[Scrivs]

Wouldnt want to buy those, thats for sure.

 

[alysony]

Those look like to be about 1935 to 1940 style headphones. Anything earlier would have unshielded lines going directly to the drivers. The mono plug also dates them. I doubt they are for telecom as those have mics on them, unless these are for ship telecom, then that would explain the lack of mic and the mono. It would be interesting to take apart the driver and determine what it is they are.

 

[fjrabon]

I'm pretty certain they're metal detector headphones from the 40's.

 

[Uncle Erik]

But are they fully burned in yet?

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drubbing /img/forum/go_quote.gif Judging by this styling from the 1920's, those probably won't come close to being even 50-60 years old. Headphone Gallery And these from the 1940s Antique Vintage Headphones For Sale

Those antique phones look just like grados!

 

[JeckyllAndHyde]

mine looks like this, with plastic/bakelit pads(fronts)

just recabled them with stereo cable. they sound weird: some sounds (like xylophone) sounds nearly perfect, the charasteristic is faaaar away from linear. They have absolutely no damping inside. I'll try to add some soft pads outside and see if the sound changes.

 

[Il Mostro]

The leather was formed with a ravioli-cutter -- priceless.

 

[k3oxkjo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeckyllAndHyde /img/forum/go_quote.gif mine looks like this, with plastic/bakelit pads(fronts) just recabled them with stereo cable. they sound weird: some sounds (like xylophone) sounds nearly perfect, the charasteristic is faaaar away from linear. They have absolutely no damping inside. I'll try to add some soft pads outside and see if the sound changes.

Most of the old bakelite phones were built for communications purposes and had very limited bandwidth. How do I know? I am a Ham Radio operator and used that stuff as a teen. The resonant peak many of these had was actually useful, most of the comms were on Morse code (CW) and you could use the resonance to "peak" the CW tone you were listening to! BTW, I am not 100 years old

.

The OP phones remind me of units sold as surplus back in the late 60's/early 70's as being from the Canadian military. So I would expect they were from the WW 2 era. As I recall, a friend had a pair on his station back around 1969 (I couldn't afford that kind of exotica in high school, they may as well have been HD-800's

), I believe they were better than the bakelite stuff, but not "Hi-Fi" in today's sense.

Kevin

 

[JeckyllAndHyde]

Ok as promised - some real photos of what I've bought - I personally believe there IS potencial in this technology

The black thing is a thin metal circle wchich is moved by electromagnets underneath. Like an grandpa of membrane.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by k3oxkjo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most of the old bakelite phones were built for communications purposes and had very limited bandwidth. How do I know? I am a Ham Radio operator and used that stuff as a teen. The resonant peak many of these had was actually useful, most of the comms were on Morse code (CW) and you could use the resonance to "peak" the CW tone you were listening to! BTW, I am not 100 years old . The OP phones remind me of units sold as surplus back in the late 60's/early 70's as being from the Canadian military. So I would expect they were from the WW 2 era. As I recall, a friend had a pair on his station back around 1969 (I couldn't afford that kind of exotica in high school, they may as well have been HD-800's ), I believe they were better than the bakelite stuff, but not "Hi-Fi" in today's sense. Kevin

Yep, you're right maybe we can call them pre phone, (as telephone) or pro phone, hps.

 

[Thermionic]

Rather concurring with K3oxkjo, I can’t remember the name of these phones, something like Parmeko I think. I believe they are WW2 vintage, American and were the sort of thing that B17 aircrews used for communications.

They have no microphone as this would have been most likely a pair of throat mics strapped around the neck. Strictly lo-fi but perfectly good for speech over an AM radio link.

The drivers if similar to those in the photos, look to be very standard ’moving iron’ types (electromagnet with a vibrating thin iron diaphragm), and I have an idea that they were fairly high impedance (500+ Ohms?).

As a boy in the 1960’s I had a pair of British equivalents with the Bakelite ear cups as mentioned. They were uncomfortable and were useless for music, perhaps the 'Parmekos' were a bit better.

 

[kool bubba ice]

I bought a similar looking headphone for a cheaper price.. 1/4 terminated.. 2000 ohms.. Could barely hear the music, but the sound wasn't half bad.. I'm sure it would have sounded pretty decent through a power amp..Of course I twiddled with the 1/4 plug & now, no sound..lol Go, figure.. Oh, well.. A antique..

 

[charliex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif The listing claims real leather.. Which is better then a lot of current headphones.. Can anyone guess a date?? 1800's??

1800's - you can't be serious??? We were still riding horses and playing cowboy and injun. People were lucky to have an outhouse and a well.

 

[auricolari]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charliex /img/forum/go_quote.gif 1800's - you can't be serious??? We were still riding horses and playing cowboy and injun. People were lucky to have an outhouse and a well.

Perhaps, but by the 1890's, the technology already existed for many things we take for granted today. A really rich person living in a large city would have easily had access to running water, gas/electric combo lights, a telephone, and indoor bathrooms with localized hot water. Maybe even an early Edison cylinder player or Berliner flat disc gramophone! Headphones? Probably not. Radio (spark-gap at the time) was non-existent before 1895, rare prior to WWI, and not in the public limelight prior to 1920. Anything pre-1920 therefore would have been for telephone exchanges and not have been dynamic - most likely, carbon granules/shot sandwiched between two metal plates. I would imagine the really high impedance and a narrow bandwidth of about 500Hz-2kHz would preclude the use of any really old communications cans for modern usage

FWIW, these look like 1930's or 1940's vintage to me, per past experience. Not 1800's.

 

[sunneebear]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those pads look revolting.

No kidding. I want to wash my hands or take a shower just from looking at the picture.