[DefQon]

  Oh Jesus I am trying vehemently to fight off the urge to purchase this with the $400 off from Koss today. I just bought a set of Denons recently, and can't justify this so soon. I realize this may be the worst possible thread to ask, but can anyone dissuade me from burning my bank account? Is this an annual thing, so that at worst I can wait until next year for this or is this literally the lowest new sets of Koss ESP950 have ever gone? I have heard 40% off isn't such a unique thing from Koss. 

Maybe I can dissuade you from keeping that Denon and buying these instead?

 

[purk]

Can't resist....ordered a pair earlier today.  Thanks for the head-up!

 

[milosz]

A pair just went for about $375 incl shipping on eBay.  Open box / new.  Since Koss offers a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty on the ESP-950, this would have been a good deal, even if they didn't work.  Cheapest I've ever seen them sell for.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Koss-ESP-950-Electrostatic-Stereophone-with-Soft-Leather-Storage-Case-1000-/190982153061?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=RrWrZ7LqyimBSzlQ9yFkPTYnJgM%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
 
I bought my pair off Audiogon about two years ago for $500, and they are a pair with a Stax cable and also an adapter to use the Koss amp, that was a great deal for me, for sure.  I almost didn't buy them, but I am very glad I did.  I have 6 pair of fancy headphones. including SR-007 MK 1's, HD-800's, etc.  If I had to give them all up except one pair, I would keep the Koss I think.  The Stax are super nice, but I like the "voice" of the Koss just a little more.

 

[s1rrah]

  I bought my pair off Audiogon about two years ago for $500, and they are a pair with a Stax cable and also an adapter to use the Koss amp, that was a great deal for me, for sure.  I almost didn't buy them, but I am very glad I did.  I have 6 pair of fancy headphones. including SR-007 MK 1's, HD-800's, etc.  If I had to give them all up except one pair, I would keep the Koss I think.  The Stax are super nice, but I like the "voice" of the Koss just a little more.

 
Mine came with the extension modified with a Stax amp plug on the end; this is less than ideal as when using a Stax amp, the cable length becomes quite long but I'm afraid to have my main headphones re terminated as I figured it would make warranty service very difficult.
 
Do you know where I can source a small/short adapter to use the Koss phones with a Stax amp? The extension will work okay but I'd love to have a shorter cable...

 

[milosz]

These guys used to sell that sort of thing, it's still shown on their website but I'm not sure they are actually still in business.... let us know if you buy one
 
http://apuresound.com/ehrc.html

 

[purk]

  These guys used to sell that sort of thing, it's still shown on their website but I'm not sure they are actually still in business.... let us know if you buy one
 
http://apuresound.com/ehrc.html

I would refrain from his site.  I think many people still have not received their orders.  Alex used to be quite a stand up guys but I don't quite understand what went wrong with him.  Check out this thread:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/546938/apuresound-complaint-thread-customers-with-outstanding-items-or-money-only/75

 

[En_R]

  These guys used to sell that sort of thing, it's still shown on their website but I'm not sure they are actually still in business.... let us know if you buy one
 
http://apuresound.com/ehrc.html

 
This guy's business venture culminated in him stealing an R10 and running away with a lot customer's money. I believe he was last spotted asking about which sports car to purchase.

 

[shipsupt]

Last time I tried to contact them I never got a response.

I just went ahead and build my own. This is a pretty basic DIY build that most could do with little more than an iron and some wire cutters.

You could buy an extension from Koss, they are super cheap, and chop it down to as short as you want.

 

[s1rrah]

Even easier I guess would be to chop my current extension since it already has a nice sleeved stax connector. I'm assuming all I'd have to do is match and splice the cable wires? No iron needed in that case? Not too clean but I've never used a soldering iron so this .might be easiest for me.

 

[shipsupt]

You'd still have to solder the wires in, unless it's a fitting I'm not familiar with. The wire diagram is readily available, I could send you the link, and yes it's easy to match up the wiring.

 

[Binge]

  Can't resist....ordered a pair earlier today.  Thanks for the head-up!

 
 
 
In the very same boat sir.  40% off :|  Free priority shipping :|
 
The result is a hurt wallet.

 

[s1rrah]

You'd still have to solder the wires in, unless it's a fitting I'm not familiar with. The wire diagram is readily available, I could send you the link, and yes it's easy to match up the wiring.

 
I didn't mean detaching the Stax plug that's already been modded/soldered on to my extension cable; I mean actually cutting the extension cable itself, leaving both ends intact and then just shortening either side of the cable and splicing the wires back together in the middle. 
 
A hack but I could avoid the solder part; I'll probably just leave the cable as is and roll up the middle part and fix it with a zip tie or something to make it shorter ....

 

[shipsupt]

I honestly think if you feel able to cut the cable and bodge it back together lie that, you could solder the splice and do a decent job without any trouble.  For this job a really cheap iron and a you tube video on soldering and Bob's your Uncle.  
 
I don't think I'd run them with the wires just cold spliced, but I guess you could.

 

[milosz]

  I honestly think if you feel able to cut the cable and bodge it back together lie that, you could solder the splice and do a decent job without any trouble.  For this job a really cheap iron and a you tube video on soldering and Bob's your Uncle.  
 
I don't think I'd run them with the wires just cold spliced, but I guess you could.

MAYBE you could use CRIMP-ON BUTT SPLICES.  However, the wires are probably VERY THIN and this might not work well. Typically, headphone cables are designed for flexibility and durability- so the wires inside are often very very thin and wound with nylon or other durable fiber to provide strength, so a butt-type splice might not work with all cables.  You're much better off with solder and heat-shrink tubing.
 
Crimping tool and connectors  $5.95  Home Depot http://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bender-Terminal-and-Crimping-Tool-Kit-GS-67K/202518592#.Up55vcRZd8E
 

 
Here's a video that shows how- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WN-lBkjkAc

 

[shipsupt]

Still not endorsing the idea, but if I was going to crimp the connection I'd use a connector that also has a low temperature solder that is activated with a heat gun (or similar).
 
Something like: http://www.cableorganizer.com/multilink-butt-splices/