There must some guys here who had a chance to hear some of the headphones i’m thinking about, and i was wandering how do these headphones stack up against today flagships. Headphones i have in mind are AKG K1000, Sony Qualia 10, Sony mdr-10, Grado HP1000, Stax SR-Ω, Sennheiser he-60 I’m wondering how are these headphones in comparison to today’s totl headphones.
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Older headphones were built for different equipment and mastering/production techniques and limitations. One could perhaps make the argument that vintage headphones sound “better” (people’s opinions about is considered “good” also change) on that equipment for particular records, but in general, newer headphones sound better.
I haven’t tried a lot of the unobtamium vintage, but I have tried a lot of very legendary stuff.
Most vintage electrostatics, proper electrostatics and not electrets, can still go toe to toe with even modern hi-end. Very, very few dynamic and planer magnetic hi-ends can beat electrostatics. The only one I heard that could was the HD800. Of course modern electrostatics can beat out their vintage counterpart but even then we’re talking about the absolute hi-end.
As for dynamic headphones? There’s a few I heard that definetely still earn their legendary moniker. DT-48 for instance was back in the day an EXTREMELY expensive headphone yet even a 60s pair can beat out most modern totl on resolution, detail and utter ruthlessness, albeit at the expense of sub bass and soundstage.
Most of the legendaries in my opinion still deserve their place in the best of all time. Especially the Japanese with their bubble era insanity.
I don’t get the love for the DT-48. That frequency response does comical things to most music.
I don’t know if its a flagship but I have the Sony MDR-MA900 I have been using for a few months now. It turns out they sound the best to me out of all the others I have tried and I have now started selling off my other headphones and keeping these one and some KSC75s if I need a portable headphone.
Fun thread. Thanks op
I own a bunch of vintage headphones (though none of the legendary ones). Most of them fall into the category of “fun, but objectively bad”, especially the dynamic ones.
My Sennheiser HD 540 (from the 90s) sound pretty good in my opinion (better than the modern 560s), but they are still far from competing with most high-end headphones.
However, I also own a Stax Lambda Nova Classic (also made in the 90s), and that one is excellent. Performs similarly well to modern-day lambdas, but the tonality is more pleasant to me. I’d expect similar things to be true for the electrostatic headphones you mentioned.
“Flagship” headphone is not a guarantee to get something good sounding, even nowadays, so I can imagine some of the older ones to compete quite well. However, out of those you’ve mentioned, all but the K1000 are rare and very expensive, so not really good value-for-money.
HD 540 are good, and I use them to listen to classical music every now and then. There’s a sweetness to the sound that is really nice.
My Stax Lambda Nova Basic also see occasional use. Apart from the lack of bass they are really good when using the oratory1990 EQ settings. Also a steal since I got them + the amp for 200 USD.
Some are as good as the newer stuff, some really fall short. The Sony 1700, 2000, 3000 and R10 are still very competent and aside from tuning choices they are as good as your run of the mill Clear or Arya. R10 would be a class above tho
Google for reviews of the HE-60. They are around, and very positive. Grado has always been Grado, i.e. I do not understand why people buy them.
I just got my first Grado (SR80X) and I absolutely should have done it way sooner. Easily best sounding headphones I’ve tried in 150 range. The aggression and clarity are awesome.
I think it’s kinda sad how some headphones just disappear once the next thing arrives. Hell some models don’t even last a decade before they stop production. Looking at you Fostex and Hifiman! There have been so many legendary headphones that just phased out and are super hard to find now. And more often than not the new models just don’t keep what made them special.
I’ve had a few vintage headphones (Fostex T50v0, Fostex T30, Sony MDR CD900 (OG 80s model), Beyerdynamic ET1000, Yamaha YH-1000, & Victor HP-D90).
I think they’d like fall in line with today’s mid-fi offerings like the HD600 or just below there in retrospect to my “vintage headphone phase.” Although not technically nor objectively better than today’s TOTL (or even some mid-fi) offerings, they’re still fun and have a certain charm and quirk to them. Except the Yamaha YH-1000/HP-1000. Those just sound like ass.
The HD 540 reference I sounds better to me than the HD 600, better staging and separation.
I own a pair of AKG k240 monitor 600 ohm “made in Austria”… I’m no expert, so I’d ask here what is your opinion about them. I quite like them, powered by the tube amp darkvoice
I’ve three different old K240s but I’ve not tried the 600 ohm Monitor. If it’s like my DF and Sextetts then ‘Darkvoice’ sounds like the right sort of amp for it.
They’re best at midrange in my opinion and bass might need adding according to taste, but they’re damn decent generally
You can try looking or ask people around here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/vintage-og-and-present-day-totl-comparisons-and-impressions-thread.930051/
Thanks
I grabbed an old AKG K340 for 100USD and while I cannot compere it to TOTL headphones but it still beats headphones in terms of technicalities under 500USD (IMO). Some claim they are as good as HD800 but I never heard them so take that with a grain of salt. Also the tuning is intresting, you like it or not, but I would describe it as natural and the bass is nothing special. I’m still surprised how good they sound even after 40 years.