[Redcarmoose]

I did the same comparison in '75 or '76 between the 414 and the Koss HV1LC. Only it was Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here that sold me on the Koss...

I bought a 414 and a 424 over the next few (10?) years but the Koss was my #1 for decades. I also owned a Pro4AAA for a while. I honestly don't remember the prices paid for them back then but I'm sure that they were less than $100. I do remember demoing some "expensive" headphones back in those days but honestly don't remember lusting after any of them.

In I think the late 90's I picked up a pair of Sony MDR-7506 for recording and studio use. I remember thinking that they were quite an upgrade over the Koss and older Senns and I got rid of all of those old phones with their rotting away foam pads...

Nowadays with virtually everything there is such a huge disparity in price between the "entry level" and "top of the line". Way more so than in the 70's by proportion. Some things have improved significantly and others not so much but are just "marketed" that way. The value proposition of TOTL is always a tough sell for me as I always look for the "knee" in the curve - the point of largely diminishing returns. For me right now that is the Sundara. I've auditioned phones that cost 10-20x what I paid for the Sundara and they sound amazing BUT nowhere close to 10-20 times as amazing.

I think that the state of headphone technology and value have never been better than they are today. The TOTLs of today are probably noticeably better than those of yesterday but the adjusted cost differential is likely more of an indication of the level of disposable income of those few that would buy them today vs yesterday.

I very specifically remember (in 1975) the opening part of hearing Wish You We’re Here being played on the radio. It was a huge deal and radio stations would then play whole sides of albums. The 414 was I though a toy. No way would I believe it costed what it costed, unless I was told. But even then the Koss had very much deeper bass which layered out the foundation which the HD414 never did. Neither headphone I ended up owning but purchased some other Koss openbacks in 1982. Still it was a big learning experience at 13-14. The fact that the HD414 offered a new and profoundly different way to hear music. They had maybe been around since 1969 but new to us in 1975. Having older brothers meant they would show you the way to go. With the 414 being my friends brothers favorite headphones. We heard on the system TDSOTM, we heard Hot Rats by Frank Zappa. We heard Isao Tomita records.....and at my age it seemed all this music was made specifically for headphones? The best part was learning that it existed and it turned out became my lifetime interest. Just knowing about the bands gave us a feeling of being ultra-cool and part of a smaller unknown group of fans. Using the headphones was transporting.

I mean the headphones then (in 1975) were still under $300 I think even in today’s money? Was there more expensive ones out there? I don’t know? I’m not really sure how to do any comparison, except if you can mentally adapt (to the sound signature) with whatever your using you maybe are close to paradise? They can’t put a price on that!

 

[Steven31]

2008 was the year everything changed, in the headphone world. I blame Dr DRE for what's happened. His marketing strategy was genius if you think about it, the way he went about promoting his product which really appealed to the young, who until then mostly listened to their ipods with those cheap earbuds that came with them. I believe he is the one responsible for the belief/notion that is ingrained in many young people's heads which is that bass means better. Another interesting side-note, is that if you think about headphone terminology, the term "bass-head" wasn't really used before the advent of Beats. So to restate my point more clearly; I think the biggest factor behind the reason why TOTL headphones are so expensive now compared to 15 years ago, is because of clever marketing technics. And if an individual or a big business can get away with selling a product at higher prices all the time, then they will, no matter how absurd it is. Unfortunately I think it has ruined the industry, well regarding the quality of products today vs the quality of products 15 years ago. Everything is treated as being disposable now. The magic has been lost. Sadly, the same can also be said for other industries as well (the car industry, for example). There is too much competition. Societies need to sloooow down.
I'm glad I still have my AKG K702 as it's a reminder of a time when the world was less crazy and TOTL was sanity, not the insanity of today, where TOTL means forking out thousands of money from your bank account, just for a few moments of aural pleasure.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I don’t even have any Uber-Expensive headphones. I’ve never heard them all. I stay at a $2200 or $1850 level. There, I’m fine with the quality? It does have me curious as to what $4000 and $6000 sounds like? Still I’m not buying them, so maybe ignorance is bliss?

Honestly, I can’t imagine spending that much? Do you know how much beer, coffee and food 6K buys? That’s how I put stuff in perspective.

 

[jonathan c]

I don’t even have any Uber-Expensive headphones. I’ve never heard them all. I stay at a $2200 or $1850 level. There, I’m fine with the quality? It does have me curious as to what $4000 and $6000 sounds like? Still I’m not buying them, so maybe ignorance is bliss?

Honestly, I can’t imagine spending that much? Do you know how much beer, coffee and food 6K buys? That’s how I put stuff in perspective.

Oh, I wasn’t even thinking of coffee and food……

 

[Redcarmoose]

Oh, I wasn’t even thinking of coffee and food……

Good one!

 

[Redcarmoose]

So regular kegs of beer are around $100. You get 60 of them for 6K dollars.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Say you spill .75 of a gallon from each keg, your still way ahead!

 

[jonathan c]

So regular kegs of beer are around $100. You get 60 of them for 6K dollars.

And: if you put inside an anode & a cathode plus good old H2S04 (sulphuric acid) plus wiring, you might end up with a mammoth battery to use as an external power supply for…

 

[Redcarmoose]

If anyone thinks this is “off-topic” it’s not.

 

[jonathan c]

If anyone thinks this is “off-topic” it’s not.

I would say that for most Head-Fiers, this is dead-on-topic. Favourite hp gear > favourite music ===> favourite libation: Y or N ?