[wualta]

It actually looks like a well-made 'phone. The style of it makes it appear that it was made by Elega/Fujiki, and their stuff was well regarded and widely sold under other names. Try it out, report back on the sound (we're not expecting miracles, of course), then see if you can get it apart. You might want to search for Akai in this thread for clues.

 

[nick n]

Quote:

The modest outlay doesn't matter much, but it's annoying not to be remembered in the orthodynamic history records as the discoverer of the Laskys ortodynamic, the unknown species.
 
No way you are still the discoverer! Nobody would have known these things existed otherwise. Now at least there will be a few select eyes on the lookout for these.

 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Pretty bad ass headband assembly with spring shock absorbers but I decided it will probably squeak when you bang it. 

 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110764240615&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

 

[Armaegis]

Nice. Those look like they could give the DT48 a run for its money in the durability department.

 

[ardgedee]

It's tempting to go for just to see how it sounds with my Fisher amp of similar vintage. It doesn't really have much value for me beyond that little bit of curiosity, though, so I think I'll pass.

 

[wualta]

I'm pretty sure what you're looking at is a rebadging (and maybe a slight re-morphing) of a Superex ST-M 2-way headphone from the early 1960s.

 

[Armaegis]

Hey guys, check out p.597 and onwards...
http://books.google.com/books?id=9DeZqnsjetgC&pg=PA585&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
I would totally buy this book... if it weren't $200.

 

[wualta]

It's used as a textbook, so a few people here have actually owned it or at least read it. But Philips' Carl Poldy has been doing other things. Try breaking your teeth on this AES tutorial. Remember, he's speaking to fellow engineers, so he's assuming a lot of prior knowledge: http://xenona.com/xenonaupl/Ivo_Hristev/AES-tutorials/aesTutorial48.pdf

 

[Armaegis]

That's an awesome read, thanks for sharing. Being an engineer, I really appreciated the detail given, though at times I was wanting more...

 

[wualta]

Quote:

That's an awesome read, thanks for sharing. Being an engineer, I really appreciated the detail given, though at times I was wanting more...

Your assignment:  go out there and create more detail.  To boldly detail.. where no detail has been.. created before. [engineering theme music up and out]
 

 

[Armaegis]

Sure thing, as soon as I finish my thesis...

 

[wualta]

Oo! Does it have anything to do with acoustics or transducers?

 

[Armaegis]

Sadly no. I'm just a humble metallurgist. 

 

[wualta]

Still... might come in handy if we need to find a better alloy of aluminium for voice coils.
 
Meanwhile, Carl Poldy was part of yet another corporate takeover. Philips Sound Solutions was sucked up by the same holding company that owns McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Marantz and Denon, D&M Holdings. Let's hope he landed on his feet.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Bastards.  We need to occupy D&M Holdings. 
 
So I think Fostex was onto something putting thin porous paper (ish) stuff behind their more recent orthos including the T20v2 and T50rp.  I've been playing with coffee filters and they are my new favorite damping material.  I'm going to be getting a bunch of different porous papers to try if I can source that somewhere.  I'm thinking an online art store or something.  But coffee filters do a much better job than the tapes IME.  They bring out more treble while bringing out less upper midrange peaks.  And IME they do not constrict the soundstage any more than a thin piece of felt would when placed on the back of the driver.  I've been using the coffee filter instead of the first layer of felt in the typical damping scheme, so driver-paper-foam-felt-cups.  They work so well at bringing out treble that they can actually get my YH3 to have elevated treble without much of an elevated midrange.  Which is a first for me.  I actually get some sibilance unless I use a donut instead of a disc, so I'm going to try to find some slightly more porous paper. 
 
I found some silk coffee filters online which must be from the 1800's or early 1900's but they are way too porous even when I use like 6 layers.  They have a cool old box though.