Hi folks
Looking for solutions for vintage (cheap!) headphones that will be good choices to match with DIY class A amps I'm building to experience somewhere close to hifi nirvana. .
Only pair I have so far is some Izumi CIS 330s and all I know about them is they are 8ohm, made in 1975 and the real leather is still lovely, very comfortable phones.
Looking for solutions for vintage (cheap!) headphones that will be good choices to match with DIY class A amps I'm building to experience somewhere close to hifi nirvana. .
Only pair I have so far is some Izumi CIS 330s and all I know about them is they are 8ohm, made in 1975 and the real leather is still lovely, very comfortable phones.
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you can still find good planars relatively cheaply
I recently picked up a pair of Yamaha HP-1 in pristine condition for $100. The last pair of YH-2 I found were $40 shipped. People have found many planar/ortho type headphones in $5 bins at charity shops and garden sales. There is a huge thread on orthodynamics at the HeadFi forum. The pioneers are great, need a little loving but then so do most of the planars. Most of these will tolerate a little offset from a big powerhouse class A amp, if the amp has minimal offset ( <20mV) then looking at some of the old pro audio gear is well worth it. Sennheiser HD580/600 are still excellent , Beyerdynamic DT990/880 etc , many more to choose from. You can even pick up some of these new for < $200 (depends on your barr of "cheap")
..dB
I recently picked up a pair of Yamaha HP-1 in pristine condition for $100. The last pair of YH-2 I found were $40 shipped. People have found many planar/ortho type headphones in $5 bins at charity shops and garden sales. There is a huge thread on orthodynamics at the HeadFi forum. The pioneers are great, need a little loving but then so do most of the planars. Most of these will tolerate a little offset from a big powerhouse class A amp, if the amp has minimal offset ( <20mV) then looking at some of the old pro audio gear is well worth it. Sennheiser HD580/600 are still excellent , Beyerdynamic DT990/880 etc , many more to choose from. You can even pick up some of these new for < $200 (depends on your barr of "cheap")
..dB
Cheers guys, this is the sort of info I need. Sadly where I live there are no thrift stores so I'm limited to ebay.
These the phones I have collected so far, only the Izumis are vintage:
Izumi CIS-330 – 8 ohms
Phillips SHP2000 – 32 ohms
Behringer HPS3000 – 64 ohms
Sony MDR-XD100 – 70 ohms
These the phones I have collected so far, only the Izumis are vintage:
Izumi CIS-330 – 8 ohms
Phillips SHP2000 – 32 ohms
Behringer HPS3000 – 64 ohms
Sony MDR-XD100 – 70 ohms
Could you please do a short comparison? Also, do you happen to know whether Ref I, II and Gold sound different?+1
You can buy Sennheiser HD 540 Ref for as little as Eur 25 on Ebay.
My set is more than 30 year old, I use it daily, and prefer it to my HD 650
Agree with MrSwingKing. There is a long thread on headfi on the 540 and some impressions there on the various revisions. I guess they do have differences but I can’t comment. Some people there are saying they’re the best headphone ever, which I wouldn’t say. I wouldn’t personally take all that talk on headfi too seriously. However, if mine died I would absolutely look to replace them.
I also replaced the original 30 year old pads on mine with protein leather ones from brainwavz and it changed the character quite a bit. Less of an airy sound and brought out the mid bass much more. Aftermarket original-ish pads are all over ebay fwiw.
The hd560 is also a good headphone, I own it, but like the 540 more. That’s just me though.
I also replaced the original 30 year old pads on mine with protein leather ones from brainwavz and it changed the character quite a bit. Less of an airy sound and brought out the mid bass much more. Aftermarket original-ish pads are all over ebay fwiw.
The hd560 is also a good headphone, I own it, but like the 540 more. That’s just me though.
Why would I want a smartphone? Strange thing to say...
Not vintage, but I picked up a pair of AKG K-92 for 7.65ukp inc shipping, hopefully the left ear no audio problem will be a simple fix:
AKG K92 Closed-Back Wired Headphones - Gold for sale online | eBay
Not vintage, but I picked up a pair of AKG K-92 for 7.65ukp inc shipping, hopefully the left ear no audio problem will be a simple fix:
AKG K92 Closed-Back Wired Headphones - Gold for sale online | eBay
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