And by far the best sounding
Show us your vintage headphones!
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Bingturong
Previously known as VitalB
Yes~ Legendary~ I'd love to own a pair one day but goodness the prices
Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
You surely must have forgotten about this one?My collection of what I consider to be the best AKG headphones with the slogan I found in an old brochure. "Give yourself this listening experience". K240 Sextett, K240DF, K500, K1000 with SPL Phonitor One, SAC K1000.
You surely must have forgotten about this one?
Indeed, how could one forget about the best AKG headphone ever made??
(only very slight hyperbole)
You surely must have forgotten about this one?
At that point I no longer had a K340 and was actually convinced based on the three models I had before that the K340s are bad. My two NOS pairs arrived after the picture have shown me the opposite.
I have currently received a restoration order for a K340, this submitted model sounds so terrible in the treble that I see myself confirmed again - not every K340 sounds good, so only limited recommendation.
Best light-weight pair to me
Feilong4
Headphoneus Supremus
I got a pair of Sony MDR-CD700, which I think to be one of Sony's quintessential vintage headphone unicorns. One of my personal grails that I got a while ago but I'm selling due to something urgent and I'm hoping someone here will take great care of them. You will most likely never find a pair in this great of condition unless if a pair shows up in box and dead stock. I will drop a listing in the classifieds. Just wanted to share about them before I let them go.
In the years I spent hunting for these, I've only seen maybe 2 or 3 show up online and this pair I have is one of them. They are significantly more rarer than its brother, the CD900 (original with amorphous diamond coating). The really neat thing about the CD700 in particular is that it has amorphous gold coated diaphragms on the drivers. I believe Sony only has a couple of models that uses amorphous gold coating on its drivers. The other being the MDR-V606, which I also have but one driver is dead soooo that's fun. The drivers do actually have gold coloring so you know it's legit. For the CD900, it's kinda hard to tell.
As for sound, they sound pretty good! For reference, I put new authentic Sony earpads on them and replaced the urethane rings that go around the drivers. I don't have the original CD900 with me at the moment but I do think the CD900 sounds better at least in terms of FR. The CD900 sorta follows a harman-like response whereas the CD700 is more W-shaped. What's pretty awesome about both the CD700 and CD900 is that the treble response is actually really good. No annoying peaks like in the modern Sony studio headphone monitors (V6, 7506, etc). The treble is as smooth as the treble on the CD900ST from memory, maybe even smoother. The upper treble still isn't airy also like in its modern counterparts. The bass response is ok. It lags behind modern headphone monitors like the K371. The bass here on the CD700 is a bit loose with most of the emphasis centered on 80 Hz. Bass extension isn't great. The CD700 is warmer than the CD900. It's not really good for like EDM but it's fine for acoustic bass and kickdrums. There's a midrange emphasis centered around 700 Hz that actually sounds pretty coherent with its warmer and looser bass response. I don't find them honky sounding because the bass levels match the midrange bump. Typically I don't like this sort of response but I really like them here for vocals and guitars. Sorta like a less extreme JVC HA-DX1000.
All in all, I like them a lot. I think the smooth treble response is one of its highlights. The W-shaped sort of sound was quite a surprise to me. I definitely did not expect it after having heard the CD900 which is, I think to be, a more refined and neutral sounding headphone. The CD700 is more colored sounding but still fun while maintaining a coherent FR.
*This is in comparison the CD900.
Measured on a MiniDSP EARS. HPN compensation. Left channel at 90 db. The 3-5 kHz region on the MiniDSP EARS measured on most if not all headphones is inaccurate. The MiniDSP EARS is also not accurate at measuring the treble region though it does provide a bit of insight if overlaid with another headphone’s response.
In the years I spent hunting for these, I've only seen maybe 2 or 3 show up online and this pair I have is one of them. They are significantly more rarer than its brother, the CD900 (original with amorphous diamond coating). The really neat thing about the CD700 in particular is that it has amorphous gold coated diaphragms on the drivers. I believe Sony only has a couple of models that uses amorphous gold coating on its drivers. The other being the MDR-V606, which I also have but one driver is dead soooo that's fun. The drivers do actually have gold coloring so you know it's legit. For the CD900, it's kinda hard to tell.
As for sound, they sound pretty good! For reference, I put new authentic Sony earpads on them and replaced the urethane rings that go around the drivers. I don't have the original CD900 with me at the moment but I do think the CD900 sounds better at least in terms of FR. The CD900 sorta follows a harman-like response whereas the CD700 is more W-shaped. What's pretty awesome about both the CD700 and CD900 is that the treble response is actually really good. No annoying peaks like in the modern Sony studio headphone monitors (V6, 7506, etc). The treble is as smooth as the treble on the CD900ST from memory, maybe even smoother. The upper treble still isn't airy also like in its modern counterparts. The bass response is ok. It lags behind modern headphone monitors like the K371. The bass here on the CD700 is a bit loose with most of the emphasis centered on 80 Hz. Bass extension isn't great. The CD700 is warmer than the CD900. It's not really good for like EDM but it's fine for acoustic bass and kickdrums. There's a midrange emphasis centered around 700 Hz that actually sounds pretty coherent with its warmer and looser bass response. I don't find them honky sounding because the bass levels match the midrange bump. Typically I don't like this sort of response but I really like them here for vocals and guitars. Sorta like a less extreme JVC HA-DX1000.
All in all, I like them a lot. I think the smooth treble response is one of its highlights. The W-shaped sort of sound was quite a surprise to me. I definitely did not expect it after having heard the CD900 which is, I think to be, a more refined and neutral sounding headphone. The CD700 is more colored sounding but still fun while maintaining a coherent FR.
*This is in comparison the CD900.
Measured on a MiniDSP EARS. HPN compensation. Left channel at 90 db. The 3-5 kHz region on the MiniDSP EARS measured on most if not all headphones is inaccurate. The MiniDSP EARS is also not accurate at measuring the treble region though it does provide a bit of insight if overlaid with another headphone’s response.
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digitalreferee
Head-Fier
Kind of sad to see that you had to let them go but pretty cool to see some more info on these as well as measurements, considering how rare they are. Bummed I missed the classified but I didn't have the cash to spare anyways so, hopefully new owner treats them well.
From what I see internally they look very similar to the CD900s even in terms of the internals (different paper and no small holes in the paper itself), so could it be the drivers doing most of the legwork for putting together that different sound signature compared to the CD900?
Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
The Pro 4/AAA are getting a lot more head time than I anticipated.
The 2" thick foam pads definitely did wonders for them. 
Bass Canons!
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Silver
500+ Head-Fier
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I WISH I KEPT MY GRADO SR-80
i feel it is not good per se i may lose my cognition of talk to people by listen to alt rock Grado with Sony discman
i feel it is not good per se i may lose my cognition of talk to people by listen to alt rock Grado with Sony discman
Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
The green driver K340 stock IMO, are a treasure and sound technically better than anything I've tried in today's mid-fi market. I must be a fortunate man.
. That includes some very reputable contenders.
GREQ
Headphoneus Supremus
Philips N 6301 "Made in Austria" ... perhaps an AKG OEM?
This one is a bit odd - the cable is on the RIGHT side.
And the single-sided headband adjuster is just adorable.
This one is a bit odd - the cable is on the RIGHT side.
And the single-sided headband adjuster is just adorable.
Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
I have not listened to them yet. I purchased them with one bad driver. They are currently at the Grado repair facility.
Davidzak64
Headphoneus Supremus
1978? Akg K240 Sextett Lp. I still need to fix the elastics for the headband as you can tell by the Hair bands
other than that it's in excellent condition.These are great sounding cans with a unique presentation that I like very much.
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