What were your first set of headphones, and let's hear the story behind them.

One of my friends has the open HD 414 at the time that I had the Koss Pro 4AA. I remember being very impressed at the sound from what looked like a cheapy set of cans.

These Senns must have delivered a high sensitivity rating. In fact their 2000 Ohm cans delivered more volume at the same amp/receiver output levels than did their 600 Ohm cans. See (including manual link):

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sennheiser/hd-414.shtml

Of course the amps/receivers in the 70's delivered real power (and generally good quality) from their headphone out jacks, unlike most of the same stuff from the mid or late 80's to date.
Let me clarify my 2000 ohm comment. They were hard to drive using headphone outputs from cassette decks and the like. With a power amp, they can be driven to full loudness.
 
I had a Sony Walkman in jr. High school(1984) .. Think I bought it from “Fred Meyer” (Oregon)..
 
The first pair of headphones I bought were Koss Portapros. Still have a couple of pairs (modded and stock).
 
1967 or 68. I walked by a thrift store that had a set of headphones on display. The labels are long gone and the brand is long gone from memory, the plastic cases are cracked and often repaired, the cable has been soldered back on several times, and the ear pads are from a set that gave up the ghost. I've had several headphones in the sub $100 level, but I still keep coming back to these . . .

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I'm here today reading up on what's around for headphones, looking to upgrade. Maybe to the $200 - $300 level.
 
Koss Red Devils in 1970. Upgraded to Pro 4aa in 1973. Still use that model today, but the 3rd pair I've owned.
 
When I was sophomore in high school on Okinawa, a friend who was senior, gave me some Pioneers similar to these below. Because I saved him from drowning. One of the first albums I listened to was Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. I thought it was entirely instrumental and when a voice said glockenspiel, it freaked the crap out of me. I had just recently saw The Exorcist.
Tubular Bells! Excellent choice!


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Wow...memory lane! My FIRST headphones came out of a C-130 Hercules! I thought they were cool because of the microphone on the boom! I used them on my old Bradford stereo that my Mom got me for Christmas. I had a Lloyds radio/cassette player for tapes. Didn't sound great but It was all that I had! When my big brother came home from working in the arctic, he shipped his stereo home first. We set it up...in the dining room, if you can believe! It was a nice little Sanyo DCX-2000-K receiver with two way speakers and a belt drive table. Still have all the pieces and it sounded great! Still no real headphones yet. My sister had moved back home for a while, also and she had a nice little Denon receiver with a dual tt. We combined the two systems for a while...four speakers, two turntables...can't remember which receiver we used. Anyway, she had some nice over ear headphones...can't remember the brand but the may have been AKG. This was about 1977 or so. I came home from school one day and put the headphones on for the first time and WOW!! I even remember the album...Blue Moves by Elton John. The song 'Tonight' blew me away! I thought I had forgot to switch off the speakers they sounded so loud and full. Later that year, my sister moved out, my brother went back up north to work and left me the Sanyo! Thanks Bro!! For my Birthday that year ,Mom gave me some money to buy headphones so I walked downtown to the little Radio Shack and bought a pair of the Koss phones that were made for the Shack. I don't remember the model number but they looked exactly like Koss K-6. They weren't as comfy as my sisters and didn't sound quite as nice but I loved them! D.S.O.T.M. was the first album I listened to and I was in heaven! Wish I still had them!!!! :banana::banana:
 
Looking at some pictures, my sister's headphones may have been Rotel RH- 711's or Belcor BH-705's. They look identical to me...they sure sounded GREAT!!!
 
My parents gave me a Sylvania compact stereo for my 14th Christmas in '70. We had Sylvania everything being that my Dad was a GTE lifer and the owned the brand. Company store, payroll deduction and no interest. Evidently it was meant to be looked at, because they gave me grief every time I played it, especially with Uriah Heap or Sabbath. I rode my bike down to Pacific Stereo and bought a set of Quadraflex headphones so I could actually use my new stereo. They were pretty good and had volume knobs and a curly cord. What I remember most about them is that I was still in bed listening to Jim Ladd on KNAC Long Beach early on the morning of February 9th, 1971. Ladd breaks into the middle of an album side (yes those AOR fm days were truly golden) yelling "Were having a ****ing earthquake". As I'm thinking he said the F word our house really started moving, my bed started bouncing towards the floor to ceiling picture windows and there was a 3 foot face on the wave in the pool. Don't know what happened to those headphones.

In '76 I bought my second headphones for pretty much the same reason, but it was my wife needing to sleep when I was staying up late enjoying my 1st good stereo. I dropped $200 on the pioneering Yamaha HP-1 Orthodynamic (called planermagnetics nowadays). They were very high end then and are still very good even by modern standards with a bit of damping and baffle sealing mods. The epic Orthodynamic Roundup discussion at head-fi was started with HP-1s by Wualta in 2005 and is still going at 25,807 posts! In the last couple of years I got some K-240s for portable use, scratch-built my "Yamastein" circumaurals using the same HP-1/YH-1 drivers, got some vintage Stax and a month ago got closed-back Monolith M1060Cs from Monoprice which are also planermagnetics and sound fantastic. Next I think I'd like some Grados or Beyerdynamics.
 
I don’t recall the brand name of my first headphones. Before I got them in the mid 1970s, I used to lay on my bed and place a shelf-standing speaker at either ear and turn the volume down accordingly. When I got my closed-cup headphones, probably from Woolworth’s, it was sheer bliss. I remember enjoying Donna Summer’s heavy breathing bit in her “Love to love you, baby” track, feeling glad my mother couldn’t hear it :D.
 
I don’t recall the brand name of my first headphones. Before I got them in the mid 1970s, I used to lay on my bed and place a shelf-standing speaker at either ear and turn the volume down accordingly. When I got my closed-cup headphones, probably from Woolworth’s, it was sheer bliss. I remember enjoying Donna Summer’s heavy breathing bit in her “Love to love you, baby” track, feeling glad my mother couldn’t hear it :D.

You were having lecherous thoughts, even then, you wicked male you !! :naughty:
 
Well, I just bought a pair of Sennheiser HD600’s for my first foray into the realm of the headphone listening experience. This was prompted by my mother moving in, and the fear of scaring her with my Klipsch Cornwalls!

Although, I did inherit a pair of Sony’s from my father years ago. Nothing fancy, and I really never used them for listening to music much.
 
I remember my first phones were Koss and were very uncomfortable. Looked just like these with the red/blue sides and crappy foam cushions.

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my first headphones were Koss Pro 4AA...had them about a month...a fellow i knew asked if i would lend them for the weekend...i did & never saw him or the Koss phones again...still looking for you Carl!
 
Back in 61 they were Koss Sp3x. But I am not absolutely positive. Next came the little AKG with the Yellow foam ear pieces. Don't remember the number. Followed a more advanced pair of Koss.. After that its any body's guess. Another pair of Koss, they were green with sealed cups. Then came a grey pair by Davie Clarke. Then a pair of Koss ESP 9's. A Pair of Koss Pro 4 AA, first pair of Stax electrostatics and then 3 more pair and the last pair being a Lamdas. There were advance Pro4's, a couple of Signet Electrostatics. Sennheiser Momentums , and various versions of 598s'. I am missing a few. OH I have had three pairs of iPhone ear buds and thrown them in the trash. The radio station and the shop I did remote recordings for let me buy what ever phones I wanted for remotes and live recordings. But I chose to buy the electronics that sounded best to me. I use a Mcintosh 2505 now, but the MC 240 I thought sounded the best. But being a tube model its was a pain to haul around. The Stax polarizer amp works great for the Lambdas, but they are pricey.
 
Koss K6 with a sliding volume control on each ear cup. Heavy, hot, sounded like crapola. Soured me on headphones for years,
This ^^^^ x2...
Story behind 'em.
Well I was a kid and my parents were sick & tired of me blasting RAWKNROWL outta my all-in-one stereo all day/night and they wanted to save their sanity.

Was many MANY years before my next pair of 'phones.
I mean there may have been an odd pair or two of those generic foam padded on-ear headphones,but nothing I'd listened to for any length of time.

Anyhow around the late 90's early 00's I picked up what I'd call my first pair of REAL headphones.
Those were the venrable Sony MDR-7506.

I researched a bunch before getting them,learned they were basically a industry standard in recording/broadcasting,so I figured they should work for my needs.
And I gotta say they did so instantly,I really learned to enjoy using headphones with those,and I could have easily lived with those till my ultimate demise.
Honestly up to that point they were probably the best money I'd ever spent on any audio related gear,,,I've gotten my $$$$ worth outta them 10 fold or better...

That said a quirk of fate took my on a trip down the rabbit hole.
I went looking for a pair of vintage "silver" headphones to match my Kenwood KA-7300/KT-7300 combo.
Well what I ended up with were some AKG K140 (solid cups),and I was quite impressed.
Especially so as I'm not a big fan of on-ear 'phones,but those sounded nice.
And that was despite those having tha common "deflated pads" syndrome.

So that lead me down the whole line of high impedance AKG's.
K140 (slot cups)
K141
K141 Monitor
K240 Monitor
K240 Sextett (multiple pairs)
K240DF (multiple pairs)
Realistic Pro50 -aka- AKG K250 (two pairs)
AKG K260

So to this day the K240DF are my "endgame" headphones,and the Pro50 and K240 Sextett are close behind those.
I see no need to try and better those,they have far exceded any expectations I had beforehand,so I see no need to challenge the current status quo.
And I STILL enjoy my MDR-7506 as well,those are mostly used for my gaming and what-not.

FWIW

Bret P.
 
In 70's, pair of Koss phones, beige with brown vinyl pads, brown headband. Maybe 27 in model name. The headband and pads left dents in skull, i can still feel.
 
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'round 78 or so I purchased my first HP's, Akai ASE-24 They looked (and sounded) like flying saucers.

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My first set of headphones were Numark HV-215V, like the one pictured below.
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For a teenager in the mid-70s they were decent enough, or so I thought.
I remember thinking they looked cool with the holes exposing the wire mesh. :smoke:
They did have individual volume controls.
 
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