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Fred931's avatar

Where can I get a pair of good Koss PortaPro's?

Asked by Fred931 (9434points) January 19th, 2012

Been doing a whole lotta research for some cheap-but-fantastic headphones or earbuds. I figured I’m mostly listening at home and I’m having trouble attending to my parents’ requests for anything because of my noise-cancelling JVCs, so I’m actually preferring a good set that’s not focused on that. I discovered these Koss PortaPro headsets , and the reviews are so damn good for a $50 set that I’ve decided on them for sure, unless you guys might suggest something that’ll even blow that away.

However, I did go ahead and look at the 40-or-so bad reviews, and this is when I started to notice a trend… All the great reviews were in a period around or before 2007, which didn’t really matter until I realized that the bad reviews came in the period after 2007. Reading on, it seems like the design quality of the cables and the audio jack have been severely reduced, and these elements breaking are an issue.

I also read, both on Amazon reviews and elsewhere, that Best Buy at one point sold a special all-black edition, which was a twin, but according to Best Buy reviews, it didn’t have the issue I just mentioned, and the reviews were from 2009 and later. Joy of joys, Best Buy doesn’t even sell them anymore!

So what should I do? Should I even worry about it, since I’ll just be using these at home and taking more portable earbuds elsewhere, or try to find some older-and-still-for-sale or used set somewhere?

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6 Answers

Tropical_Willie's avatar

Sennheiser HD 280 PRO for under $100.

Fred931's avatar

@Tropical_Willie That looks great. However, I read one bloke’s review on that set that went like this:

“If you like natural soud and you listen to music through a reciever or a high powered audio source try the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. For colorful sound try the Sony MDR-V6; try the Sony MDR-V600 which are the replacements for the V6. I found the Sonys to be kind of and exception. They are good for both high powered audio sources and mp3 players. They will sound bettter on a high powered source, but they don’t sound too shabby on a mp3 player.”

I do sometimes carry my ancient iPod Classic around, often on long trips, and I also listen to more bass-heavy drum-and-bass or jungle music which would beg the more unique sound it has to offer, so the Sony set seems like a better fit, not to mention the even more unanimous praise it gets. Also a little cheaper used. Do you know anything about this set?

Tropical_Willie's avatar

No I don’t.
Sennheiser’s are monitor/studio quality.

Fred931's avatar

Also found the MDR 7506 headset, and they look like the best I’ve seen, even though the price is pushing it.

2davidc8's avatar

I have the Sonys mentioned above, and they’re fantastic. They’re my favorite headphones. However, if you play them fairly loud, you won’t be able to hear your parents.

Fred931's avatar

@2davidc8 Good to know, thanks. My parents are just a first world problem, though. Secondary thought. >:)

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