Koss Tech/2 vintage headphones, left ear cup, back view.
This is our Koss Tech 2 headphones review. This is a pair of vintage stereo earphones that we loved. Until that is, the cords and ear pads grew brittle and uncomfortable. We listened to music with the Koss Tech 2 Headphones for twelve years. In that time, they played well on several CD players, mixing boards, receivers, and tape decks.
This vintage headphone was our first pair of real stereo earphones. Indeed they made for a big step up from our headphones before 1979. So we really liked them. Thus, they are still worth discussing even though it’s been over a quarter century since we used them.
We bought the Tech 2s in 1979, second hand, for $30. They held up very well, until the back plates on each speaker came unglued, and fell off. Fixing them was indeed an option, as we’d glued these covers back in place a couple times.
But by 1991, we got a hankering for a brand new, better pair of headphones. So, we said goodbye to the Tech 2’s, and hello to the Sony MDR-V500 studio monitor cans. Though we outgrew the Tech 2’s, the thirty dollars spent was a great deal.
These headphones are strong on the mid range frequencies. Plus, they are also a bit weaker on the high-end response, and have noticeably weak bass. So use an equalizer with them, to flatten out their frequency response.
Their fairly good sound compensated for their rather hard ear cushions. We owned many headphones from Sony, Koss, Grado, and Apple over the past three plus decades. And the Tech 2 unit ranks about mid way up in terms of over all performance. Now when we had them, they were our all-time favorite stereo headphones. We discovered later, many models from the other makers listed above that beat these Koss earphones by far.
But if you enjoy listening to vintage headphones, then we’d highly suggest these if you can find them. Unfortunately though, they no longer appear on eBay very often. Nonetheless, you get an enduring, hard-wearing pair of quality audio head-gear. Furthermore, it works reasonably well in the studio, in transit, and just about any casual listening situation.
They reduced extraneous noise adequately for moderately noisy environments, which is a useful feature of their closed-air design. A metal back plate covers the rear of the driver speaker in each earpiece. Thus this keeps the sound both in and out fairly well. So, they are a good choice when other people nearby wishe not to the music.
Actually, the lower bass makes these phones excellent for portable CD player listening. This is due to these players having strong bass. We used the Koss Tech 2 headphones on lots of train trips, though they weren’t very comfy.
They offered a wide range of headband adjustment and came equipped with a microphone mounting screw.
These look as good as they sounded; perhaps even better. They are a walnut dark brown color. They also have a silver Tech 2 logo on the back plates of each ear speaker. This gives them a sleek, hi-tech appearance, that matches the finish on our Pioneer SX-1000TW receiver.
They played loud enough, with the wide dynamic range over mostly the midrange part of the audio frequency band.
So they easily played widely varying volume levels from content like classical music. Or, Pink Floyd’s, “The Wall” album also has great dynamic range for the time.
The connecting audio cable is not detachable. But cord replacement was still pretty simple with a screwdriver, cutters, glue, and a soldering iron.
A portable CD player drives the Koss Tech 2 headphones well.
These headphones, perhaps owing to their rugged and quite heavy design, seemed quite withstanding of abuse. We often dropped them, after our Floyd listening sessions, without damage.
They featured a Y-configured audio cable, such that both left and right ear cups had a wire attached. This enhanced their overall balance on the head, though it increased susceptibility of their coiled cord below to tangling. Often the springy parts of the coiled cord would wrap themselves around its straight-run portions.
Given how little the Tech 2s cost, we found only a few features to gripe about.
Compared to the many pairs of Sony earphones we use today, these Koss Tech 2 phones were quite heavy. Indeed, listening with them for more than a half-hour or so, would actually bend eyeglasses. They’d also leave impressions of the cans on the temples. So it was best to take off eyeglasses while listening.
The headband had no spongy padding. But this seemed not to decrease their already-low comfort. Nonetheless, we wore these phones so much, that even at twenty years of age, they bothered us. The constant pressing of the headband on the head began thinning our hair. Indeed in spite of all that, we really loved stereo headphone listening back then. Too much perhaps.
Over all, they lacked comfort. So we could only listen for an hour or so before the temples and outer ears would set to aching. The ear cushions were not soft. Plus they hurt our ears after listing to one play of a Pink Floyd album.
No gold connectors here, though no static or faulty connection problems ever occurred. The silver-colored male plug always made great contact with any audio source device we had.
Detachable cables would have been nice.
The ear cushions have liquid in them for comfort. But still not very comfy. “Liquid filled,” was really no bonus in the Tech 2s.
As mentioned, these earphones heavily favored the mid-range frequencies. This harshness left us with ringing ears after prolonged listening to Floyd’s, “Mother Do You Think They’ll Drop The Bomb.”
You could only wear the Koss Tech 2 headphones one way for comfort. That is: The left earphone went on the left ear only. Then of course, that meant that the right earphone only fit well on the right ear. The cushions did not fit well over the ears if worn the other way. The left and right speakers therefore, were not the same shape. Fortunately, you can wear the newer headphones from Sony et al either way on the head.
So with these headphones, we had to make sure we did not reverse the L and R channel connectors. This is because reversing the headphones, the left speaker on the right ear, was not workable.
Our ears did not fit inside the ear cushions at all. Thus, these phones seemed to incorporate an over-the-ear as opposed to an around-the-ear design, much like the Grado RS-1 headphones. This further decreased Tech/2 comfort. Why? Because the too-inflexible and flat ear cushions were not soft enough for this type of design.
Like sleeping on a hot pillow, wearing the Tech 2 headphones caused much head sweating.
The ear pads were medium-size but quite shallow. Thus, the front of the driver speaker touched the ear.
The Koss Tech 2 Headphones were fair purchase for the money back in the late seventies. Furthermore, they are a good match to relatively unrefined, novice listening requirements. While today we would not describe them as great earphones, they were okay as a starter pair. We prefer lighter weight headsets, with softer and fuller sound.
But today, given decades-since experience with better headphones, we would not buy the Tech 2’s again. We prefer Sony, Sennheiser, and Skullcandy nowadays. We grew beyond them, but would recommend them as a good first pair for any aspiring audiophile. Thus we rate them at 75 out of 100. Even cheaper headphones today overcome many of the drawbacks of the Tech 2. So you’d be better off buying modern in this case, and not vintage.
These appear only very occasionally on eBay. Generally, they’re quite hard to find.
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