[wualta]

Wharfedale and Leak and Strathearn had been sucked up into the omnivorous Rank Organisation a few years previous, so now they were faced with the pressures of Economies of Scale. At least they tried to make them sound different. A similar collection of oddfellows in the US was Infinity-KLH-Scott. What th--?

 

[rhythmdevils]

Looking at those I can't help but think Beats + old telephone...
 
     

 

[nickchen]

Who grabbed that last Mylar for 206€?

 

[Navermyr]

How do you differ a mylar from a kapton?

 

[MDR30]

How do you fit a headphone into this padded envelope? Here's how it's done. Gives me the shudders...
 

 

 

 

 

 
Headphone DIY kit, 17,50 euro. Old, soiled, cable cut, cups dismantled. Seller shouldn't be blamed, this is actually what was on auction: the unknown K3 headphone.
 
The headband and white pads gave it away for me. It's basic ortho knowledge.
 
More to come.
 

 

[MDR30]

 
First step was to open the cups. Hmm... looked tricky, no screws or holes in the baffle.
 

 
Pried carefully between cup and baffle and it slowly opened.
 

 
A thick felt ring around the rim like the Yamaha HP1, only foam as back damper.
 

 

 
Desoldered and resoldered the cables. Yes, that's most likely 55 mm PMB drivers. Measured them: 180 ohms. That's different from the standard PMB8 which is 120 ohms, but closer to the PMB6 which is 140 ohms. Note that the holes do not continue to the edge of the magnet.
 

 
This is the simplest (i e best) PMB cup construction I've seen - only two plastic pieces. It's a relief that dreadful PMB locking ring is not needed which makes assembly of the PMB, Telefunken, Dual et al such a tricky business. The clips of the baffle not only locks the cup, they're also part of the "decorative" design, doubling as acoustic vents. The cup's back is solid - the outer "net" structure is just a pattern moulded into the plastic.
 

 
New foam to replace the almost disintegrated old one, which hadn't yet transformed to a sticky mess. The only small mod I did was to tape a 1,5 mm thick felt circle onto the back of the cup.
 

 
How does it sound? See next installment.
 
 
 
 

 

[wualta]

Crikey! What the hey IS it? What does that K logo stand for? We know it was made by PMB, of course, but for whom? I wonder if it was a large German department store...
 
Thanks for the photos, MDR30.

 

[MDR30]

K3

This is the best PMB ortho I've heard so far, very balanced sound with deep and even bass response, powerful mids and extended treble. There is a trace of a mid/treble peak somewhere around 3kHz (estimation) and the treble is probably rolling off slightly. But I couldn't help thinking this driver has a lot of potential if mounted in a proper cup (like Thunderpants). All PMB cups I've seen are compromised one way or the other, several-parts plastic designs that leak everywhere and do not provide the needed support and stiffness. A good wood design with tuned vents and careful damping could probably make a very fine headphone.
 

 
But we must find high quality replacement pads for these headphones. The original pads always loose the pleather and end up white like this, and that includes the Dual, Magnat and B&O U70 models. The K3 pads are 78 mm with 25 mm holes. They shouldn't bee too thick either. The relatively small hole (which it shares with the original Fostex designs) supports bass and dampens midrange energy while keeping the treble clean. This is a key factor for good sound, in my opinion.
 

 
The PMB drivers have not been praised as much as the Yamahas and Fostexes, which is unfair. More about PMB including pics of the drivers and information from PMB's Willi Presutti can be found in this thread:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/192939/id-these
 
Let me end this little three-part story by revealing the brand of the headphone. The logotype seemed familiar somehow, and I set my memory to work for a few days. Finally the answer came to me, and I knew from where: I'd seen it on my visits to Germany. It's a stylised "K" of course, an abbreviation of Karstadt, the well-known German department store. This is one in a line of many models offered by the "Kaufhaus" during the years (most from Japan if I remember correctly).
 

 
Karstadt Kopfhörer 3, "Made in W. Germany". A nice find.
 
 

 

[Kabeer]

MDR30 great find! This is what I miss in the ortho thread
Ahhh

 

[dBel84]

The new generation ID1 - almost done and our Scahu would like me to share with you  
 
 

 
 
sounding great thus far ..dB
 
 
and agreed - great find, ortho discovery was a very exciting part of this threads history

 

[rhythmdevils]

What the heck kind of pads are those?  Looks great! 

 

[dBel84]

They are the black stax pads that sachu had made in his home town. What we NEED , is for him to swing by again and get at least a hundred this time ..dB

 

[rhythmdevils]

yeah What where's my handmade stax pads.

 

[wualta]

It takes a village... to make enough pads for hungry hungry headphonistas.
 
Historical note: Ludoo used a Karstadt donor headphone to do an early SFI transplant back in 2008. You can just barely see the K in his photos.

 

[nick n]

Ahhh I am glad someone else noticed those K3's. I didn't want to risk it. Couldn't find anything out about the model I figured they were maybe  paired with the K3 ham radio sets. NICE WORK! I assume they were the ones up recently like last month.
Incidentally just after someone in here posted a set of Dynamics for sale with the same symbol, that's the only way I could find out the brand. They may still be in here. yep here as long as the link lasts. ( Karstadt is brand )
http://www.head-fi.org/t/582311/karstadt-hp-55