Perfect highs, rich lows, you will hear details that you may have never noticed, even on CD's you've listened to over and over. The titanium drivers deliver crisp music that NEVER wears out.

Yes, weaknesses. The foam pads wear out in about 6 months (with daily use) but are easily replaced at RadioShack. The wires can come loose at the speaker terminal, but are fixed with a quick solder. BUT YES, they sound so good that they are still well worth the drawbacks!!!

I've been using these headphones for about 10 years now. They have the best sound you can possibly find for under $50. I recommend them to everyone, and they also end up loving them. Watch RadioShack, they have them for 50% several times a year and end up at $20.

Efficient - anemically amped portables should shine with these headphones Better sound quality than many sets costing $50 or more Inline volume control is nice to have, especially on such efficient headphones Lifetime warranty Clarity far beyond expected from a $20.00 set of headphones

First pair died in a week, second pair seems to be much better so far Uncomfortable for me after about 2-3 hours of listening A little strange looking and that gel band can be irritating

I had been looking for a new set of headphones I could leave on my desk at work and not have to worry too much about having them disappear, so under $50.00, open air, and comfort were almost as important as the sound. I auditioned a set of Sennheiser HD-212s and found them to be a little too bass dominant, and started auditioning others. On a whim, I decided to try these decidedly less expensive Koss headphones and I was immediately pleasantly surprised. They are clear enough to catch subtle details other headphones miss. Also, they are fairly well balanced with what sounds to be a tolerable 1-2dB boost in the 50-200Hz spectrum and perhaps 1db of attenuation in the 500-2k range and mostly flat beyond that. I think this combination works well because they do not completely surround the ear and since they are an open-back design, and a bit of bass is lost from wave cancellation and the midrange gets a little bright on a lot of their competitors' models. They sound quite good on most music genres and they are easy for most portables' amps to drive since they are extremely efficient headphones. On the downside, my first pair biodegraded within the first week, but the new pair seems to be holding up ok so far - but they have a lifetime warranty, so I guess I don't care so much. Also, they can make your ears feel a little smashed after a while, but that may improve over time as the band loosens up a bit.

Similar Products Used:

Bang & Olufsen Form 2 Koss KTX-Pro-1 Koss KG-4 Sennheiser HD-570 Sennheiser HD-212 RS Nova 42

Tremendous range of clarity. This is probably the closest thing you can get to Sennheiser-level quality sound for under $30

Not excellent bass. But keep in mind I'm look hard for a weakness here.

an excellent sounding pair of headphones. My previous headphones(JVC) were the massively cushioned, closed-ear type, and getting back to open-ear listening was ezee-pezee with these Koss titanium-driver bad boys. The fit is pleasantly comfortable, snug, but not too tight. Then again, I don't have a fat head. I think they should fit most sized heads okay. I've used them for up to four hours straight with zero earlobe-pain. I listen to a wide variety of music, alt-rock to hip hop, and these Koss headphones handle every music I can throw at them. I first attempted to buy these from Amazon.com, where the headphones are still listed as "usually ships in 24 hours". Well after a month, they send me an email to say that they were "unable to aqcuire the product". So they don't even really sell them there. I then went and bought a pair from Circuit City with no problems.

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JVC, Sony MDR series.

Bass response

Too much bass response, terribly uncomfortable, severely overpriced at RadioShack's "regular price"

I demoed the RadioShack Pro-35 headphones - which are identical to the Koss KTX-PRO headphones - several months ago, and I am sorry to say that I was disappointed with their sound quality. Even compared to my Koss KSC-35's and my Koss Porta Pros, the KTX-PRO's delivered way too much mid-bass that almost completely overpowered whatever midrange and treble that they delivered. (No, I didn't have any bass boost switched on at all on the portable player that I demoed the KTX-PRO's on.) And that's partly because of the overly tight and terribly uncomfortable fit that the KTX-PRO's delivered. However, they are a big improvement over whatever came bundled for free with a portable player, which is why these are a decent choice for a first headphone upgrade. But you'll get tired of their sound rather quickly.

Similar Products Used:

Koss KSC-35, KSC-50, Porta Pro

Well balanced sound, efficient, comfortable

Flasy, silver styling with blue headband

After purchasing a CD/MP3 player with low output, I decided to shop for a pair of on-- not in-- ear 'phones that were highly efficient. The reviews here were helpful and I've been very pleased with the KTX Pro's. I got a "PRO1" model which looks to be the same thing only silver in color (isn't everything these days). The sound is well balanced, with ample bass and smooth top end; my listening is mostly classical, so the latter was critical (and left much to be desired in every other portable headphone I own; Senneheiser(s), Sony Fontopia). They are light, comfortable and a tremendous value. The customer service at koss.com was terrific, and they do have a lifetime guarantee. I don't think you can miss with these..

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD 56 Sennheiser MX 400 Sennheiser HD 433 Sony Fontopia Sony MDR A44L

Good bass response Incredible sound quality for the price

Earpads get worn out rather quickly

I bought the Radio Shack version of these headphones which are labeled as the Pro-35's a couple of years ago. These were the first good headphones I was ever exposed to, prior to this I had been using the cheapy headphones that usually came with my CD players or soundcards. I was totally blown away that headphones could sound this good. Bass response was excellent and the sound had depth and warmth that I didn't think was possible with headphones. Since then, I've also bought and used a set of Grado SR-60's (excellent sound clarity, but leaked too much sound for me due to open air design), Sennheiser MX500 earbuds (poor, poor sound quality, stay away from earbuds if possible!), and my current Sennheiser HD-212 closed headphones. The Koss KTX Pro's compares VERY favorably to all of the above (and with the MX500's, totally blew it away), at less than $15 online. I've had to replace the earpads on mine after they got worn out after a year but I still use them at work with my MP3 player. These are the best headphones for under $20 and are perfect for portable audio use. I think the highest compliment I can give these headphones is if I ever lost or broke my current set, I would buy another set without hesitation to replace it.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser MX500 Sennheiser HD-212 Pro Grado SR-60

bad customer service

I purchased a warrenty with this headphone because I had brought on before and it went out on me so beverly the manager suggested a warrenty I got the warrenty and then when I went back after the 90 days to get a replacement I wasn''t found no where on the computer so the reply was they had to call Texas I am still waiting for the reply it has been a month now I am a customer to and they customer service was very poor and snappy I understand people have bad days at times but every time I go in that radio shack on east 72nd street I get snaped on by the manager and I don''t know why I just want another headphone replacement and I will never go shopping in that radio shack again. thanks

Similar Products Used:

purchased one from magnolia hifi and I have a warrenty with it will continue to shop for headphone a magnolia good customer service all the way.

I bought these to replace my malfunctioning (but Stereophile-recommended) $35 Sony headphones, and I was hoping they might sound as good. As it turns out, they are much better that my old Sonys, and compare reasonably well with my $100 reference phones. Mid through upper bass is strong, maybe a bit much, but midrange reasonably neutral and treble rolled off only at the very top. The overall sound is warm, which is a welcome relief from the thin-sounding headphones you usually find at this price point. Comfort level is good, better than expected given the cost-conscious design. At $20 these headphones are a steal and get an A+ for value.

value for money, very good bass for a lightweight, high efficiency, decently-smooth frequency response, inline sensitivity control

No truly deep bass, the Optimus clone's drivers sometimes rattle, headband is often too tight (but see below)

For anyone needing a seriously decent lightweight over-the-head headphone under $50, this is about the only choice. The KTX Pros have enough bass that very often you won't bother to use the bass boost switch on your portable gear, and the rest of the response curve is flat enough that you won't rip the things off your head and scream at them after listening for an hour.

The metal headband is hand-formable, by the way, so don't be afraid to bend it backwards a little until the earpads rest gently on your ears. Out of the box, the Optimus PRO-35 clone seems especially prone to squash your head, but it's an easy fix in either case. Once you customize them to your head size, they stay put and are very comfortable indeed.

Strain relief on both ends of the cord is good enough so that I've never had a failure, and that's saying something.

The inline volume control is best used as a sensitivity control. Many portable players have amps that put out a certain amount of hiss even when they're turned down all the way. Adjust the Koss' slider to eliminate the residual hiss and you've eliminated the only downside to having high-efficiency headphones. Without this control you'd have to listen to that hiss all the time. And remember, efficiency saves battery power and keeps the little chip amps in portable gear happy and relaxed. These are about the most efficient 'phones in this price slot.

The KTX Pros have almost no acoustic isolation from ambient sound, so for audio mixing or field recording at concerts, you'll need something else.

For one-fourth the price of the Grado SR80s, these are pretty dang good.

Similar Products Used:

Optimus PRO-35/25, Grado SR80, Sennheiser 420, modified Realistic PRO-30, various electrostatics

Clear, smooth sound; pure, crystal treble and rich, gentle bass.

Takes quite a while to get used to (especially if you're a basshead like me). Can sound a little bright on some tunes with some portable CD players, e.g. the SL-SX280 (which unfortunately has more treble than S-XBS). Plus, the ear pads become light brown after many days (perhaps months) of use(yet this happens with many other black foam ear pads).

For six straight years, I owned a pair of portable black Panasonic headphones which well-complemented my black Panasonic SL-S150 portable CD player, as well as my black Magnavox mini stereo system. This was a pair given to me eight years ago by my dad, after a flimsy pair of 80's mini foam ear pad headphones (remember those?) had been finally destroyed after five years of wear and tear. Once I wore this new Panasonic pair, I was blown away by the sound; clear, smooth treble and heart-thumping bass. The bass was such that it so caressed my ears. I was able to hold on to these things of audible beauty until late '99, when, by mistake, the part of the Y-cord attached to the right speaker suddenly got violently detached when the thin, long tangly cord got tangled around the arm of a bus seat. From that day on, my life was never the same. Of course, as a result, I had to throw away my destroyed beloved pair, which I would have to rank as perhaps the best pair of 'phones I'd ever heard in an entire lifetime. But life just had to go on. Yet having lost this beloved pair kept me in the dark for many long months. For my 27th birthday in August 2000, I somewhat begged my friend to buy me a pair of Sony MDR-G72 street style headphones. Looking at the cool design, I guessed that these would somewhat close to my demolished portable black Panasonics. Well, after my pal paid a whopping $39.99 for the MDR-G72's at a local Fry's Electronics store, they simply weren't what I thought they'd sound like. All I heard was tons of treble. When plugging the model into my black Panasonic CD portable, my ears strained to this realization, and I constantly asked myself, "Where the #$*@'s the bass?" There was none. I complained about this to my friend, yet he didn't want to go through the trouble of returning them (unfortunately, he lost the receipt!!) and told me, "Maybe it just takes a matter of getting used to the pair." Well, for many months, I tried, absolutely TRIED to get used to them, but my ears just wouldn't give in. I finally got rid of the expensive MDR-G72's when my younger cousin came to visit this past Fourth of July and needed another pair of portable 'phones for one of her two Philips portable CD players. I breathed a sigh of relief when she claimed that the odious pair was music to her ears. But after having done so, I HAD to buy a pair of 'phones to complement my new Panasonic SL-SX280 portable (BTW, my old black one was sounding quite dated-it was from 1993). So, one fine summer day after work, I decided to go to Fry's (ironically the same one where my pal bought me the hated Sony pair) and buy me an entirely different pair, in terms of sound, comfort, and least importantly, style. When brousing in the headphones section of the warehouse, I came upon the Koss KTX-Pro's. I picked up a pair and carefully studied the item; small, convenient size, slim black sturdy design, Y-cord (which somewhat sadly reminded me of my destroyed Panasonic pair), and a unique element I'd only seen on a few portable pairs; a volume control switch. The price seemed right, not outrageously expensive; $15.99 (plus tax). I decided,"Well, I'll give it a try; they may not sound even close to my ruined Panasonics (I was still utterly heartbroken over the loss of those), but they still may sound good for the money." So I purchased this Koss pair before somewhat hastily driving home to find out what they'd sound like. Once having arrived home, I carefully opened the box, unwrapped the pair, placed a Depeche Mode's Violator CD into my metallic Panasonic portable and plugged-in my new 'phones. What I heard truly amazed me; the treble was clear and the bass rich and smooth, although a tad muddy (at the time). Although I still couldn't get over my Panasonics, the clarity of the sound was powerful. I decided I MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST get over this loss by listening to the KTX-Pro's nightly, while playing my fave CD's in my metallic portable (the heartbreak over the Panasonics was still killing me). At times, some tunes sounded a bit bright (due to the portable's ratio of treble over S-XBS), making me somewhat wish I had never even destroyed the bass-thumping Panasonic pair. But I kept telling myself to just get over it and become more adapted to this Koss pair. After three long, somewhat frustrating months, the hard work has FINALLY paid off. Gone is the heartbreak I've long experienced over the ruined Panasonics. I am now utterly attached to this Koss pair, not only for its clear sound, but its comfort. The headband fits my head perfectly, unlike the Sony's, whose wraparound style kept falling off my head. Whereas I once viewed these to sound muddy on both my new Panasonic portable as well as my black Magnavox mini system, since then, my opinion has now totally changed. Though some CD tunes may sound a bit bright, overall, the KTX-Pro's allow dozens of other tunes to sound crisp and even throughout the highs, mids, and lows. Unfortunately, all this hard work of adapting to has left the earpads a light, brownish color. Yet this can only be a minor fault, 'cuz overall, despite months of hard work, I feel I've DEFINITELY gotten my $'s worth!!!!

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