[Paranoid Android]

So I bought a pair of KSC75's and I loved the sound, especially I guess what you'd call the soundstage. Unfortunately the left driver started rattling and they were terrible for running (kept falling off) and leaked too much to be portables so I exchanged them for...... Koss's THE PLUG. Good god. I heard some mixed reviews but man do these headphones blow (gonna return them tomorrow). These things are all bass, no mids, no highs, no soundstage. I guess the lack of soundstage is to be expected from IEM's (I whipped out my E3C's after not hearing them for about a year to confirm), although after listening to the KSC75s I noticed that my MS1s are lacking quite a bit in that department as well.

Now for my question. What's a good pair of headphones for about $20 bucks to hold me over until I get some money for a good pair? I know it's pretty much impossible to expect to get the sound and soundstage of the KSC75's without them leaking like hell (since it seems like the soundstage is a result of the open design) so IEMs would probably be out of the question, but maybe there are some earbuds out there that can compete? How does the whole PK line compare to the KSC75s? I'm thinking about getting some PK1's a few paychecks from now and I could swing for the PK3s in the meantime but I don't want to wait for a week for them to ship, I'd rather just go to the nearest Radioshack or CompUSA or whatever and pick up a pair. Any suggestions?

 

[bperboy]

As for the rattling, try taking the foam off and clearing out any hairs. Sometimes they start buzzing for me, and I just clean all the crap out and it sounds clear again.

 

[EFN]

With a $20 budget, I am afraid you will only have KSC-75 as the only worthy contender.

Why don't just save and stretch it all the way to $70-80 region, that way you will have more options.

 

[Paranoid Android]

Yeah I'm probably gonna stick with the plug for now just so that I can have a pair to run with, and then get something good. So would you say that the PK1s trump the KSC75 in every way?

 

[souperman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paranoid Android /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yeah I'm probably gonna stick with the plug for now just so that I can have a pair to run with, and then get something good. So would you say that the PK1s trump the KSC75 in every way?

Yes. But would you really want to run with such an expensive pair of headphones? Are you actually that focused on the music while you are running to buy a pair of headphones for that much? I would settle with the Pk3's for running just for now. Don't use such expensive heaphones for excercise as you won't get that much out of them.

 

[e_resolu]

If you like the KSC75 (I also appreciate its soundstage), you should try the KSC55 which has behind-the-neck design for sport activity

:

http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf...rm&pc^bh^KSC55

 

[Paranoid Android]

Quote:

Originally Posted by souperman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. But would you really want to run with such an expensive pair of headphones? Are you actually that focused on the music while you are running to buy a pair of headphones for that much? I would settle with the Pk3's for running just for now. Don't use such expensive heaphones for excercise as you won't get that much out of them.

They wouldn't be only for running, more like also for running. I usually get around on my bike and I like to have my music with me (and I like it to sound good!).

Quote:

If you like the KSC75 (I also appreciate its soundstage), you should try the KSC55 which has behind-the-neck design for sport activity : http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf...rm&pc^bh^KSC55

Yeah I might get these for exercising, think I saw a pair at Radioshack where i got my KSC75's and The Plug.

 

[RokabillySwagger]

For the purposes of cheap, decent sounding phones I must say my JVC-Marshmallows HX33's have been good to me. Designed like the plug but they sound pretty good and usually can be found even at big box stores for 20 bucks. They stay in my ear through most everything and sound pretty good out of a portable player.