[PolloLoco]

Though I doubt anyone is reading this thread anymore - here's my finished product. If anyone stumbles across it - I'll be glad to explain in more detail how I did it. Below I show thick angled pads, but I realized that these only sound good with thin pads - otherwise they lose too much fine detail.

I did some head to head listening against the Koss ESP95X and the ESP95X still sound better. Though these are still in the same ballpark. The ESP6 have little bass unless I add 3DB via equalizer. The ESP95X also have more treble extension and sound overall more ethereal. The ESP6 have very impactful mids, more like my Kaldas RR1 - where the ESP95X sound slightly soft, slightly dreamy.

 

[c3kkos]

Hello there, yes there is someone reading you, someone that thank you for this info sharing.

Unlucky me thought, i've abandoned the project since i couldn't get to improve the sound from mine. I think the diaphragms are somehow broken or glued.

Why you opt to have cups opened?

 

[PolloLoco]

Hello there, yes there is someone reading you, someone that thank you for this info sharing.

Unlucky me thought, i've abandoned the project since i couldn't get to improve the sound from mine. I think the diaphragms are somehow broken or glued.

Why you opt to have cups opened?

Hmm, it's definitely possible. I don't know if you saw my picture of a broken diaphragm from the first set I bought.

I ended up leaving them fully open, since closed I couldn't get them to sound clear no matter what type of filler or filters I used. Worse, even after ensuring they were fully closed, they leaked so much sound that someone 3 feet away could hear what I was listening to.

In my opinion, there's no point to closed headphones if they leak sound.

 

[lawrence2357]

Definitely worth keeping this thread alive!!

I bought a pair recently, in excellent condition in the case, but with no adaptor box and described as untested. They worked great within a minute from cold and I took off one of the pads to measure and order something suitable but softer off eBay. (From reading the thread above I chose a pair of Chinese pads listed as suitable for the Brainwaivz HM5.)

Replaced the pad without another thought and after an hour of running in at moderate volume I went back and noticed lower volume and bad distortion from one channel. Rather disappointed I assumed that a fault in the circuit or stator had emerged from use and powered down.

Going back a little later I noticed that there were some drops of liquid on the cup. Turned out that removing the pad had make a small hole in the joint and the old gel had leaked. (I'd actually assumed that after 30-40 years it would have dried up to powder but apparently not!).

Anyway after leaving for a couple of days in the box with several sachets of silica gel (I always keep them you never know when they'll come in handy!) they are back to normal and sounding great.

Just thought this might be a useful lesson to anyone with the same problem before they take them apart.

BTW, I listened to them in bed last night for a while with some old stretched to shape AKG plastic pads (from vintage K240s IIRC) and they sound really good. Not thunderous bass but tight and evident. Certainly prefer them to the AKG701s I have and different (but not worse) to the HD650s. Turns out my headphone amp drives them pretty well.

 

[timb5881]

I broke down and purchased a set of the ESP-6. I received them today and for grins I plugged it into my Schiit Vali 2 not expecting much if any sound, but to my surprise they played. Not loud but it played and was balanced. Someone prior to me put new ear pads on and it looks to have been cleaned up. I tried my headphone amps first as there was no T3 with it. So far the Burson Play which has 2 watts into 16 ohms powers it the best. I am surprised at the overall sound, decent all the way around.

 

[timb5881]

So I made an in-line 1/4” stereo female socket and wired up the out to my Cary 88. All I can say is that I am stunned by how good these sound. Not as good as my Stax 404 or my Koss ESP950 but way better than I expected.

 

[timb5881]

they're self-energizing from the audio signal. I picked up a pair but could not get sufficient power from a TPA6120A2 amp to get them going. I'd like to know from owners what amplifier power range is good for ESP6 to achieve full dynamics - a few of my power amps are low power single ended tube - one around 7 watts maximum - is that enough voltage?
--also, do the stock value capacitors hold charge long enough to deal with some genre where there are relatively long periods of either silence or soft sounds?

they're self-energizing from the audio signal. I picked up a pair but could not get sufficient power from a TPA6120A2 amp to get them going. I'd like to know from owners what amplifier power range is good for ESP6 to achieve full dynamics - a few of my power amps are low power single ended tube - one around 7 watts maximum - is that enough voltage?
--also, do the stock value capacitors hold charge long enough to deal with some genre where there are relatively long periods of either silence or soft sounds?

The TPA is a chip amp they do not like shared grounds