Koss headphones question

[Tom_in_CA]

I bought a pair of Koss UR30 headphones many years ago. They gave great super crisp high-fidelity sound, for all these years. But recently, one of the speakers appears to be going out.

I realize there's a life-time warranty on Koss products, but since I'd modified/altered these years ago (cut/soldered in an elbow jack, vs the stock straight-jack), I figured they'd void the warranty, d/t the product had been altered or tampered with

So instead, I just bought another pair of UR30s I found on ebay, that were said to be "brand new". And sure enough, a brand new looking pair of Koss UR30's arrive in my mail-box

However, when I went to use them, the sound is NOT like the UR30's I've used all these years. It's wimpy and soft, not crisp or high-fidelity. Ie.: they sound like cheapie headphones would sound like

So my question is: Is it possible that Koss switched over to cheaper components, as the years went on? And if I send mine in for repair (assuming they honor the warranty) am I going to get a wimpy speaker (or substitute model entirely) in return? The Koss 800# phone clerk didn't know if comparable parts would be used, or not. She surmised they'd be fixed to factory spec's, but when I told her that there appeared to be lesser-quality UR30's as time went on (or some "made on a Monday?") she didn't know. She had no idea, and is just the phone bank clerk who had no idea of tech, or product evolution, or whatever.

Anyone had an issue with recent Koss headphones, that they didn't have with earlier ones?

 

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[dirt doctor]

Tom ever try Sunray Pro golds or Gray Ghosts ? I tried a pair of Koss that came standard with the Explorer that belonged to a friend a couple of years back but they didn't do it for me . I can see though where you probably got used to them and don't want to have to change your ears to a different language . I can't answer if the manufacture quality on the newer ones is sub par to your older ones because I don't know but if my ears told me what your ears told you on the newer pair I would strongly suspect that is the case or maybe you got a "Monday" pair .Do you know a dealer who might let you sample a few pair to see if the newer ones all sound the same ?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

thanx doctor. I sat in the show-room floor of radio shack, with my metal detector inside their store, and opened up all their models (took out of package, etc...) to sample all theirs (what a geek, eh? ) And found all those to be soft & wimpy sounding, compared to my UR30s. So next I went to our local Whites dealer, and sampled various ones they sold. Same thing!

No I haven't sample a pair of grey ghost though, or sunray pro golds. Good idea though! I'll see if any hunting buddies of mine have a pair of either of those to sample. Thanx.

 

[dirt doctor]

thanx doctor. I sat in the show-room floor of radio shack, with my metal detector inside their store, and opened up all their models (took out of package, etc...) to sample all theirs (what a geek, eh? ) And found all those to be soft & wimpy sounding, compared to my UR30s. So next I went to our local Whites dealer, and sampled various ones they sold. Same thing!

No I haven't sample a pair of grey ghost though, or sunray pro golds. Good idea though! I'll see if any hunting buddies of mine have a pair of either of those to sample. Thanx.

Geek ? not really , smart I would say . Money is tight and why buy crap ? Which brings to mind ........ let the buyer beware and the customer is always right .

 

[N.J.THer]

I have a pair of Black Widow headphones which I love. They are completely adjustable with sound levels. You can really blow your head off if you want. No whimpy speakers in my model which I've had for a few years now.

Good luck with your search

NJ