"Vintage" headphones?

I listen to a lot of music via headphones, (at the moment using a ~$100 set of Sennheiser cans). I know there's a few of you into older/"vintage" high-end stereo gear, and I'm wondering if there's any merit to vintage headphones?

There's a whole bunch on ebay for cheap, eg: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1971-Koss-K-6-Stereo-Headphones-/261000124438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc4d1d816#ht_500wt_949 but I don't really know what I'm looking at.

I love my Koss Pro/4AAs from the '70s. They're way better than any reasonably priced modern headphones.

Koss headphones were pretty much the standard of the industry back then, and I think they're still very good.

Modern consumer-grade stuff is so cheaply made it's almost worthless, but they still like to price things as if they've been hewn from mahogany by craftsmen & hope we won't notice. I use a pair of JVC ha-S600s right now which actually sound quite nice & are really good at insulating against outside noise, but they're showing signs that once they start to go, they're going to disintegrate real quick. (I have no idea how old they are, my dad found them left in one of his classrooms and none of his students claimed them. They looked pretty new when he gave them to me though.)

Before that I bought a pair of big, over-the-ear Sonys specifically because they looked like they would block noise on airplanes and deliver a nice frequency response. They do neither, in fact they are one of the worst pairs of headphones I've ever owned. I tried to get a refund at the (big chain) shop I got them from but they refused claiming they don't take back used headphones for "hygenic reasons." It's not like you're going to re-box them and put them back on the shelf, you twats. Serves me right for giving money to Sony I guess.

I have a pair of big, black, '70s style ear monitors (with coil cord and everything) back in Canada, which still sound pretty good too. I'm not enough of an audiophile to say how good though. But they're finicky, and if you gank the cord at the wrong angle you lose one ear, and the built-in volume pots are really scratchy. Well-cared-for vintage gear shouldn't be like that though.

Anyway I'd bet for high end, studio-grade stuff ($200+??), the modern ones are better (if for no other reason than they don't have 30+ years of wear and tear on them), but if you don't want to spend much you can probably score some really nice oldschool ones at a car boot sale or whatever for the price of crap like my "new" Sonys above. Cheap-as-pigeon-E36 M3, horribly made "low end" consumer electronics are a relatively new phenomenon.

Thanks, guys.

Jay wrote: if you don't want to spend much you can probably score some *really* nice oldschool ones at a car boot sale or whatever for the price of crap like my "new" Sonys above. Cheap-as-pigeon-E36 M3, horribly made "low end" consumer electronics are a relatively new phenomenon.

That's the plan, then. I figure I'd be up at least a couple hundred bucks for a worthwhile upgrade over my current Sennheiser set, so may as well try and save some cash on a potentially superior old-school pair.

Jay wrote: Modern consumer-grade stuff is so cheaply made it's almost worthless, but they still like to price things as if they've been hewn from mahogany by craftsmen & hope we won't notice.

Funny mine actually are.

I love the modern Grado's. If I had my druthers I would try and find a set of vintage PS1000's to compliment them. I still kick myself over selling my LS3000's.

I would put my RS1i's up against my last Martin Logan Setup and compare them favorable any day of the week. Headphones are the miata's of the audiophile world. Easy to get into, small, modifiable and extreme bang for the buck.

Mmmmmmmm Grados.

As for new stuff, i've found Koss Porta-Pros to be way better than their price point.

Audio Technica AD700s aren't horribly expensive either.

At work i use a set of Sony MDR-XD300s and they're pretty good, very cheap.

I have to admit, i've been wearing earbuds more and more lately. There was a blowout sale on Altec Lansings a couple weeks ago and i got a few sets to try. Pleasantly surprised!

The foam ear cushions on my early-80's Koss headphones crumbled to bids and blew away in the wind many years ago. I wonder if they sell replacements? Just a foam donut with sticky on one side. Not sure I could find the phones though....

I'm sure the new made-in-China ones are much betterer than that old junk.

1988RedT2 wrote: The foam ear cushions on my early-80's Koss headphones crumbled to bids and blew away in the wind many years ago. I wonder if they sell replacements? Just a foam donut with sticky on one side. Not sure I could find the phones though.... I'm sure the new made-in-China ones are much betterer than that old junk.

There's actually a pretty big modding community behind the Porta-Pros. I know i've seen a few with Grado pads on them instead of the stock stuff.

I don't know anything about headphones, but I build speakers. Modern drivers are so much better than what was available not that long ago. People are doing things with small drivers that weren't possible in the 70's or even the 80's. I can't imagine vintage stuff would be even close to what you would get with a good pair of modern headphones.