DIYbanter - View Single Post - Vintage KOSS earphones PRO-4AA buying decision.

(Michael Black) wrote in message ...
"Asimov" ) writes:
"Jacques Carrier" bravely wrote to "All" (22 Sep 04 12:10:35)
--- on the heady topic of "Vintage KOSS earphones PRO-4AA buying
decision."

JC From: (Jacques Carrier)

JC Hi fellow techs,

JC Would you buy these earphones?They are 25 years old.
JC A friend of mine is asking $20.
JC They seem OK but I wonder about the speaker cones
JC versus the sound quality.

JC Any feedback would be very much appreciated.

JC Jacques

Test them by having at least a 20 minute listening session. The reason
is that in my experience with some headphones their coils may become
thermal intermittant over the years. Dropping headphones is one cause.
This hidden problem may show up as the phones gradually warm up from
contact with the head/ears.

Of course, it also depends on useage, and even model.

I used to use headphones a lot, and the cord would tend to break. I
retired my good pair of Koss, I forget the exact model number, because I
couldn't figure out how to pen them to change the cord. Or maybe it was
because the pads covered the screws, and I couldn't figure out how
to get them off without ruining the pads.

In the model I had, the pads were just open foam. I bought them in '78
and when I eventually scrapped them some years back, they'd been out of use
for some years, the foam had disintegrated.

Micahel

The Pro4AA were the standard of the professional sound industry when I
was in the biz along with the Sennheiser. The seals were fluid filled
plastic of some sort and yes they did cover the screws to take the
headphones apart. As I remember it you removed the ear seal by pulling
it out of the groove around the ear piece. This revealed 4 screws that
you removed and the phones could be opened.

Personally I never liked the open foam because when I was monitoring
sound I liked a complete seal to reduce ambient noise as much as
possible. I still miss mine and have seen them at garage sales for as
little as $1.

Richard