[sorinv]

You need some better amp

This advice was spot on. Once I added more stuffing to these headphones and moved my testing to the Aiwa A60 amplifier, it made a world of difference.

I really like how these headphones sound now, very precise and controlled sound, extending quite low. With these mods they are very listenable.

Highly recommended especially for people in Europe, where they can still be found for dirt cheap.

 

[nnordstr]

I was doing some Craigslist scanning a few weeks back and saw a pair of AKG K340 headphones for sale for a reasonable price. I had heard of them before, did a quick review search, and became interested quickly.

I contacted the seller, did some pre-meeting price negotiations, and met up with them. It turns out it was a couple of young ladies and the headphones were their grandfather's. They guessed they were 30 years old. They are in remarkably good shape in my estimation. Grandpa must not have used them much. The ear pads are still nice. The headband is in great shape. There is just a bit of dust in the hard to clean out crevices.

I tested them with my little Hiby R3 and completely maxed out the volume to get them to a listenable volume. @joelpearce had a nice review of them and I took his idea of testing them with Massive Attack's Angel because I know that whole album about as well as anything in my collection, albeit a 320 kb .mp3 version. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by how good they sounded with a lossy file and a woefully undperpowered source.

Side note: neither of the 2 young ladies had anything to test the headphones with because they didn't have anything that could handle a 1/4" plug. Before we parted they asked to try them out. I got a couple of nods as they listened.

They sound quite nice on modern gear. I have hooked them up to a Schiit Lyr 3. With adequate power they do open up. The highs and mids are nice, accurate (to me), and quick. The low end is very full. I would describe it as being a bit loose, but it's only when I compare them to some modern planar dynamic headphones.

The fit is a bit looser than I'm used to. The metal spring used to hold the headphones up is a bit looser than I would like it to be. The clamping pressure is fine though. Overall a comfortable pair of headphones.

 

[kid vic]

I was doing some Craigslist scanning a few weeks back and saw a pair of AKG K340 headphones for sale for a reasonable price. I had heard of them before, did a quick review search, and became interested quickly.

I contacted the seller, did some pre-meeting price negotiations, and met up with them. It turns out it was a couple of young ladies and the headphones were their grandfather's. They guessed they were 30 years old. They are in remarkably good shape in my estimation. Grandpa must not have used them much. The ear pads are still nice. The headband is in great shape. There is just a bit of dust in the hard to clean out crevices.

I tested them with my little Hiby R3 and completely maxed out the volume to get them to a listenable volume. @joelpearce had a nice review of them and I took his idea of testing them with Massive Attack's Angel because I know that whole album about as well as anything in my collection, albeit a 320 kb .mp3 version. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by how good they sounded with a lossy file and a woefully undperpowered source.

Side note: neither of the 2 young ladies had anything to test the headphones with because they didn't have anything that could handle a 1/4" plug. Before we parted they asked to try them out. I got a couple of nods as they listened.

They sound quite nice on modern gear. I have hooked them up to a Schiit Lyr 3. With adequate power they do open up. The highs and mids are nice, accurate (to me), and quick. The low end is very full. I would describe it as being a bit loose, but it's only when I compare them to some modern planar dynamic headphones.

The fit is a bit looser than I'm used to. The metal spring used to hold the headphones up is a bit looser than I would like it to be. The clamping pressure is fine though. Overall a comfortable pair of headphones.

Not springs, they use elastics to hold the headband in place. The actually tend to sound their best after a few hours of play and leaving them plugged into an amp whether or not the amp is on (I'm willing to believe that that is placebo though). I had a pair for years that I sold because they just weren't that comfortable and the Ether Flows did everything they did in a more modern package; still, they are great at the right price for a lot of different music.

 

[nnordstr]

Not springs, they use elastics to hold the headband in place. The actually tend to sound their best after a few hours of play and leaving them plugged into an amp whether or not the amp is on (I'm willing to believe that that is placebo though). I had a pair for years that I sold because they just weren't that comfortable and the Ether Flows did everything they did in a more modern package; still, they are great at the right price for a lot of different music.

Thanks for the notes.

 

[ThisPandaIsAFish]

 

[legopart]

-

 

[Kukuk]

I had no idea Beyerdynamic made electrostats. Did they sound any good in their unmodded state?

 

[legopart]

I had no idea Beyerdynamic made electrostats. Did they sound any good in their unmodded state?

Same signator as DT880 but without bass
having some issue with my regular microphone so cant test.

*This graph done with crappy dynamic microphone so cant compare it good enogh
read some reviews about the similarity of Et1000 and Dt880
beyerdynamic claimed that DT880 (the vintage one) base on the legend Et1000 signatore

Good review about all beyerdynamic headphones https://journeymantoolbox.pt/2017/05/02/a-glimpse-in-to-the-history-of-beyerdynamic-headphones/
read about Dt880 and more

 

[HoodedHoodlum]

Ugh, I was close to getting these beauties...: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.ca/ulk/itm/383102394551

 

[HoodedHoodlum]

Also, what are your opinions on Aiwa and Akai vintage headphones, preferably those that were in the midrange or high-end at the time (70s)?

I just bought a set of Aiwa HP-30, and a set of Akai ASE-26, if any of you happen to have any info on them.

 

[legopart]

Ugh, I was close to getting these beauties...: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.ca/ulk/itm/383102394551

Heard good things about them.
From 200cad to 860cad most in last 4 hours, and only ~3 persons that fight for it,
and only 3 pictores pulicated

Also, what are your opinions on Aiwa and Akai vintage headphones, preferably those that were in the midrange or high-end at the time (70s)?

I just bought a set of Aiwa HP-30, and a set of Akai ASE-26, if any of you happen to have any info on them.

Akai in japanese means Red
(this all the info that I have anout them )
do you like this sets that you bought?
can you send please some pictures of your headphones?

 

[HoodedHoodlum]

Heard good things about them.
From 200cad to 860cad most in last 4 hours, and only ~3 persons that fight for it,
and only 3 pictores pulicated


Akai in japanese means Red
do you like this sets that you bought?
can you send please some pictures of your headphones?

I haven't received them yet.
Need to wait for them to be delivered, I think one of the pairs should be here in the next few days.
I'll upload pictures as each arrives!

As far as other vintage sets that I already have, I have two sets of Pioneer SE-700, a Rotel RH-930, a great condition Fostex T20 v1, an AKG K 340 (bass heavy), though there was an imbalance with the electret drivers. I heard that replacing the resistors could solve the issue, and I did do that with resistors of the same resistance rating, though it seems that both electrets have gone quiet. I can't tell if they're just playing quiet, or if it's the dynamic drivers playing the frequencies above 4 kHz. I also replaced the elastics with two small rubber bands, it was actually very easy. The 340 were actually in pretty great shape, although they were dusty because they were stored in a bit for a long time.

 

[HoodedHoodlum]

 

[HoodedHoodlum]

Oops, I only uploaded two pictures, but somehow they copied three times...

 

[legopart]

k340 having some crossover inside of it, not only one resistor,