, as a rule of thumb.

I only mildly modded my friend's YH-100 (disc of superfelt sandwiched between the stock foam and the back magnet and a reflex dot covering four holes on the back magnet). They're not bad at all, sound-wise, and still have some potential yet unfulfilled. Uncomfortable for me, though. No way I could wear them for more than ~30 minutes at a time. Might be because the pads have been in better shape. Also, the stock cable is kind of crappy.

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It's been about three years, a lifetime in Innaweb time. I think it was this busted one:




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Oh, yes. Nothing burns brighter than a burning illuminatus. They do say, that on a braw bricht moonlicht nicht, you can see 'em catch fire spontaneously as they listen to their Norah Jones tracks on their ill-gotten YH-1000s, arrrr.

They're that good.


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Yes, it's best that way. Although in the case of phantoms like the YH-1000 it won't make a lot of difference.

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Keep working on them. The cable on some old Yamas is perfectly fine, but the next one you see has insulation that's all stiff and yucky. Whether this is indicative of a corrosion problem with the copper underneath, I don't know.

Sometimes a headphone arrives from the quiet part of Brooklyn and it's cold from its ride in the back of a mail truck and it's frozen in a position that would make it clamp your head so hard you'd faint. The answer to this is an Optimus Pro LX-5. The perfect way to stretch out an Ortho and an interesting little speaker to boot. Optimus 5s prefer listening to Orthos two to one.

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I read that the YH-1000 high end response is so good that you can use them as a flashlight.

...and you can slay dragons with them.

From the sublime to the downright cheap 'n' cheerful.

Ladles and Jellyspoons, I hereby present, for your iso edification,[size=medium] the one,[/size] [size=medium][size=large]the only[/size].[/size]..

[size=xx-large]Wharfedale Isodynamic!!!! [/size]
Wooooohooooooo!

As you'd expect after so many years, the vinyl pad and headband covers had rotted off and these were re-covered with Tartan cloth. Not exactly ideal for sound reproduction no matter how many Haggis eating, log throwing and bagpipe blowing Scotsmen may claim otherwise. I had to quickly remove this iso affront before my eyes melted from their sockets.

Stripped of the offending material they are now laid bare. As you can see, no isolation or sealing of any kind. Completely open in all directions. Note the big fat square cups and corresponding foam cushions.



This shot shows the front of the driver assembly, pretty big and cleverly clipped into the cups forming the vertical swivel joints internally. Easiest and quickest driver removal in history, one swift tug and it's out. Note the fat felt-ish pad glued to the inside of the cup.



Another fat pad glued to the driver. It seems Wharfedale had a much better idea of how to maximize this low cost headphone than any of the others making them.



I quickly set about putting them close to original condition, knowing the cloth covers were causing untold sonic damage. Armed with some thin leather, scissors and glue I did the dirty on them.



They almost look new if you don't look too closely. I'm rubbish at sewing and too impatient to learn so it's another half-assed refurb, however, they sound as good as new now, which is surprisingly good. It seems my tastes back in 1976 when I bought my first pair wasn't so bad after all. The pads make a big difference. Nice comfy headband too now.

Yes, that is indeed the manual/brochure they came with, I also have the original box. I'll be scanning it all for the Wiki



Finally, so you can all snortle at these classic '70s icons, I present the giggling idiot



Big, light and very comfy, they come with classic curly cord and a speaker adapter because the Yamahas have nothing on these for inefficiency, and Wharfedale knew it.

Big thanks to our man Duggeh for being kind enough to forward these on to me from the jolly old homeland

Looks great but is there any baffle underneath the pads?

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The pads come with a backing that goes over the driver lip you can see in the Third picture, so the driver/pad forms it's own enclosed front space. There's still nothing stopping any signal escaping any part of the cups as they are not sealed anywhere. The driver and pads swivel in the cup opening. It's the most open phone I can think of outside the Lambda.

They do sound damn nice in their standard configuration, I don't think I'm even going to bother tweaking them. I tried a few quick things to see what would happen with thinner pads, more damping, etc and in every case they sounded worse. I get the feeling Wharfedale actually did their homework on these and they seem pretty optimal. Considering the design is from 1971-2 they did a great job and they're much better than I was expecting or hoping. Score!

About Wharfedale Isodynamic:

http://vads.ahds.ac.uk/diad/bres/pub/COID/292/036.jpg

I could buy those for about 100$ but I was too late, it was 5 months ago.


About YH-1000 - guys check that those on an auction had also a material(cotton) earpds , the same as my, it's proof that yh-1000 had also a material earpads

Score indeed.

As promised, here are pics of my YH-100 damping.


The parts needed for damping a single cup: small pieces of thick felts for the vents, a disc of thin dense felt for the back, the stock foam, another disc of thin felt against the driver.


The driver sealed to the baffle with a verythin line of bluetack, and the small cotton wool ball on the back of the cup to make them a bit more even.


All the felts assembled, except the one against the driver.


Finished, and recabled with Mogami miniquad.

This damping scheme works very well with the stock cable, but while still sounding good it makes them sound a little bright/overdamped once recabled, at least for my tastes as I like a darkish sound signature. I will try different "tuning" discs against the driver, as with the other Yamas I have once you find the right damping scheme, changing the sound signature is easily accomplished by varying the density and size/shape of the top felt.

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Or proof that vinyl peels off

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Nice to see that they arrived safe. Enjoy.

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These have a certain charm that still make them my favourite of all the ortho's that I have heard.



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woohoo indeed , fantastic refurb IMHO. I think this idea of a PNW ortho meet is going to have to become a reality at some point. . an extended hand to the kiltless Duggeh for making it happen.

ps smeggy, I know have to remove the pink hair from memmory



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Thanks Ludoo, this scheme follows closely the original damping with those small segments of damping. My concern with those strips has always been air leakage which is why I remove them. Do you still have an unmodded pair to compare to? Your recabling looks very good, well done..dB

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I have an unmodded pair (Kabeer's), will compare them later. The stock strips are almost useless, as they are very thin and, as ericj pointed out, they move easily. My strips are much larger and thicker, and have holes to keep them in place on the small posts. They are very effective, both at damping the driver vibrations (as the driver nests very snugly inside them) and of course the vents. Before using them all my damping attempts were only average, now the sound is balanced, and I can start tuning them like all my other Yamas.

ok that makes sense - I hadn't appreciated the holes for the posts to keep them in place..dB