Well, the build quality is definately not an issue! Apart from the pads, everything is in very good condition, and looks like the headphones are determined to stay that way.
So far I've only tried them a little with my ol' rockboxed Sansa Clip+, and the lack of sealing is very noticable.
They sound quite good when I give the pads some pressure with my fingers, though.
I think they might benefit from pleather pads, since the pads originally had a polyurethane coating? From what I've gathered, they're supposed to isolate from the surroundings, so simple foam pads may not be the ticket here. Regarding your stocking idea, I actually asked my girlfriend about wool stockings yesterday
But how did you address the pad issue? Have you tried those
BOSE QuietComfort 3 pads mentioned in the Sonyclub link (I'm guessing you have CD-7's or CD-5's)?
And why do they seem so rare? The interwebs says they were in production from 1986 to 1995, so there should be a few out there. The Audiots page says they were 134 Euros in 1988, and at that price I kind of doubt people would just throw them away because of worn pads.
Of course
if well maintained, these can last forever imho according to my cans which are too 25-30 + years old.
Sansa is nice but I recommend you to try it with home equipment too, vinyl, tape...must be really cool with those too.
Or a cassette walkman. Or some really high res player. I think you cannot go wrong with the CD6 with any source, since
it's specs are quite heaven - it's just recommended to listen to quality stuff because the CD6 will be grateful (especially your ears will be
)
You're not wrong with the pads you are referring to but they are a bit heavy. Sony's genius was that everything they
made back in the day were featherweight, even the pads. Isolation is correct, and somehow those were acoustically
engineered too for a better listening experience /hence the shape of the original pads which you cannot find in a regular
pleather pad/. Yes, simple pads would not make magic. Of course, girls are the best! I have a really nice colleague whom
I told I might need one and the next days she brought me a pair
I haven't tried those yet as now my issue is not relevant. I have the MDR-51, MDR-62, MDR-M44 now, and only the M44
would need it - but it still has it's original pads miraculously. They years couldn't destroy it. Btw I recommend the 51 and the 62 as well,
they are really-really nice for portable and for home use as well. Though the 62's price has been pretty high recently.
I had the M88 and what I did was I bought a pair of make up foams (not kidding) and since it still had it's covering material (stocking
) - so I stuffed the foams into them quite carefully.
They are quite rare. You are REALLY lucky you could get them for free (I am at audiokarma as well
) - I'd really like to find one too.
Although my first aim are some Aiwa cans, the CD6 is a bliss too. Please tell me about your progress with it, you might not imagine how happy I am to find someone I can talk to about vintage on ear Sony sets
And to answer it: I don't know. As I see, the general public tend to forget these very nice sets and I can't imagine why.
These headphones are just as good as today's sets if not better.
