I've never seen those but they look COOL! I wonder how they'll compete with your Grados...
i had a set of these I found at a thrift a few years back.Ive heard that they were made by Stax for Radio Shack.They need to be hooked up to the speaker terminals on your amp or receiver.Also,leave them on for at least a day or so to energize them before using them.I thought they were broken,until someone told me that.I had them setup with a Sonic Impact T-amp,and sounded pretty darned good.UofMTiger has the setup now.I really enjoyed them,but the cord was so short they werent feasible for me.
Let us know what you think of them.
Jimmy
If you listen to them after several hours of energizing,you might notice the sound coming back.After a full day or more,the sound came back totally.I hope thats what it takes for yours,too.
Jimmy
The headphones.
Back in the early '70s, Stax was still busy trying to set up their own dealer network in the US, so in the meantime they did OEM jobs using the components of their 1969 SR-3 headphone for Radio Shack, Magnavox, Marantz, Lafayette, KMart and Superex, and those are only the ones we know about. The HP-100 only shows up in the 1974 Radio Shack catalog, p. 31.
So you have, basically, an SR-3 that hasn't been used in years. The diaphragm is metallized but the bias voltage that makes the headphones work has to seep onto the diaphragm through a big (tens of megohms) resistor, a process that takes up to three days. You can use the 'phones in the meantime, but the channel balance is likely to be off.
Think of one of those old glass fever thermometers with the restriction in the column to help hold the reading after you take it out of your mouth, and you'll have the idea. Once the diaphragms have a full charge, they'll hold a good bit of it for months and come up to full bias within seconds of being turned on. Many people just leave them on-- they don't draw that much power, and they're protected from dust.
REALISTIC HP-100
You'll notice the HP-100 isn't brilliant or too bright like many of its contemporaries. The bass isn't supertight but it's present and the 'phone is nicely linear through the midrange. Not a bad way to get your feet wet.
.
So what is the verdict, Big Bill?
I still have this setup and I am happy with it. As was mentioned, the midrange is where they really hit the sweet spot. If you are a basshead, you probably won't be real happy with them because they do not put out deep bass. Also, if you are used to Grados, these are not as bright.i had a set of these I found at a thrift a few years back.Ive heard that they were made by Stax for Radio Shack.They need to be hooked up to the speaker terminals on your amp or receiver.Also,leave them on for at least a day or so to energize them before using them.I thought they were broken,until someone told me that.I had them setup with a Sonic Impact T-amp,and sounded pretty darned good.UofMTiger has the setup now.I really enjoyed them,but the cord was so short they werent feasible for me.
Let us know what you think of them.
Jimmy
I still have this setup and I am happy with it. As was mentioned, the midrange is where they really hit the sweet spot. If you are a basshead, you probably won't be real happy with them because they do not put out deep bass. Also, if you are used to Grados, these are not as bright.
The short cord is the main limitation. Over at head-fi, someone posted a diagram of how to make an extension, but that is not really my area of expertise, so I just moved the setup next to my bed.
I have it setup with a Roku Soundbrige, Entech 203.2 DAC, Super T-amp, and mainly listen to vocal and jazz stuff which is where the setup really shines.