Customer Reviews

Koss ESP-950 Electrostatic Stereophone

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this from Amazon in November and it went kaput in December. I since sent it back to Koss taking them up on their lifetime warrenty. I recieved a free new energizer unit. This headphone is excellent (and I own many of the top brands); Use it with a tube headphone amplifier to get best results.

The Koss ESP-950 has been around for over 20 years, and yet it holds up when compared to the best headphones available today. This is an electrostatic design, known for it's clear and lifelike presentation. Stax, from Japan, is the leader in electrostatic headphones, but the American-made Koss compares well with the Stax Lambda line, comes with a lifetime warranty, and includes a portable amp and a calfskin carrying case for less than the cost of the Stax Lambda models. The overall presentation of ESP-950 is accurate, musical and detailed, with details apparent even at lower listening levels. The bass is slightly rolled-off, but the sound of a string bass (an instrument I used to play) is very accurate. The best sound qualities of this headphone, though, are shown in it's very sweet midrange -- this is a great headphone for vocals. I've owned the Sennheiser HD600 (a well-regarded high-end headphone), as well as the Stax Lambda Pro and I prefer the sound of the Koss ESP-950. Highly recommended!

I bought a pair of the ESP 950's in 1994 from a wholesaler for 495.00, I have collected high end audio gear my whole life and have several complete systems; however night time listening can
make your family very hostile...so I use these for stealth listening of my SACD and Hybrid Surrond encoded DVD's and Cd's.
The transcients on electrostatic phones are amazing, they tend to be a little bright with standard supplied connects, so I use my Transparent Audio Music Plus RCA inter-connects to the koss
E 90 unit which come with and runs these babies. Shear heaven!
I have been thinking of having some one build me a tube headphone amp for these headphones...then my family would be hostile again ..cause I would not want to go to work anymore.

This is my second time to buy it .

At the first time.
That all i had was a ipod lol . guess what --- sad !!

Since i had a SOLO DAC and A good CD player now .
Everything is 10times better than befor.

This headphone almost great !
Just some problems are there , like you need a very nice quiet room .
And its not so comfortable to wear, but no bad tho.

ONe more thing, the cable of headphone is too short ..

It's actually not bright or strident at all. Very midrange-oriented. Very smooth. A perfect balance between not-too-dry and not-too-liquid. Just right. Extreme highs & lows are rolled off and the bass lacks kick, but it's a pleasant, forgiving, freakishly even tone in between that is essentially free of artifacts in the mids and highs. Exceptionally refined and delicate. It requires very lean, detailed digital recordings & a great source to shine its best.

Mine direct from Amazon, though, has a slight ground hum issue on the right channel even when no power is connected to it, though when it is connected to an audio source it's even worse. It's faint, but noticeable to me on quiet passages. It goes away completely when I touch anything metal on the unit, such as the front of the 3.5mm jack. So putting an unused 3.5mm cable in there and the other end in my waist band is a temporary solution to grounding the unit or preventing it from acting as a radio pickup. .. Or whatever it's doing. I'm not sure which is occurring on it, the non-grounding or radio pick up. Apparently, issues with the energizer/amp are common and people frequently have to send the ESP for replacement or repair. Luckily Koss has their truly perfect warranty... except for maybe the fact you have to pay for shipping both ways.

For kids with perfect hearing, who are not bass-heads (or even too particular on just bass tightness, regardless of volume), and who plan on taking care of their ears (read that: keeping the volume down low and wearing musicians earplugs whenever in a loud environment), this might be the be-all, end-all of headphones. If you need a little more low-end kick & tightness or extension up top, then you may want to look elsewhere. If I'd bought this as a youth, not gotten into beat-driven electronic music, and taken care with my hearing, this would be the one.

Real good and real expensive. What else can you say?