What are the Best Vintage Headphones? Pre-1980

[Prog Rock Man]

IME so far with the 1970s headphones I have the build is better, but the sound is not so good, if you like bass. From what I have read and heard myself, modern headphones are tuned for more bass. I presume that is because more modern music genres are bass heavy with metal, dance, rap etc. Audiophiles in the 1970s were more likely to be listening to jazz, folk and classical than now. So the midrange was more important.
 

 

[kool bubba ice]

How can you argue with NASA..
Quote:

DT 48, win!

 

[HeavenNotes]

Vintage is right up my alley! I'm gonna have to say look for the Lafayette F990 cans! They pop up quite a bit on ebay. Produced from 1968 or so to through the early 70's. They use 3 1/2" loudspeakers for the transducers. Great soundstage! These headphones are very comfortable too. Really nice thick pads!

Hello
I'm listening jazz in mine now.  I connected it in my PC Speaker Klipsch THX ans sounds great.

 

[HeavenNotes]

  So far, for me, sneaking in at the very end of the 1970s are the Panasonic (also Technics) EAH 500s. There has been a lot of criticism of vintage headphones and their lack of bass and I have certainly found that with all of mine, except the EAH 500s.
 
They are very light, comfortable, sensitive and the pads fold in. It was if they were made with ipods in mind, though you need a jack adapter.

Hello
Have you listen LF 990?  IMO the bass is really good.

 

[OmegaHyperion]

I have the Pioneer SE-700 Piezoelectric Headphone, and i must say, it does sound fantastic, not quite as good as my Beyerdynamic T1, but still a lot better than many headphones i have tested over the ears. The only thing to criticize about the SE-700 is that it does start to hurt after a few hours of listening to it, due to it being Supra Aural. But sound wise, they are phenomenal. They have a little bit less base then the T1, which does not bother me, as I'm not a base head. Also they do require a lot more power to drive then normal Dynamic headphones. Sound Stage on them is quite expansive, not as expansive as the T1, but still better than most of the sub 500$ headphones i have tried. So far i have only tested them with the Schiit Magni amp, as well as a old Marantz PM 350.
 
I'd say, they can easily compete with most modern Dynamic Headphones. If i had to put them in a ranking with Beyerdanamic headphones, id say they are somewhere between the T90 (although the T90 has a larger sound Stage) and T1 in terms of sound quality.
 
I can definitely Recommend them!
 

 

[arjuna93]

What about Hitachi headphones? DR-92C, DR-90C, HD-50, Lo-D series?

 

[lantian]

1987 Sennheiser hd 540 reference gold 600ohm. Probably the best monitors to come out. Was a TOTL product back then and still is one today.

 

[510198]

1987 Sennheiser hd 540 reference gold 600ohm. Probably the best monitors to come out. Was a TOTL product back then and still is one today.

This thread is back from the dead lol