[joe cipale]

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

Thanks!

Joe

[Curmudgeon]

In article 1198966653.3390.17.camel@humboldt, joe cipale
wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

I still love my trusty old AKG K240 Monitors. I had them reconditioned
twice by the factory, and they are as sweet as ever. They are available
for about $100 from sources all over the internet.

Cheers!

Mudge

[MG[_2_]]

"Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
In article 1198966653.3390.17.camel@humboldt, joe cipale
wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

I still love my trusty old AKG K240 Monitors. I had them reconditioned
twice by the factory, and they are as sweet as ever. They are available
for about $100 from sources all over the internet.

Cheers!

Mudge


Is that the Koss lifetime guarantee?

Go to head-fi.org and see endless debates about the merits of lots of
headphones.




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[jakdedert]

MG wrote:
"Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
In article 1198966653.3390.17.camel@humboldt, joe cipale
wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?
I still love my trusty old AKG K240 Monitors. I had them reconditioned
twice by the factory, and they are as sweet as ever. They are available
for about $100 from sources all over the internet.

Cheers!

Mudge


Is that the Koss lifetime guarantee?

Go to head-fi.org and see endless debates about the merits of lots of
headphones.

I don't know about a 'lifetime' warranty, but I remember back in the
70's when I worked in shipping at a hifi store, Koss had some of the
fastest, most complete service around. I'd get headphones back, under
warranty, that had been chewed by dogs...in perfect condition--no
charge. I recall back then that they had a set price for out of
warranty service, where basically you got a new set of cans. EVERYTHING
was replaced.

Fast forward thirty-someodd years, and I can't even get ear cushions for
units I've bought over that period. I bought what they said was the
very last set of cushions for my Pro4AAA's recently. For another,
cheaper set, (727?) they said they had NO replacements...never would again.

For the OP, the successor to your headphones, the Koss Pro4AA's are once
again available, after being out of production for many years.
Reportedly, they're just like the originals. Whether that's bad or good
is a matter of taste.

jak

[Eeyore]

joe cipale wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available.

Good Lord ! Those were my first headphones from about 38 years ago. When
did you last replace the ear cushions ?

I've had no trouble fitting AA or AAA drivers to them. Aside from the
drivers, the ear cushions and the cord, what else is there to go wrong ?

There's a Chinese made Pro4-AA btw. I met it out there in an Oritron
factory. Possibly NO parts for them are made outside China now.

Graham

[Eeyore]

jakdedert wrote:

I don't know about a 'lifetime' warranty, but I remember back in the
70's when I worked in shipping at a hifi store, Koss had some of the
fastest, most complete service around. I'd get headphones back, under
warranty, that had been chewed by dogs...in perfect condition--no
charge. I recall back then that they had a set price for out of
warranty service, where basically you got a new set of cans. EVERYTHING
was replaced.

Koss's UK headquarters used to be in my home town.

On a couple of occasions I took my Pro-4As there and they were fixed while I
waited and read the AES Journal or Studio Sound which they kept in reception.
Blown drivers (my fault to be honest) were replaced at no charge IIRC. I may
have paid for some new ear cushions.

Try and find service like that any more !

Graham

[Eeyore]

jakdedert wrote:

For the OP, the successor to your headphones, the Koss Pro4AA's are once
again available, after being out of production for many years.
Reportedly, they're just like the originals. Whether that's bad or good
is a matter of taste.

My understanding FWIW is that Oritron (China) bought the Koss brand name.

Graham

[Mark D. Zacharias[_2_]]

"Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
In article 1198966653.3390.17.camel@humboldt, joe cipale
wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

I still love my trusty old AKG K240 Monitors. I had them reconditioned
twice by the factory, and they are as sweet as ever. They are available
for about $100 from sources all over the internet.

Cheers!

Mudge

The K-240's are good but they are (semi) open-back types. The Pro 4AA's are
closed types. I like the Audio Technica AT-HA700 - they can be had for about
129.00 from Crutchfield or the like - and they offer pretty good isolation.

Mark Z.

[joe cipale]

On Sun, 2007-12-30 at 09:52 +0000, Eeyore wrote:

joe cipale wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available.

Good Lord ! Those were my first headphones from about 38 years ago. When
did you last replace the ear cushions ?

I've had no trouble fitting AA or AAA drivers to them. Aside from the
drivers, the ear cushions and the cord, what else is there to go wrong ?

There's a Chinese made Pro4-AA btw. I met it out there in an Oritron
factory. Possibly NO parts for them are made outside China now.

Graham


I replaced the cushions about 10 years ago. The things have sat in a box
in a hall closet until about 8 months ago when I dug them out. I suspect
that the cabling from the plug to the headset itself is bad. so all I
need is just a news cord.

[Curmudgeon]

In article , Mark D.
Zacharias wrote:

"Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
In article 1198966653.3390.17.camel@humboldt, joe cipale
wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

I still love my trusty old AKG K240 Monitors. I had them reconditioned
twice by the factory, and they are as sweet as ever. They are available
for about $100 from sources all over the internet.

The K-240's are good but they are (semi) open-back types. The Pro 4AA's are
closed types. I like the Audio Technica AT-HA700 - they can be had for about
129.00 from Crutchfield or the like - and they offer pretty good isolation.

True enough, but the OP didn't specifically say that isolation was a
goal. I find the semi-open design offers a "spaciousness" of playback
unmatched by anything I've tried that's of the closed design type.

YMMV!

Cheers!

Mudge

[Todd H.]

joe cipale writes:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

I replaced my Koss Pro-4A's with some Sony MDR-7506 closed ear phones
for around $100. Online, they're about $90.


First impression: "Dear lord why'd I hang onto those ragged out piece
of poo Koss's for so long?"

More generally, though, what you're shopping for are closed-back
circumaural headphones, which is what your Koss Pro-4A's were.

Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette |
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | http://myspace.com/bmiawmb

[Eeyore]

joe cipale wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
joe cipale wrote:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available.

Good Lord ! Those were my first headphones from about 38 years ago. When
did you last replace the ear cushions ?

I've had no trouble fitting AA or AAA drivers to them. Aside from the
drivers, the ear cushions and the cord, what else is there to go wrong ?

There's a Chinese made Pro4-AA btw. I met it out there in an Oritron
factory. Possibly NO parts for them are made outside China now.


I replaced the cushions about 10 years ago. The things have sat in a box
in a hall closet until about 8 months ago when I dug them out. I suspect
that the cabling from the plug to the headset itself is bad. so all I
need is just a news cord.

You should be able to source an equivalent from other suppliers if needed.

Graham

[MG[_2_]]

"Todd H." wrote in message
...
joe cipale writes:

My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
player school of design?

I replaced my Koss Pro-4A's with some Sony MDR-7506 closed ear phones
for around $100. Online, they're about $90.


First impression: "Dear lord why'd I hang onto those ragged out piece
of poo Koss's for so long?"

More generally, though, what you're shopping for are closed-back
circumaural headphones, which is what your Koss Pro-4A's were.

Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette |
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | http://myspace.com/bmiawmb

Fact is, there are a lot of good headphones at the moment. Open, closed,
in-ear, ini, huge. You need to figure out what you want, but even that will
not narrow it down a lot. And, on top of all that, it's an awfully
subjective thing.

mg



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Andrew Barss[_2_]]

joe cipale wrote:
: My old and venerable Koss Pro-4A phones finally died. Koss said they no
: longer repair older versions of this as the parts are no longer
: available. Can any one offer some advice on good sounding headphones
: that ARE NOT geared toward the ear-bud,
: cram-then-in-your-aural-orifices-and-crank-the-volume-up-on-your-MP3-
: player school of design?


I've been really pleased with my Audio-Technicas. I now own three pairs, from a very
affordable ATH-M30s to a killer pair of ATHA700s (got both from Amazon).
Comfortable and great sound.

I think the M30s beat the pants off Grado SR60s, which were my previous
headphone (and pop up oftentimes as a "best headphone under $90" recommendation).
And they were slightly cheaper too.


-- Andy Barss