[philip1]

I got an e-mail this morning from a friend who has some old Sennheiser cans model hd224. Are older phones worth looking at?

 

[silencewithin]

Sure.

That goes for other things in head-fi too

I don't know anything about those cans though.

Vintage is a good way to get good value for money.

 

[REB]

It really depends on the cans. I have a vintage pair of Beyerdynamic DT990s from the 80s and they beat all my other headphones. Not all phones stand the test of time though.

 

[illy2k]

See, I am of a different camp. While I tend to think that Vintage has possibilities for great value more often than not I opt for new. There is something to be said for starting a relationship with equipment from the beginning. Breaking it in and feeling like it was virgin when you got it. Does that sound silly? I think vintage has its place but for regular non-extraordinary cans I think vintage is pointless.

For example I would get vintage k1000's.

 

[philip1]

I went ahead and told my friend that I'd buy the oldies a hell of a price and even if they suck they look pretty good and can be shelf candy

 

[philip1]

I was planning to buy some AT ath-m50s's but after all the Grado praise I have ordered some sr60's to have a known good phone. I had purchased some ear candy phones and while they sounded OK the small cups hurt so they were returned and the Grados were purchased.

 

[krmathis]

It really depends on the headphones. Brand, model, condition, and more.
I have had a handful vintage Stax 'phones myself, with no regrets.

 

[moogoob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philip1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I went ahead and told my friend that I'd buy the oldies a hell of a price and even if they suck they look pretty good and can be shelf candy

"Shelf Candy" has now entered my lexicon. Thanks.

 

[rhythmdevils]

YES

 

[philip1]

The Sennheiser HD224's should be here Friday. Hopefully they will have decent SQ. I'm hoping to have the Grado's next week sometime.

 

[dclancy]

I pulled the trigger on a pair of Beyer Dt 480's without knowing anything about them, even after scouring the net. They came today and sound great. I was gonna do a comparison to review to them with my JVC x700's, considering I paid the same amount for both, but after a few minutes listening to them, it's an unfair comparison. They compete better against my a900's or k701's to the certain extent.
Let us hear how they sound.

 

[goober-george]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dclancy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I pulled the trigger on a pair of Beyer Dt 480's without knowing anything about them, even after scouring the net. They came today and sound great. I was gonna do a comparison to review to them with my JVC x700's, considering I paid the same amount for both, but after a few minutes listening to them, it's an unfair comparison. They compete better against my a900's or k701's to the certain extent. Let us hear how they sound.

Do you mean DT 48s? Oh, never knew there was a DT-480 never mind then.

 

[smeggy]

Vintage cans FTW!

Except for my KSC 75 I don't have any cans newer than 10 years old and a wee bunch getting on for 30.

 

[philip1]

so these 70's or 80's Sennheiser hd 224's are a good bet?

 

[rhythmdevils]

not all vintage phones are good. But headphone technology hasn't really done anything in the past 30 years. And there are some designs, like those by AKG in the 70' and early 80's where they were experimenting with very different designs (like dual drivers, electostatic-dynamic hyrbrids, passive radiators, etc), and sometimes wound up spending more on making and designing the cans than companies do these days. I don't think the K701 has anything in it that AKG hadn't develped 30 years ago, the headphones are just tweaked for a new kind of sound and look they think will sell better.

for example, the AKG K240 is redesigned every decade it seems, and every redesign sounds worse, and costs them less to make...

Just my opinion though. Sennheiser seems to keep making better dynamic headphones. And they are about to come out with the HD800, and then later some new electostatics, which will be new beasts entirely.