Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones

by Koss

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7 x 2 x 7.5 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001P505
• Item model number: 155475
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 23, 2006

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Koss SportaPro portable headphones offer portability, flexibility, and a headband designed to be worn either atop or behind the head. Equally well suited for use at work or on a jogging trail, the SportaPro's open, foam-covered ear cups allow for ambient environmental sounds to be heard, which can be helpful in a recreational environment.

The SportaPro's weight is a mere 2.2 ounces, and the headphones boast a frequency response of 15 to 25,000 Hz, delivering (on paper, at least) quite a bit more bass than most home speakers can. Impedance is 60 ohms, with less than a 0.2 percent distortion and sensitivity of 103 dB SPL (with a 1 mW signal).

The SportaPro stereophones are collapsible and come with a carrying case, as well as both 0.125-inch and 0.25-inch jacks. Koss covers the headphones with a lifetime warranty.

Product Description

Versatile headphones for any activity

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really nice headphones for the price, August 1, 2000

By 

J. Willis (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones (Electronics)

I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much for [the price] but Ihave been thoroughly pleased with these little babies ever since I received them. Since aural satisfaction varies widely by person, I will try and give you and idea of what I look for in the phones I buy. While not a fan of super exaggerated bass, I do err on the side of slightly emphasized low down sounds, especially for phones on the go for working out, etc.. Also, I'm not looking for super high fidelity when I'm doing sit ups and biking through downtown. These headphones are light and they sound really good at high or low volumes, even with a good amount of bass. I tested them out on my current headphone killer "Fight Club". It has a lot of techno-low throb bass tracks that my Grado's, my Sharp phones that came with my Minidisc player and my Sony CD250's, start to cry about at high volumes. Try the end of track 3("What Is Fight Club?"). Although no headphone(or speaker) has ever been able to handle that track without distortion, including these, at high volumes, these were the highest I've ever been able to crank that track. These phones also sounded good with classical(Vivaldi), vocals(Otis Redding) and pop(The Police)

Now for some not so good's. These things are UGLY. I mean U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, ugly(i just had to sneak in a 2nd grade insult in there.) I like old school looks(just like my jokes), my Grado's are pretty funky and I like em, but these things are a joke. The "sport" mode that wraps around the back of your heads looks pretty foolish too. My only hope is that folks won't look to closely at the gym or when I'm zipping by on my bike. Also, while comfortable on your head(they have little foam rests that help cushion the force against your ears) they have a disturbing tendency to close really tightly around your neck(either pressing on the side or on your adam's apple) if you are letting them rest there. Not a huge deal, since they fold up to fit in your pocket, but still..

All in all, I heartily recommend these. They give my Grado's a run for the money(they cost 60) and kick out a good amount of bass without sounding murky. I was also surprised at how long I could listen to them without getting "tired" of the sound. Even with my Grado's, possibly because they can be a bit bright, I get fatigued and need to rest my ears and brain for a bit. But these little guys keep on kicking out the sound. Buy them. You won't regret it. Plus they have a life time warranty, so if you get beat up for looking so incredibly dorky, you can replace them(i'm not sure if Koss covers getting your butt kicked, but it would be worth a try)

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great headphones!, October 28, 2000

By 

Atul Varma (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones (Electronics)

I love these headphones; they've got superb sound (particularly the bass region--I didn't know headphones were capable of this kind of bass!), they're very portable, inexpensive, and the accessories & features it comes with are great. They're also very comfortable (particularly because of the foam pads that secure the phones behind/above your ears), although I have a small head and I've heard that these phones don't fit so well on bigger heads. I also like the way they look, and the lifetime warranty is a nice bonus.

51 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good For The Price, July 12, 2000

By 

Reticuli (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Koss SportaPro Stereo Headphones (Electronics)

Strait out of the packaging I hooked them up to my HDCD Denon player. Overall, they've got good highs and mids. The 6khz treble region could be a little more pleasantly recessed than it is, but the high-end never gets fatiguing at normal volumes - only when loud. I must say that the bass is a little exaggerated. It is noticeably overdone in the 30-80HZ region -- the lowest you can pretty much hear with headphones. This never *seems* to muddle the mids, which is often a problem with bass-heavy phones. It doesn't seem excessively boomy and there are oodles of low-end dynamics, which I did not expect. They remind me a lot of the Denon 950's, but without the Denon's tissy-fit highs. When I hooked them up to my Panasonic 361C portable, I was surprised even further. With Curve: Doppelganger, the bass didn't seem even the slightest bit exaggerated. Unfortunately, when I moved over to extreme low-end intensive music like Massive Attack: Mezzanine, there was still a little too much bass, but slightly less than on the Denon. Econoline Crush: The Devil You Know kind of had too much bass, but most people would probably prefer it that way. Yet, on many CD's bass is noticeably overdone. Spatially, the SportaPros have a nice open sound.

The SportaPros fold up and this is where the other caveat comes out. When using the headband behind your head, the little fold-up hook can start rubbing against my head, behind my right ear. This only happens when the band slides too far down, though. All Koss had to do was have the hook facing the opposite direction to avoid this. They're still the most comfortable headphones-that-press-on-the-ear that I've ever tried, and I do love how they fold up; it returns them to a nice, taught shape. The Koss has a good, short length of cord for portable use that also has a mute button on it.

I'll keep the SportaPros as a portable and bass-y alternative. If used with bass turned down a tad, they would be even better.

P.S. Single-entry wires are not superior. They allow out of phase cross-talk to enter the opposite ear through the shared ground wire, which is why audiophile headphones are almost always dual-entry. The classic Sony V6, for instance, has a cross-talk problem and is unsuitable for binaural applications because of this.