Pioneer SE-205 headphones for $3.99

[beatcomber]

I just found a pair of minty Pioneer SE-205 headphones for $3.99 at a thrift store!

After wiping them down, I checked 'em out, and they sounded a lot better than I had expected. Sure, they have that boxiness common to vintage cup-style headphones, but they have a dynamic, 3-dimensional sound that my open-air Sennheisers don't.

These will come in handy when I'm recording in my little home studio, since there will be little to no bleed onto the vocal mic. Backing tracks will be a lot easier to hear too when I'm doing loud guitar or drum overdubs.

 

[SPAM]

Great price :thmbsp:

My own SE-305 were a Christmas gift in '78. I bet they sound about the same, but with telephone-style coiled cord.
No hifi system in our house growing up, so I wasn't accustomed to 'good' sound anyway.
When I heard a cool, older neighbor's SE-305 in his "Chevy Van" with carpet on the walls it was probably the most 3D soundstage I'd ever heard in my life (apart from Star Wars in Dolby surround at the cinema.)
One listen I was hooked--I needed a pair SE-305

I recall Chuck had a 1/4" 'phone jack in his dashboard (as well as in the rear 'cargo' compartment)--hope he didn't actually drive while wearing those cans!

 

[Arkay]

Nice catch, especially for the price. :thmbsp: As you say, they have a bit of that "boxy" vintage sound, but the only thing that really counts is that they sound good to YOU. Besides, regardless of sound quality, it's always nice to have "period-authentic' phones to go with vintage gear. When they sound good, it's even better!

I have a pair of them, and also the SE-505s. If you can find a pair of those, they are a few notches above the 205s sonically, with two drivers (woofer and tweeter) in each cup, and adjustment pots on each side, too! The whole series is pretty good at sealing out outside noise, useful if you are listening in a noisy environment.

Bargain/vintage headphones are fun. I found a similarly low-priced headphone project recently: a surplus place had a number of Beyerdynamic headsets, with just one speaker (on one side only) and a microphone attached. They were much cheaper than the Beyer headphones normally are, because of lower demand for headsets, but the parts are mostly the same/interchangeable. I bought out what they had, and am now dis-assembling and re-assembling them (requires some modifications, rewiring, etc... but it's pretty easy to do) to turn two Beyerdynamic headsets into one headphone. Since the headsets were only a few bucks each, they will be the cheapest headphones of that quality I'll ever have bought! Even the lower-level Beyer headphone speakers sound pretty good; they are what I've mostly been listening to recently! I'm also keeping two headsets as-is, and plan to use one for Skype-talking on the computer, etc... Still wondering what to do with the extra boom mics left over, though.

Congratulations again on your vintage headphone find! :thmbsp:

 

[pioneervato]

Yep, that do sound surprisingly good. Better than I expected when I found a pair of 305's at the GW for 4.99 and then about 3 weeks ago I picked up a nice pair of SE-405's (with individual volume control) at the same GW for 7.99.
They are heavy and great for shutting out ambient noise when listening to music but not so great for long listening sessions. Great for building up the neck muscles, too.

 

[beatcomber]

I find the Pioneers more comfortable than my Sennheiser HD 497's, oddly enough. They don't press my ears as much, and the tone is 'softer' and therefore less fatiguing on the eardrums than the Sennheisers.

 

[superdog]

Found a pair of mint 505s at the dump awhile back.Still trying to get used to them.My problem at times is sweat around my ears.

 

[starchief5]

i just bought a pair of 205s at a garage sale today for 50 cents. You just never know what you'll stumble across.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

The SE-205 is one of Pioneer's longest running model numbers: 1973 to 1992.

The SE-450 has run from 1979 to 1999, based on data available.

Doc

 

[Andyman]

I've got a set of 505s out in the garage.
They aren't bad, but the tone controls don't seem to work on them.

 

[OddTrombone]

The 205 that I got don't have any bass. That, and they really do have that tin can sound. But they look great, and the pads are really good.

 

[mlayton]

well, i scored a set of these today myself at the local goodwill store. i had been out shopping for vinyl all day and struck out which was unusual.

came across a set with the original box for 2.50. they didnt have anything hooked up for me to try them with so i took a chance. they look like new and sound great. mine are also missing the inner foam which i'm gonna leave alone. these are perfect for my sx-6000 receiver i think.

will work great in my music room especially while playing some vintage drums. i really need to figure me a jack for my late 50's telefunken console though. i could use it even more if i had headphone options for it.

mike

 

[ehc68]

I have a pair of 205's that a friend gave to me back in the 90's because a speaker was blown. I've never heard a pair of these before, but I bet they would sound pretty good on my SX-1050 or in my recording studio. Does anyone know of a good place to get a replacement speaker?

 

[hifihippie]

I just scored a pair of SE-305's on the Bay ! back in the 70's I had a pair of
SE-205's & SE-405's . The 205's use a paper-cone driver,the 405's use a
plastic-poly type driver.The 305 have a plastic type drive unit,probably the
same one thats in the SE-405, the 205's have NO sound insulation-damping
material in the ear-cup encloser. You might try adding some carded sheeps
wool or acoust-stuff inside the phones . remove the ear-pads take out the
four(4) screws that hold the ear-cups together,try expermenting with different
amounts of material,should make a major improvement:thmbsp:

 

[Stoner420247]

Need some info on the Pioneer SE-205's

I recently bought a set of 205's for 5$ at a garage sale. I'm planning on ordering an adapter for them, the only problem is I can't find a single person/place that knows what size adapter to use!

Any info on them will be highly appreciated.

 

[aussiedan]

I recently bought a set of 205's for 5$ at a garage sale. I'm planning on ordering an adapter for them, the only problem is I can't find a single person/place that knows what size adapter to use!

Any info on them will be highly appreciated.

If they are like mine and most others, it will be a 1/4" plug on the end of the 205's coil lead.
At a guess, without knowing what you will be plugging them into, I'd say you might need a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor, or 1/4" to i-pod, or 1/4" to nokia.

Great old set of cans, but I have doubts about a i-pod or blackberry being able to run them (and they might sound bad on mp3's)

I recently saw a set of 205's on oz e-bay and the dreamer, or seller, had a b.i.n. price of $180.00. Needless to say, he still owns them.

 

[33&athird]

If they are like mine and most others, it will be a 1/4" plug on the end of the 205's coil lead.
At a guess, without knowing what you will be plugging them into, I'd say you might need a 1/4" to 1/8" adaptor, or 1/4" to i-pod, or 1/4" to nokia.

Great old set of cans, but I have doubts about a i-pod or blackberry being able to run them (and they might sound bad on mp3's)

I recently saw a set of 205's on oz e-bay and the dreamer, or seller, had a b.i.n. price of $180.00. Needless to say, he still owns them.

Yes! A 1/4 to 1/8 adaptor works perfectly, as speaking from experiance. I own the 305's. The 1/8 is the standard mini-jack, as found on computers, etc. A portable device can drive them, although not as well as a dedicated amp, or amp outputs. What I would be concerned about is the adaptor, since the pioneer phones have a "healthy" 1/4 jack, adding a adaptor into a small jack can add unwanted, somewhat heavy leverage against the smaller jack...in extreme cases, this can seperate the pads from the contacts (as what happened on my sansa player).

If you are not moving the device around a lot, then it's probably fine, however if you are running, etc (why would you wear these running?) then a standard set with 1/8 already would be preferable, in my opinion, of course.

And before I forget, those are pretty great headphones, and the price was very good! (mine were around $20)

 

[davidguilbault]

Just got a set for eight bucks at Goodwill today.

 

[aidynphoenix]

:worthless

 

[davidguilbault]

:worthless

Here you go. Pioneer SE-205 (black) and SE-30 (white).

 

[dutchnick]

Pioneer SE205 Repair

I have an original pair of 205s bought new by me in 1985, unused between 1986 and 2001. They work fine except the foam has gone and more worryingly, the speakers themselves seem to have detached from the inner shells somehow and I'm trying to figure out a non-destructive way of taking them apart and making repairs. Any help most appreciated. Cheers, Nick.