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Reviews For: Kenwood HS-5 Communications Headphones

Category: Headphones & Boom-microphone Headsets

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Review Summary For : Kenwood HS-5 Communications Headphones
Reviews: 35MSRP: 79.99
Description:
8 ohm 400-4000 HZ communications headphones
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.kenwood.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00354.8
ON6SX Rating: 2014-07-25
The best there is Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use it on TS-850,TS-590,TS-790 and FT-897D and it gives a good sound.You can have it for hours on your head with no pain on the ears.
G7ENQ Rating: 2014-07-25
Very, very comfortable Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought these headphones to go with my new TS-590S. They are light on the head being well weighted, sound-tight without crushing your skull, and loud - you don't need a lot of volume to drive these headphones.

Even after a few hours of use, they remain comfortable. I've nothing but praise for these.

Highly recommended - try them yourself from a friend or at the dealer.
KC0W Rating: 2013-08-11
Cat's Meow Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This review deals with the brand new pair HS-5's being used for CW only. Not enough SSB listening has been done yet to make an honest opinion regarding their capability on voice.

The first thing I immediately noticed upon plugging these headphones into my rig was how LOUD everything now was. The main radio here is a K3. My primary CW headphones for many years had been Heil BM-10's & Heil Prosets. The volume knob on the K3 was always at the 12 o'clock setting when using the Heil's. As my ears fatigued in the heat of many hours of CW contest battle the volume knob had to be turned up to 2 o'clock or better on the Heil's.

With these new pair of HS-5's the volume knob now stays at the 8 o'clock setting. Upon ear fatigue it goes to 9 o'clock.

As others have done I gently bent the top of the headphones metal strap so they now fit my head better without any inward pressure pushing against my ears.

If it's one thing I can't stand it's when my ears sweat due to prolonged headphone usage. I just gave these 'phones their Maiden voyage regarding. I'm playing right now in the Worked all Europe CW contest & have been operating CW for the past 5 hours now. No "sweat" or uncomfortable feeling with the new 'phones as of yet. I decided not to attach the optional plastic ear covers to the headphones. I really don't need anymore sound isolation & I hate the feeling of plastic against my ears.

The headphones 4K roll off is a real plus versus the BM-10's which don't roll anything off. Why listen to high frequency hiss when you don't have to?

I have not yet performed the stereo mod to the 'phones...........It would be relatively easy to convert these headphones so they could be used for SSB voice transmission as well. I would use the mic element off of a pair of Heil BM-10's & secure everything off the earpiece of the Kenwoods.

Bottom line: I should have purchased these 'phones for CW many years ago.


Tom KC0W



DJ0RD Rating: 2012-09-05
The Best HF Headphones Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Nothing better, I converted mine to Stereo (Instructions in the net, simple mod). It's great to listen to the DX in the right ear and the Pile-Up in the left ear using the FTdx-5000 2nd Receiver. Vy 73
WD9CMD Rating: 2012-09-05
EXCELLENT !! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've tried many many different headphones and these are the very best ever. Glad they still make them. If you are using a monitor function on your rig to monitor your transmit audio or are trying to adjust your gain or eq, you need these, as they are 8 ohm impedance and will provide maximum volume and sensitivity. Well worth the money.
N1KSN Rating: 2010-04-19
I keep coming back to them Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've tried lots of headphones for CW and SSB, from studio monitor types to el cheapos. Many are fine for CW, but SSB performance is the real test in my opinion.

For SSB I want a good balance between reduction of high frequency hiss and other noise and intelligebility of weaker signals under poor conditions. I've found that I keep coming back to these headphones because they do the best with that balance for me.
N1TCH Rating: 2010-04-18
Comfortable and great sound Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought the HS-5 to complete my Kenwood TS-520SE shack. I replaced a pair of cheapo MFJ phones that crushed my ears and gave me a headache. I just tossed them without a thought after putting on the HS-5. The price isn't excessive for the quality that you get.
IW5EIJ Rating: 2009-12-07
Great headphones Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Best headphones i had.
After using it at club station i need to buy a pair.
Frequency response "radio only" use gives a comfortably sound. Big earpads are great for night time use with low volume.

I believe it's best you can buy even if they're not so cheap.
PG00023016 Rating: 2009-04-13
Great Quality Equipment Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
These headphones are easy to adjust, come with two sets of comfortable earpads, and have excellent communications response. I'm happy with them! WW0JD
N2UGB Rating: 2009-03-11
Great CW-0nly headset. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
These are really nice phones. I am a QRP CW only operator and don't need a boom-mic outfit so these are just what the doctor ordered. Use them with my TS-130V which makes for a nice match. Perfect CW response.

My head is large and hard so they are not at all uncomfortable. The alternate pads for use in noisy environments (or weak signal reception) are very handy. Also good for multi-op operations and noisy field days.

The cord is heavy-duty and, happily, for me, not coiled. Always hated those tight, coiled headphones.

So, if you don't need or want heads with mic, thiese are just the ticket.