[Knuckledragger]

I've searched, but not turned up much info on this. When were the three* iterations of Sennheiser electrostatic headphones made, and in what quantities? I'm recalling the original Orph system being released in the early-to-mid 90s. Anyone know what the exact years of production were, and how many made were made?

*As far as I know, three: Original Orpheus system (HE90 + HEV90), HE60 + HEV70, HE90 solo.

EDIT: Tweaked the title to include Stax as well.

 

[spritzer]

They were released in 1991 or 92 and there were only two sets with a few more He90's made as the amp has two outputs. The ones made in 2005 were simply built from old stock. There are less the 2000 HE60/HEV70 sets out there, 300 HEV90 amps and about 340 HE90's.

 

[Duggeh]

Theres 5 if you want to get technical and include the Unipolar 2000 series headphones.

I do not know the precise date ranges. Although I know that the HE60 was only abandoned fairly recently.

 

[spritzer]

So I forgot the end dates.

The HE60/HEV70 was discontinued in 2002/3 though I guess they hadn't been made for quite some time as they never sold well.

The Orpheus setups ceased production in 1993 I believe and Sennheiser just recently sold the last few though there are still some sitting at dealers around the world.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Thanks for the info. The only part I'm unclear on is when the HE-60/HEV-70 were first brought to market. ISTR 1996 or 7, but I'd not want to swear it.

Also, what were the original prices? $16,000 for the Orph system, $1500 for Baby O. How much were the 2005 HE-90s? $3000? $4000? Thanks again...

 

[spritzer]

I'm pretty sure that the HE60/HEV70 was released in 1993 or a bit earlier but I'm not completely certain.

I don't remember the prices exactly but the HE60/HEV70 was under 2000$ and the Orpheus around 15000$. The 2005 phones were around 5000-6000€.

 

[milkpowder]

Re: Prices

Both the Orpheus and the 'Baby O' got a class A recommendation on Stereophile's 1996 Recommended Components list.

Sennheiser Orpheus HE 90/HEV 90: $12,900
Sennheiser HE 60/HEV 70 headphone amplifier: $1795


Both featured in the 1997 Stereophile Class A list, but the prices changed a little.

Sennheiser Orpheus HE 90/HEV 90: $14,900
Sennheiser HE 60/HEV 70 headphone amplifier: $1799

 

[krmathis]

Great thread!
The models introduction year, number or produced units and retail price is nice to know. Thanks.

 

[milkpowder]

I also dug up some info about them:

Sennheiser HE Series
--------------------
Name: Sennheiser HE-60
Transducer shape: Oval-shaped
Electrode Type: Gold-plated resin polymer with hexagonal perforations
Diaphragm thickness: Gold-plated polymer foil, 1 micron
Electrode gap: ? (probably ~0.5 mm)
Bias Voltage: 540 V
Frequency Response: 12-65 kHz (-10dB)
Signal cord: OFC copper, 6-pin
Notes: 260g, 105g lighter than the HE-90s due to the use of plastic material in the earcup design.

Name: Sennheiser HE-90
Transducer shape: Oval-shaped
Electrode Type: Gold-plated crystal glass with hexagonal perforations
Diaphragm thickness: Gold-plated polymer foil, 1 micron
Electrode gap: ? (probably ~0.5 mm)
Bias Voltage: 500 V
Frequency Response: 7-100 kHz (-10dB)
Signal cord: OFC copper, 5-pin
Notes: Sennheiser released the Orpheus-series as a statement to show that they - just as well as Stax - could develop and manufacture high-end electrostatics. Limited Edition. Some 300 sets have been made. 365g, Earcups are made of thin beachwood-veneer which has been hand-polished. The diaphragm has been stretched under stroboscopic lighting to ensure uniform movement, then "aged" to ensure correct tension. The headband is completely covered in leather.


More Re: Price
In 1999, HeadRoom was selling the Sennheiser HE60/HeV70 ("Baby Orpheus") for $1,270 (list $1,700) and the HE90/HEV90 for $11,900 (list $15,000).

 

[spritzer]

The D/S spacing is most likely 0.4mm or there about as they don't like a bias voltage above 500v and they require a larger bleeding resistor.

 

[milkpowder]

More Re: Price
In 1999, HeadRoom was selling the Sennheiser HE60/HeV70 ("Baby Orpheus") for $1,270 (list $1,700) and the HE90/HEV90 for $11,900 (list $15,000).

Was just looking at some random article I found in my picture collection (see below). It seems to suggest that the HE90 was released in August 1991. Maybe someone who can read Japanese can give us a brief translation

(Confirmation that HE90/HEV90 released in 1991 here.)

Some interesting promotional material (click to enlarge):


220 000 Japanese yen = 1 919.28 U.S. dollars


I've got a bit more miscellaneous info about the HE60 from the user manual.

Name: Sennheiser HE-60
Transducer shape: Oval-shaped
Electrode Type: Gold-plated resin polymer with hexagonal perforations
Diaphragm thickness: Gold-plated polymer foil, 1 micron
Distortion: < 0.1%
Rated sensitivity: >100dB / 1 kHz
Electrode gap: ? (probably ~0.5 mm)
Bias Voltage: 540 V
Frequency Response: 12-65 kHz (-10dB), 18-55 kHz (-6dB)
Pressure Force: 3.6N
Signal cord: OFC copper, hard-gold plated 6-pin
Notes: 260g, 105g lighter than the HE-90s due to the use of plastic material in the earcup design.

The manual was printed/published Nov 1993, in Germany while the manual for my HEV70 was published in Oct 1998. From that we know that the HE60/HEV70 set was for sale from at least 1993 to 1998.

 

[spritzer]

Some might find it funny that the SR-Omega was 200.000YJP in 1993 but now they are at least 3 times more expensive the HE60...

 

[milkpowder]

The SR-Omega was the flagship back then. The HE60 was not. I think that's the main reason. They don't look that impressive either. How many O1s were sold?

Also, the HE60 seems to be the forgotten one most of the time. It's usually overshadowed by its big brother anyway. Every audiophile knows about the HE90 but you'll be surprised how many people don't know that a watered-down version exists. Hell, Sennheiser doesn't even acknowledge its existence on the website

EDIT: I'm not writing very well today...

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some might find it funny that the SR-Omega was 200.000YJP in 1993 but now they are at least 3 times more expensive the HE60...

I do find it funny. Or perhaps more correctly sad!

But thats most probably caused by two reasons:
1. The SR-Omega were Stax top end model. Which the HE60 was not Sennheisers top end model.
2. There were only produced about 450 SR-Omega's. While there were produced around 2000 HE60's.

 

[milkpowder]

Yeah, they're so damn cheap this guy has three