[takato14]

 


 
I think these photos speak for themselves.
Needless to say, this headphone is on it's way back to the seller.

Yikes, what a shame. Any idea what happened?

 

[gurubhai]

  Hello gurubhai, nice to see you here.
 Things going excellent as usual?
 

Hi Nick,
Yes, I am good and hope you are doing well too.
I guess I haven't been very active here in the recent past but I do keep a tab of this thread.
 
About the PMB100 lacking the bass, its not just because of the lack of sealing pads. Also,the driver has 360 degree vents around the periphery which allows for free mixing of front and back wave and causes bass cancellation.
You would have to block at least some (if not all) of those vents to get some decent bass.
 
@GREQ : 

 

[GREQ]

 
Yikes, what a shame. Any idea what happened?

No idea.
Not sure if I was the first to crack them open, as the earpads were loose at the screw points. But I was so surprised to see that sort of warping and tearing.
Considering orthos are usually able to take a good electrical pounding it must have been bad storage or as NeoGeo333 suggested, a bad modder.

 

[Neogeo333]

Hope you get your money back Greq. This kind of things are bad. Given how rare the Akai is, and to arrive in that condition and not divulge it on the description its criminal. When I got mine a few weeks ago I thought they were Ase50 and confronted the seller because they were really Ase40. He partially refunded some of the money but I was not happy at all.

 

[MuZo2]

Some of sellers do not know what they are selling May be they have inherited or just found them in basement. Some who know vintage headphones just sell them at price which does not make them compete with new offerings.

 

[GREQ]

Yeah, I already got the money back based on the fact that the 'dud' side is noticeably quieter than the other, and put it down to a 'fault' without elaborating as far as I did here.

 

[DefectiveAudioComponent]

  Yeah, I already got the money back based on the fact that the 'dud' side is noticeably quieter than the other, and put it down to a 'fault' without elaborating as far as I did here.

 
Quieter? Does it work at all, looking like that?

 

[GREQ]

 
Quieter? Does it work at all, looking like that?

Surprisingly yes. 
But it's got terrible resolution and zero bass. 
 
The tears are between the voice wire, so the connection is not severed, just the diaphragm is in tatters.

 

[Armaegis]

I wonder if it would have been possible to adhere a new diaphragm on top.

 

[hrbballman]

I don't know if this has been posted but here is the driver for the sansui ss-100. I either use the headphone out of my sansui au-919 or the sansui-esque black spl phonitor.

I love all things sansui!

 

[Neogeo333]

I have that same yellow damping material on my NAD RP-18, replaced it with some felt and foam like material and much better sounding.  

 

[takato14]

I don't know if this has been posted but here is the driver for the sansui ss-100. I either use the headphone out of my sansui au-919 or the sansui-esque black spl phonitor.

I love all things sansui!

So, yet another SS-100 owner surfaces... curse this headphone for being so rare. 

 

[nick n]

Makes me want to revisit some  garage sales this summer. Never know, stereos also, and turntables, and speakers..and..and...

 

[GREQ]

  I wonder if it would have been possible to adhere a new diaphragm on top.

Well you're welcome to try if you can get your hands on it.
I'll let you know if I see the headphone re-listed.

 

[JadeEast]

Trying to get "moar bass" out of the PMB100 seems to require the elimination of allot of what make the headphone interesting.
Instead, I ended up accepting that there were limits to the design. I think the open aspect were unique to it and worth preserving. 
Is the headband on it fixed or suspended on elastic?