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Oldest headphones around here

T

Tumeni Notes

pfm Member
I have Sennheiser HD430 and Beyer Dynamic DT330 Mk II, bought in, I think, late 1970s or 1980s.

Am I the only one soldiering on with phones of this vintage....?
 
Anyone owning a Stax SR3 wins this comp, I have 2 pairs of SRX3 Mk 3
and one pair of Mk2s which I consider them much better sounding than the
later SRX3s.
 
Ah ….Vintage Headphone-HiFi time.

The oldest headphone I have owned was a pair of Sennheiser HD40’s purchased the mid-nineteen eighties. Unfortunately, the foam eventually degraded and some of the “foam dust” found its way into the capsules making them unlistenable. I also damaged one capsule trying to clean it out… Oops.

My oldest functioning phones are the AKG K501 purchased in the mid nineteen nineties. Like the HD40’s the foam in the earpads have long since decomposed. Fortunately, the foam dust was contained within the earpad’s cloth covering and the “Varimotion” drivers. Remained unscathed. The phones now wear a set of Dekoni Velour Pad and are still in regular use today.

source


It would be interesting to hear some older headphones from the sixties and seventies. The old vinyl ear-pads liners have gone hard and the foam stuffing will be disintegrated by now. I remember hearing a pair of old seventies KOSS studio phones some time ago and to be honest they sounded really bad and were quite uncomfortable.

LPSpinner
 
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Sennheiser HD-414s here. The black mid to late ‘70s 600 Ohm version with yellow ear-pads, not the even higher impedance cream/blue late-60s version. Thankfully Sennheiser still make the foam earpads and the cable is the same fitting as a HD-600 so that can be replaced too (mine had hardened a bit so I replaced it). Still good cans in their own way, stunningly comfortable as they are so light and not ‘clampy’, and certainly a design statement. They really should re-make them in a hopefully more efficient and easy load form. I can empty an iPhone into these without getting them remotely loud, though my Sony Walkman Pro drives them fine.
 
I have a pair of grey HD414s bought in the 70s whilst at Uni. On second leads and 4th set of foams but still useful. During lockdown I bought myself the pair of HD600s I always promised myself.
 
cooky1257 said:
Koss ESP6a here, in some respects they are stunningly good but so heavy you can only listen lying down.
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fify. ;)

I too have a pair of Koss ESP6a c/w its carrying case, non working, I am too old and doddery to restore them, I also have two pairs of Koss ESP9s in GWO. :D
 
Tony L said:
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Sennheiser HD-414s here. The black mid to late ‘70s 600 Ohm version with yellow ear-pads, not the even higher impedance cream/blue late-60s version. Thankfully Sennheiser still make the foam earpads and the cable is the same fitting as a HD-600 so that can be replaced too (mine had hardened a bit so I replaced it). Still good cans in their own way, stunningly comfortable as they are so light and not ‘clampy’, and certainly a design statement. They really should re-make them in a hopefully more efficient and easy load form. I can empty an iPhone into these without getting them remotely loud, though my Sony Walkman Pro drives them fine.
Click to expand...

I have two pairs of the later HD424s, one pair is boxed like new, tother pair was used by the seller as a headband used with a set of Stax Gamma Pros, he had glued the Gamma's shells on to the sponges of the 424s, and binned the original Stax Arc. :eek:

He told me, he had no choice as they were so painful to wear them when he first bought them.
 
Wharfedale Isodynamic 'phones are probably one of the best from 50 years ago. Apart from being rather inefficient , i.e. needing some watts, they compare remarkably well with modern planars, as I know from owning Ether 2s as well.
They fetch a good price still as well.
I still have 2 pairs, with new ear muffs I had made by leatherworker friend.
 
Darmok said:
I have two pairs of the later HD424s
Click to expand...

I had a pair of HD-424s for a while, my first headphones. Really nice as I recall. I suspect they put the driver a little closer to the ear than the 414 which would be advantageous. I didn’t realise you could still get fresh earpads for them, but a quick google suggests you can which is cool. I replaced them with a pair of Leak 3000 isodynamic headphones that Laskys were knocking out end-of-line for a real bargain price. I remember those being really good sonically, plus they looked cool, but nowhere near as comfortable as the Sennheisers. They taught me good headphones are heavy and uncomfortable. A view I’ve not revised much since. It would be interesting to revisit those, though they are very rare now and I suspect the rubber construction won’t have held up well. I picked the HD-414s later on as I’d always liked them despite their limitations. They remain the benchmark for comfort - I want something that wears like HD-414s but sounds like HD-600s!
 
cooky1257 said:
One for spares or just not got round to moving them on?
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I am very sorry, I am a hi-fi collecter, I have been picking up these sort
of things long before ePrey came along and spoiled the chase.:mad:

I am amazed how much some peeps have to pay for their stuff nowadays.:(

I cannot post any piccys as all my stuff is being stored in a large shipping container,:( it has been my long life hobby as I learned all the good from bad whilst working in the hi-fi industry and working in s/h shops, it's been loads of fun.:D
 
Tumeni Notes said:
Wow. £165 for a pair of the HD430s, from Mexico, with a bent-out-of-shape headband, and what looks like non-original ear pads....
Click to expand...

There seems to be a real collector market for vintage headphones now. I bought my current HD-414s (my original pair were long gone) about ten years ago IIRC and it was just starting back then. I think they cost me £45 clean, working, and in a (somewhat tatty) original box with manual and I felt that was a lot of money for what was largely nostalgia/curiosity. More some once I’d bought new earpads and a new cable! Since then the market has gone up hugely and a similar condition pair seems to be >£200 much of the time unless you get a seller not realising they are collectable. This is for what was only ever a budget pair of headphones too, albeit a bit of a style icon. I suspect if they stop making a real classic like the HD-600, Grado RS1 the better Beyer studio cans etc they’ll go through the roof!
 
Stax SR-40 here, purchased around 1978. The cable is a mess but still functional. I stopped using them a while back as they were electrocuting my ears:

stax.jpg
 
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