The Marco-boy main system, as of August 2020

[walpurgis]

Bingo! This is one of a pair of Ditton 15's I refurbished a few years ago.

[Marco]

Ah gotcha!

Marco.

[Marco]

Now just need to find some, lol...

Marco.

[Marco]

A later pair sounding pretty fine here:





Marco.

[Marco]

Ok some toys have arrived and more on their way!

My new valve headphone amp arrived this morning from China:





Sounds fab, especially once being allowed to warm up and burn in a bit! It has a very punchy, dynamic, open and airy sound, with plenty of welly at the low-end and works really well with my modern versions of Koss PRO-4AAA headphones [more on that in a mo], shown below:



Once I've got used to the headphone amp I intend on tweaking it a bit, NOS valve fitted, plus some cap/resistor upgrades and a better volume pot. I had thought of putting a stepped attenuator in, but unfortunately there isn't room on the circuit board, so will look to fitting the best one available that will fit in the required space.

It's excellent in stock form, but I just want to turn it into a small project and see how far I can take it, given that it only cost me £98!

Ok, headphones.... Since I've got a new headphone amp, I also thought about a headphone upgrade. Now I primarily love high-quality vintage headphones, as much like speakers, the best ones have a 'sound'/tonal richness and musicality all of their own, and so thought 'what if I could find a minty pair of original Koss PRO-4AAAs at a good price?'

Well I did, and so today bought these beauts:



[





Details here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Headphone...72.m2749.l2649

Looks like they've hardly been used! So it'll be interesting comparing the originals, which you can see are much better made, with the modern reproductions

ATB,
Marco.

[WullieD20]

Fabulous headphones.
Heard a pair many years ago at a show somewhere and just had to have a pair!
Still got them, although they don't get the same use that they used to. However, I've not heard many phones that surpass their capability as you described..... Soooooo enjoyable.

[Lawrence001]

I had a pair of their old electrostatic headphones a few years ago. They were in many ways the best sounding pair of headphones I've heard. Smoother and fuller bodied but less airy and detailed than Stax, but an easy listen. I sold them due to comfort issues however.

I also recommend the Wharfedale or Leak planars they can be picked up cheap and sound great for their vintage.

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[Marco]

Fabulous headphones.
Heard a pair many years ago at a show somewhere and just had to have a pair!
Still got them, although they don't get the same use that they used to. However, I've not heard many phones that surpass their capability as you described..... Soooooo enjoyable.

Cheers, Gordon. I haven't heard a pair of the originals, so am looking forward to hearing these, as I suspect they'll have the characteristics you describe, and a very rich, fluid and expansive sound, but also detailed and dynamic.

That's kind of how the modern versions sound, so I'm expecting more of the same with the originals, which were always highly regarded

Marco.

[Marco]

I had a pair of their old electrostatic headphones a few years ago. They were in many ways the best sounding pair of headphones I've heard. Smoother and fuller bodied but less airy and detailed than Stax, but an easy listen. I sold them due to comfort issues however.

I also recommend the Wharfedale or Leak planars they can be picked up cheap and sound great for their vintage.

I nearly bought these Wharfdale DD1s, as the design really intrigued me: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wharfdale...s/303695747641

The bass is supposed to be stupendous!

But then I've always wanted an original pair of the Koss. For me they were always the definitive headphone company (the original American one) and had a unique sound of their own, which was always so unfailingly musical and transparent to the recording, giving music a vibrancy and realism that was always very addictive

Grado headphones are a bit like that too, and also possess that 'buttery' mellifluous midrange, but without the visceral low-end punch and attack of the Koss. I guess that I just love how American 'phones are voiced

Marco.

[Lawrence001]

I nearly bought these Wharfdale DD1s, as the design really intrigued me: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wharfdale...s/303695747641

The bass is supposed to be stupendous!

But then I've always wanted an original pair of the Koss. For me they were always the definitive headphone company (the original American one) and had a unique sound of their own, which was always so unfailingly musical and transparent to the recording, giving music a vibrancy and realism that was always very addictive

Grado headphones are a bit like that too, and also possess that 'buttery' mellifluous midrange, but without the visceral low-end punch and attack of the Koss. I guess that I just love how American 'phones are voiced

Marco.

I had a pair of those a few years ago, they were rather good actually. I think I added some damping inside and a bit of deadener to the plastic cups. They had a cap inside on the tweeter same as you'd find in a speaker IIRC.

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