Bratec Krolik
New Head-Fier
Of course, Monitor 10 is great headphones, but i think 2-way Pioneer SE-505 is better for heavy metal.
Vintage Pioneer thread
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cmarti
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I listen to metal with my Pioneer SE-305's, I like their sound better than the SE-505 which I gave to a good friend of mine a couple of weeks ago.
Bratec Krolik
New Head-Fier
As far as I know, only difference between SE-505 and SE-305 is the
volume and tweeter control knob
in 505's. What amplifier do you use with SE-305?
cmarti
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frisbi01
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I found a set of Pioneer Master 1s among some old staff and they work just fine but the ear pads are missing. I remember they had been damaged a long time ago. I want to restore them and use them properly so does anyone know where I can find replacement pads like the ones shown above? It would be a shame not to fix them since they still work just fine... Please help me.. :/
BlueRequiem
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I had a similar problem and asked kuantings about his earpads, he recommended trying Panasonic RP-HTX7 pads. I ordered a pair and should be able to let you know how well they work once they arrive.
frisbi01
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Thank you very much! 
You made this user happy... Please let me know how they fit so we can both enjoy this great pair of headphones
You made this user happy... Please let me know how they fit so we can both enjoy this great pair of headphones 
nick n
Headphoneus Supremus
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The center opening will be the most important part to get right. Someone should be able to measure that for you hopefully.
BlueRequiem
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The earpads came in today and unfortunately the RP-HTX7 pads are way too big. On the plus side, I also ordered some Sennheiser hd-25 pads, which do fit the Se-m10/Master-1s. However, they made them far too bassy and got rid of the excellent clarity that they have. In the end I stuck with the pads that were on them when I got the headphones. They are red and ugly foam, but they work fairly well.
I don't know what model they were for, but they measure about 7 cm long and 3.5 cm of gap in the inside. kuantings also mentioned that pads for ATH-FC700 or ATH-707 might work.
I don't know what model they were for, but they measure about 7 cm long and 3.5 cm of gap in the inside. kuantings also mentioned that pads for ATH-FC700 or ATH-707 might work.
takato14
Headphoneus Supremus
Nice stuff.
I'm starting to mod my Monitor 10-II myself. After having them measured by Tyll Hertsens (check out that bass distortion and power handling
), I realized they have a ridiculously limiting enclosure that would just love some dampening.
I've crammed some foam rings from an ATH-3 around the drivers inside the cups and put foam inserts from an original Monitor 10 inside the baffle plate. This has reduced the earcup resonations by a signifcant margin. Next thing to do is to fix the hole in the upper midrange.
I already tried EQing these using Tylls plots until they were flat/neutral. If I manage to do this with physical mods, these will be the absolute best dynamic and best closed headphone I have ever heard.
I'm starting to mod my Monitor 10-II myself. After having them measured by Tyll Hertsens (check out that bass distortion and power handling
I've crammed some foam rings from an ATH-3 around the drivers inside the cups and put foam inserts from an original Monitor 10 inside the baffle plate. This has reduced the earcup resonations by a signifcant margin. Next thing to do is to fix the hole in the upper midrange.
I already tried EQing these using Tylls plots until they were flat/neutral. If I manage to do this with physical mods, these will be the absolute best dynamic and best closed headphone I have ever heard.
BlueRequiem
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That's very interesting, I wonder how well those mods would work with a Monitor 10R...I need to figure out what's going on with mine, they sound really muffled with most albums I throw at them. They sound pretty nifty with mid-90's alt. rock like Garbage or the Smashing Pumpkins, just not so much with anything else. I'll probably start with new earpads and foam since I think pioneer still sells them.
Howlin Fester
500+ Head-Fier
I just picked up a pair of Pioneer SE L-40 from Ebay last week for $76.00 with free shipping. I hope nobody minds, but I'm going to post my initial impressions and mod that I've done over the past three days. I will probably condense this into an actual review when I finalize the mod. But right now you guys get my stream of consciousness impressions and discoveries from my prototype mod. Enjoy...
GREQ
Headphoneus Supremus
From what I understand, these are more of a collectors item than something actually worth using as a tool for musical enjoyment???... looking forward to lots of photos (we want to see guts!)
Howlin Fester
500+ Head-Fier
Pioneer SE L-40
So I bought a pair of 1974 Pioneer SE L-40 from ebay for $76.00.
Initial Impressions: 04.06.2015 morning.
Build.
These are wonderful retro headphones with steam-punk stylings. That is why I bought them. I loved them from the moment I saw them. The brown leather has aged well, and the metal looks great. I can’t wait to try to shine up the gold. I rubbed some of the grime from the gold/brass and it seemed to come off easily, so I expect it to shine up nicely.
The ¼” inch plug is a honkin’ monster. I immediately tried to unscrew it to see if there are 3 or 4 wires. No luck. Couldn’t unscrew it. This is good for longevity of the cabling, but not for my curiosity. If I change out the tip, I’ll have to cut the cable. When I wiggle it slightly or spin it while in the socket of my integrated amp, it does give off a bit of static. But nothing I noticed until I stared messing with it. (Later... I think my jack may be going, because I had the same problem with my Fostex TH-900. So not the L-40’s fault.)
The cable itself is old-school cloth covered wire. No kinks or bends that I can see. Looks to be about one eighth of an inch diameter. So not thick or heavy. But is definitely solid, and about 7 foot long. Much longer that I normally like my HP cables.
Sound.
I put on Steely Dan album Can’t Buy a Thrill and started with the opener Do It Again. The first thing that I noticed is that the high frequency chimes that I look for were extremely low in the mix. Same thing with extended bass. Donald Fagan’s voice came in and almost sounded hot to me. So Seems like this is an extremely mid forward headphone. At the end of the song, I found some nice texture from the bass player. So the upper bass is there.
As I continue through Dirty Work and Kings, I feel like everything is slightly veiled. I really do want more clarity in the highs. The prominence is definitely with Fagan and the backup singers in Kings. I would love to hear more guitar. I have to strain to listen for it.
Midnite Cruiser. Piano takes center stage with vocals.
Soundstage.
The presentation is extremely close. I can hear guitar in the left. Some percussive instruments in the right. But definitely nothing extended.
Continuing impressions.
I immediately want to try the mod that I read about that cuts out some of the foam and extends the highs. But not going to do that for a little bit. (I'm referencing the Honeycomb Mod.)
Reelin’ in the Years. The guitar comes in hot just as it should. Then during the verse, the piano takes over. I think these cans highlight whatever the engineer wanted to take center stage during each part of the song. Then the crash cymbal in the left. There it is. Dull. No clarity. Really want more highs.
I’ll stop commenting on the Steely Dan now. Will finish the album, then listen to something else.
Moving on to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I’ve had this album in at least four different formats, and it was the first album I ever bought when I was five. So I’m very familiar with it. And… There is nothing new here. I’m wishing for more openness, air, and clarity.
I just tried to see if I could easily remove the foam and covering. No luck. Need to read the disassembly instructions so I don’t hork them up. I’m envisioning putting on a Momentum on-ear pad, or a Grado bowl. That is, of course, if they sound decent without the foam. They are not going to be pristine, but that’s not why I bought them. (They didn’t come with the case and manual like other versions I have seen.)
Percussion on Pink Floyd’s Time is fun and right on spot. But when the rest of the band and vocals come in, I continue to miss the clarity and highs.
So for first impressions, if I can get the highs to open up, I can live without deep bass. They could be a fun, quirky headphone. But definitely won’t be something that I reach for a lot.
So Great Gig in the sky. I hate to say it, but these headphones have rendered the song BORING. I have never thought that Clarre Torry’s vocals were boring. But guess what. These phones have sucked all the life out of her performance. Definitely need some kind of mod.
04.06.2015 Mid morning.
So I’ve been mucking around with it for ten or twenty minutes trying to get the pads off. Following the advice of the TAO of Tubes, here: http://taooftubes.blogspot.com/2011/06/dismantling-pioneer-se-l40-headphone.html . Can’t get them to turn. So went back to listening. For Any Colour You Like, I turned them up. Way louder than I would want to listen to them. The bass seems to extend and get better. Slightly better highs. But way too loud.
04.06.2015 Late morning
Alright. Finally got the pads off. There are two quarter moon cutouts on each pillow pad. I was able to use a small metal pen shirt clip to pry it off. It was flat with a very short angled section. Something like this: \_________ I found this link better describes the removal of the pads. http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=639678 . The pads pried off for me. They didn’t spin. I think the TAO of Tubes is talking about the drivers spinning, not the pads. But Tao definitely has different version than the Audiokarma guy and me.
I’m listening to them now without the pillows. Back to Do it again. Much better. Chimes are now clear and brighter. But with the drivers directly on my ears, the mid range is still too close. However when I held the drivers about a quarter of an inch off of my ears, it sounded better. So I think I’m going to target a set of earpads to hold it out more
Allison Krauss seems to fare better for me, because I don’t know it as well. And I find banjos to be a bit annoying. So this laid back presentation sounds alright here.
Mod:
Three days later: 04.09.2015 morning.
So I made some wooden rings out of aromatic cedar that fit around the drivers and I put Grado L cush pads on it from my RS1i. Now the drivers are open to my ear and held away by the cushions. The clarity is open and beautiful. I’m listening to Red Barchetta by Rush. Alex Lifeson’s harmonic guitar accents are distinct and clear. Geddy Lee’s bass lines at the end are still full and distinct. These don’t reach down into the sub bass, but they sound much better than they did with the original pillow pads. Next song on Moving Pictures is YYZ. It starts with triangles moving from ear to ear. Bright. Clear. Good. The rest of the instrumental has more “air” than with the pillows. I love this mod.
My cups are only prototypes because I didn’t have the right sizes of hole saws. But this is great for now. I will update more as I continue this mod. This Mod is 100% reversible and does not harm the headphones, pillows or anything else. Doing this has taken the SE L40 from being a beautiful headphone to look at and made it into a headphone I will listen to.
Back to Steely Dan. Do it again has the percussion, cymbal ride, and chimes I expect. Fagan doesn’t seem as hot now. More evenly mixed. Great depth. I was going to listen to one song and move on, but I find myself halfway through the album. Guess I’ll let it roll. Very happy with the sound now.
Quirky note:
These headphones are open and made out of metal. Occasionally I can hear a little metal tick on the left side. It doesn’t annoy me, but is definitely a funny quirk of the headphone.
Back to sound:
My go-to song to test bass is Hatesong by Porcupine Tree off of Lightbulb Sun. These have very good bass presentation. They are not as impactful as the Fostex TH-900, but this song definitely rocks out. (And the TH-900 is a bass enhanced monster.)
I started up Jim Croce’s Photographs and Memories. Trying to get some old rock to go with my old phones. Wow. Perfect match! Details. Bass. Guitar riffs by Maury Muehleisen. Swing piano. What a sound. Love it. Operator is one of my all time favorite songs. I simply get lost in this song with the SE-L40s. I’m really pleased with the mod.
Here are pics of the SE-L40 with my crude ring. Showing the original pillow pad next to the Grado L-pad. More info as I refine the mod.
Close up of the cedar ring. As you can see there is a significant gap between the ring and the side of the headphone. I hope to fill that with my next attempt. And will put a groove in it for the Grado pad to grab onto. Like they have on the RS1i.
So I bought a pair of 1974 Pioneer SE L-40 from ebay for $76.00.
Initial Impressions: 04.06.2015 morning.
Build.
These are wonderful retro headphones with steam-punk stylings. That is why I bought them. I loved them from the moment I saw them. The brown leather has aged well, and the metal looks great. I can’t wait to try to shine up the gold. I rubbed some of the grime from the gold/brass and it seemed to come off easily, so I expect it to shine up nicely.
The ¼” inch plug is a honkin’ monster. I immediately tried to unscrew it to see if there are 3 or 4 wires. No luck. Couldn’t unscrew it. This is good for longevity of the cabling, but not for my curiosity. If I change out the tip, I’ll have to cut the cable. When I wiggle it slightly or spin it while in the socket of my integrated amp, it does give off a bit of static. But nothing I noticed until I stared messing with it. (Later... I think my jack may be going, because I had the same problem with my Fostex TH-900. So not the L-40’s fault.)
The cable itself is old-school cloth covered wire. No kinks or bends that I can see. Looks to be about one eighth of an inch diameter. So not thick or heavy. But is definitely solid, and about 7 foot long. Much longer that I normally like my HP cables.
Sound.
I put on Steely Dan album Can’t Buy a Thrill and started with the opener Do It Again. The first thing that I noticed is that the high frequency chimes that I look for were extremely low in the mix. Same thing with extended bass. Donald Fagan’s voice came in and almost sounded hot to me. So Seems like this is an extremely mid forward headphone. At the end of the song, I found some nice texture from the bass player. So the upper bass is there.
As I continue through Dirty Work and Kings, I feel like everything is slightly veiled. I really do want more clarity in the highs. The prominence is definitely with Fagan and the backup singers in Kings. I would love to hear more guitar. I have to strain to listen for it.
Midnite Cruiser. Piano takes center stage with vocals.
Soundstage.
The presentation is extremely close. I can hear guitar in the left. Some percussive instruments in the right. But definitely nothing extended.
Continuing impressions.
I immediately want to try the mod that I read about that cuts out some of the foam and extends the highs. But not going to do that for a little bit. (I'm referencing the Honeycomb Mod.)
Reelin’ in the Years. The guitar comes in hot just as it should. Then during the verse, the piano takes over. I think these cans highlight whatever the engineer wanted to take center stage during each part of the song. Then the crash cymbal in the left. There it is. Dull. No clarity. Really want more highs.
I’ll stop commenting on the Steely Dan now. Will finish the album, then listen to something else.
Moving on to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. I’ve had this album in at least four different formats, and it was the first album I ever bought when I was five. So I’m very familiar with it. And… There is nothing new here. I’m wishing for more openness, air, and clarity.
I just tried to see if I could easily remove the foam and covering. No luck. Need to read the disassembly instructions so I don’t hork them up. I’m envisioning putting on a Momentum on-ear pad, or a Grado bowl. That is, of course, if they sound decent without the foam. They are not going to be pristine, but that’s not why I bought them. (They didn’t come with the case and manual like other versions I have seen.)
Percussion on Pink Floyd’s Time is fun and right on spot. But when the rest of the band and vocals come in, I continue to miss the clarity and highs.
So for first impressions, if I can get the highs to open up, I can live without deep bass. They could be a fun, quirky headphone. But definitely won’t be something that I reach for a lot.
So Great Gig in the sky. I hate to say it, but these headphones have rendered the song BORING. I have never thought that Clarre Torry’s vocals were boring. But guess what. These phones have sucked all the life out of her performance. Definitely need some kind of mod.
04.06.2015 Mid morning.
So I’ve been mucking around with it for ten or twenty minutes trying to get the pads off. Following the advice of the TAO of Tubes, here: http://taooftubes.blogspot.com/2011/06/dismantling-pioneer-se-l40-headphone.html . Can’t get them to turn. So went back to listening. For Any Colour You Like, I turned them up. Way louder than I would want to listen to them. The bass seems to extend and get better. Slightly better highs. But way too loud.
04.06.2015 Late morning
Alright. Finally got the pads off. There are two quarter moon cutouts on each pillow pad. I was able to use a small metal pen shirt clip to pry it off. It was flat with a very short angled section. Something like this: \_________ I found this link better describes the removal of the pads. http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=639678 . The pads pried off for me. They didn’t spin. I think the TAO of Tubes is talking about the drivers spinning, not the pads. But Tao definitely has different version than the Audiokarma guy and me.
I’m listening to them now without the pillows. Back to Do it again. Much better. Chimes are now clear and brighter. But with the drivers directly on my ears, the mid range is still too close. However when I held the drivers about a quarter of an inch off of my ears, it sounded better. So I think I’m going to target a set of earpads to hold it out more
Allison Krauss seems to fare better for me, because I don’t know it as well. And I find banjos to be a bit annoying. So this laid back presentation sounds alright here.
Mod:
Three days later: 04.09.2015 morning.
So I made some wooden rings out of aromatic cedar that fit around the drivers and I put Grado L cush pads on it from my RS1i. Now the drivers are open to my ear and held away by the cushions. The clarity is open and beautiful. I’m listening to Red Barchetta by Rush. Alex Lifeson’s harmonic guitar accents are distinct and clear. Geddy Lee’s bass lines at the end are still full and distinct. These don’t reach down into the sub bass, but they sound much better than they did with the original pillow pads. Next song on Moving Pictures is YYZ. It starts with triangles moving from ear to ear. Bright. Clear. Good. The rest of the instrumental has more “air” than with the pillows. I love this mod.
My cups are only prototypes because I didn’t have the right sizes of hole saws. But this is great for now. I will update more as I continue this mod. This Mod is 100% reversible and does not harm the headphones, pillows or anything else. Doing this has taken the SE L40 from being a beautiful headphone to look at and made it into a headphone I will listen to.
Back to Steely Dan. Do it again has the percussion, cymbal ride, and chimes I expect. Fagan doesn’t seem as hot now. More evenly mixed. Great depth. I was going to listen to one song and move on, but I find myself halfway through the album. Guess I’ll let it roll. Very happy with the sound now.
Quirky note:
These headphones are open and made out of metal. Occasionally I can hear a little metal tick on the left side. It doesn’t annoy me, but is definitely a funny quirk of the headphone.
Back to sound:
My go-to song to test bass is Hatesong by Porcupine Tree off of Lightbulb Sun. These have very good bass presentation. They are not as impactful as the Fostex TH-900, but this song definitely rocks out. (And the TH-900 is a bass enhanced monster.)
I started up Jim Croce’s Photographs and Memories. Trying to get some old rock to go with my old phones. Wow. Perfect match! Details. Bass. Guitar riffs by Maury Muehleisen. Swing piano. What a sound. Love it. Operator is one of my all time favorite songs. I simply get lost in this song with the SE-L40s. I’m really pleased with the mod.
Here are pics of the SE-L40 with my crude ring. Showing the original pillow pad next to the Grado L-pad. More info as I refine the mod.
Close up of the cedar ring. As you can see there is a significant gap between the ring and the side of the headphone. I hope to fill that with my next attempt. And will put a groove in it for the Grado pad to grab onto. Like they have on the RS1i.
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