Vintage Hi-Fi

[sharpie]

i think youre referring to a watkins/WEM copicat ... have had them, never found them that useful for my sound ... ive got a selmer tape echo which is similar and an extremely rare echorec baby, as used by floyd on meddle ... its a rotating steel disc mechanism

[Dave999]

Echorec that sounds pretty cool

im guessing its using the disk as a recording medium in some way should be more robust that a spliced loop of tape...

i'm off to have a look at them on the internet i expect they are not cheap

Dave

[Dave999]

Head Phones

i like a headphone
recently discovered the KOSS Pro 4/AAA
not to be confused with the KOSS pro 4, (old) Pro4/x (kinda crap), Pro/4AA (heavy crap) or indeed the KOSS Pro 4/AAA + (too new) or Titanium (really new and not very good)

studio/DJ/video editor/helicopter pilot/commentator phones have a microphone boom stud, rubbery ear cushions that make your ears pop and BASS that makes you open your mouth to let it out....

if you wanna look a bit odd, like a bit of bass in a headphone, are not overly concerned with the highest trebles i.e not a child or dog.
want robust good sound from a tank like headphone

KOSS pro 4/AAA series 1 or 2 are for you. series 3 used a new speaker and was much like any of the others in the list that i have indicated are less good

things to note

1) the ear cushions were originally oil filled vinyl. ear sweat oil and vinyl with a cooking time of 40 years results in rock hard cracked ear cushions
2) series 1 and 2 had the type of hinge shown in the picture. metal pin hinge with a brown plastic cover that is indented to fit into the hinge stirrups on the cup, the series 3 did not. It has a 1 sided hinge where the brown plastic is the PIN that holds it all together....COST CUTTING....!
3) series 1 and 2 had the same grill for the speaker and used speakers that were white or black and white visible through the grill i.e the good speakers. Series 3 however had radial tea drop holes in the grill and totally black speakers and were made after the company was taken over

The best bit

i sent an email to KOSS asking if they had new ear cushions for this model that is 39 years obsolete....and they said Yeah how many do you want and sent them free of charge all the way from Milwaukee....

so yesterday restoration started and finished and i fitted up new air/foam filled ear cushion made from a modern vinyl....good for the next 40 years

THAT BE SERVICE... free parts free postage...!

i'm well chuffed i like these a lot

pics show speaker speaker grill new cushions and ear cup hinge to ID a nice set if they take your fancy

KOSS was run by Mr Koss who had a musical background, he knew what live instruments sounded like and made his phones sound as close as possible to what he'd heard live and so, until the 80s he sold headphones that he liked the sound of.
Since then the company was taken over and the headphones still boast "The Sound Of Koss" but it aint such a nice sound as it was

these were made 1976-80 in milwaukee and Ireland by people who agreed with Mr Koss in respect to the sound.

bLue badge for Left Red badge for right for those that can't read....

and the cushions are not misshapen, they are sculpted to pin yer lug'oles to the side of your head in a sympathetic but effective manner

Dave

[Matt]

I've been around Binson Echorecs since I was tiny. My dad was pretty much the world expert in maintaining them and repairing them for four decades. Pink Floyd's Echorecs (apparently about ten at a time) used to come into his workshop in the Seventies for servicing.

The record/playback drum is quite a feat of engineering. To create a magnetic surface, a very thin (about 5 thou if i remember correctly) stainless wire was precisely wound around the drum's perimeter and then ground down very accurately by half its diameter to present a smooth surface. This technique was very hard to reproduce in the 90s when supplies of original drums became scarce.

[Dave999]

Ah that explains a lot....i can see a route to your current career....


I wouldn't have a grand to spend on one of them....but if i spot one in bits...it will be mine

i have no need for it but you know its a nice thing... I want one

Dave

[sharpie]

Matt PMd !!!