From: Neon John <jgd_at_johngsbbq.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 16:27:57 -0400

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 10:38:30 +0200, Gert Brinkmann
<g111_at_netcologne.de> wrote:

>Neon John wrote:
>> Koss PortaPros. THE best sub-$100 phones available. $29-39 is the
>> usual price.
>
>There are the PortaPro and the cheaper SportaPro. Both sound the same
>and they are really the best that I know. You have to spend much more
>money to get something significant better.

No, they're not the same. I have several pair of PortaPros, a pair of
Portapro II and had a pair of Sportapros. The Sportapro is much less
crisp and has less punch than the Portapro. It sounds like the treble
has been cranked way down. The difference is significant enough that
one notices even when not doing an A/B comparison. I disliked them
enough that I gave them away.

The PortaPro IIs sound the same as the originals but are not
efficient. They generate much less volume from my JBR with the same
volume setting. Another minor difference is that the temple pressure
adjustment is gone. Not a big deal for me, as I super-glued mine to
the most gentle spot.

I got my II's from Best Buy for, I think, $29. They don't reliably
carry them in the Chattanooga store so internet ordering is probably
the best bet.
>
>But: They are very open, you can hear everything around you. This is
>good (save) if you want to use them outside, but it is not so good for
>usage in e.g. trains where it can be very loud. Here perhaps the Koss
>"The Plug" are a better choice, or as someone has recommended in this
>list some weeks ago some Sony earplugs. If you want high quality
>sounding earplugs you could take a look at ethymotics products (they
>have one for AFAIR 99$ and others for 399$). (I did not hear them yet.)

I love my Etymotics. I have the "$399" version, purchased for under
$300 last year. They are quite bright, requiring a different treble
setting from the PortaPros. Not a problem on my JBR - I just saved a
different config file for them.

John

---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.johngsbbq.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN

Received on 2005-10-25