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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
GI4SJQ Rating: 2008-05-25
Great phones but need adjusted to fit properly Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a pair of Kenwood HS-5 for about 10 years now and used them a lot before I got my Heil Proset. I bought the new have both sets of pads. The audio from them is great but by ears hurt a lot after wearing them even for ½ an hour so they had not been used in years. They are very well suited to HF communications and I also use the on the PC. They are like a pair of 1020’s S.G. Brown phones I used to have about 25 years ago. They were physically very similar.

I have started to use them again. They are now very comfortable and I can wear them for long periods with out discomfort. My problem was that I did not realise that they needed adjustment. Why I did not think of it before I just don’t know.

Firstly the two bands that go over your head can be pulled apart and that spreads the load and helps a lot. Secondly I readjusted the tension on the earpieces against my ears by bending the two bands that go over your head so that I got a very comfortable fit. These are made from what I think is spring metal. They are very easy to adjust and I now use them a lot with all my radios.
KG6TT Rating: 2008-03-21
Best for sound, a bit uncomfortable, spare parts? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Nice sound, somewhat uncomfortable for long listening. Many replacement parts, such as the cloth earpads, are now discontinued!

I have had my HS-5 headset for about five years. I bought it used and as so many sold used it came with ONLY the leatherette pads. Mine had been owned by a smoker. That was rough. Took a long time to get that smell out. Anyway, I am kind of a headphone junkie... I own about a dozen pair including four different Heil models, a JRC-ST3, and these Kenwoods. For ultimate comfort I prefer the JRC but they are mono and not easily modified for stereo. My main application is with a Ten-Tec Orion so stereo is really a necessity. The Heil's are stereo but their wide-range audio and low sensitivity are troublesome with the Orion.

Now for overall sound reproduction effectiveness (in a hams's typical HF environment) I give the HS-5's a 5. The reduced audio bandwidth is the best of all of my Headphones, especially with the Orion. The Kenwoods increased sensitivity is also important to me with the Orion.

Why the '3' rating?
First of all the HS-5 headphones are pretty tiring from a physical lac-of-comfort point of view, and with the leatherette earpads they really press your ears into your head even more. Secondly, it seems parts replacement has become an issue and the HS-5s are still selling as new items at ham dealers around the country. I tried to get a set of the cloth earpads only to find out that they are now discontinued with now substitutes offered. A direct call to Kenwood customer support netted me a refer to "their OEM that provides these headphones and the available replacement parts. A call to the OEM (OTTO)got me basically nowhere.

I tried to order the replacement cloth earpads about three years ago. After a long wait of over six months and many phone calls and emails I received a single earpad! I then attempted to reorder and was told they were out-of-stock. Now they are listed as discontinued. These headphones are still selling as new items but owners can't replace commonly worn or misplaced parts. This is a problem... for me.... and possibly for other hams too.
YO3VU Rating: 2006-10-07
Good headphones Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Probably the best headphones from all three great Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood. Very easy to modify them as stereo. The only bad point is they hurt a lot if you were them for long perods of time. I have two pairs and I have both of them modified for stereo so I could listen from FT-1000MP.
73's from Mike
CT1IDW Rating: 2006-01-27
OK but a bit disconfortable Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The audio is great, very well built, but compared to my other Headphones (senheiser) they are a bit too heavy, the ear pressure is excessive in conclusion they aren't too confy.

The audio, compared with the Senheiser, is much better because of the narrow passband. Of course the Senheiser I own are HiFi headsets not designed to radio comms.
NF2C Rating: 2005-12-14
A Quality item Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
These headphones are well made and will isolate background noise pretty well. They have a nice sound, and are fairly comfortable to wear. There is some adjustability and cord length is ample. If you can find a decent used set, I say buy them! There are surely better ones out there, but these give a lot of bang for the buck.
EW1CK Rating: 2004-08-19
Old good days diamond from Kenwood Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First of all, The 400Hz-4KHz frequency bandwith is big advantage over ordinady audio stereo phones.
In one word - superb ! Exellent quality and very solid stable design. Looks like different their days phones(almost plastic).
Heil Pro with comparison to HS-5 looks like cheaply and fragile. You know what I'm talking about.
Somebody prefers Heil Pro, but HS-5 is my favorite phones.
Have no idea why Kenwood never produced phone set based on HS-5.
From my point, HS-5 with Heil HC-4 microphone module is the best one.
I've got it (homebrewed phone set based on HS-5 with HC-4) and can say that is really best.
Can't be comparable with Heil Pro in CW. HS-5 is much more better.
From other hand, there is no difference in SSB for me.
Sound reproduction is accurate and good communications quality.
Another positive is sound isolation.
And last, but not least, HS-5 is very comfortable.
I'm very pleased with it.
N4LQ Rating: 2004-05-07
Stereo mod easy Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have since modified these for stereo. The cord already has 3 conductors. Simply pry off the cover off the outside of the earpiece and wire for stereo then replace the phone plug with a stereo plug. Now you can take advantage of dual receive found in several modern rigs! 73

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Earlier 4-star review posted by N4LQ on 2004-02-13

This things are built like a tank. If your rig has a hissy audio amp, you probably won't hear it through these due to the roll-off at 4khz. Most headphones these days are high impedance however these are rated at 8 ohms. Ironic since so many rigs have 100 ohm resistors in series with the headphone jack anyway. They do tend to compress the ear a bit since the pads don't go over the ear like larger headphones do. I find myself yanking them off in pain after about an hour. For QSK cw they are superior. Their reduced bass and treble response works to your advantage in cw mode because you tend not to hear the clicking and thumping sometimes associated with QSK. I wonder if there is a way to put larger pads on them? PS. I did use the Heil headset during field day and found them much more comfortable however I was not able to directly compare the sound. 73
KG9HV Rating: 2004-05-07
good cans Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had these for about 5 years and they have
survived drops to the floor and are none the
worse for wear. Sound good and are fairly comfortable. They are a bit pricey, but none
the less good headphones. I'm sure there are
more comfortable cans to be had though.
John KG9HV
W6EZ Rating: 2004-02-13
Just FB for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one set of these head phones I bought new in 1992 and they have held up perfectly! I use them almost every day and have no problems whatsoever.
The ear pads on mine have never fallen off.
I have another set that was 5 years old when I got them, and they too are flawless thus far.
N4TD Rating: 2004-01-11
Favorite Headphones Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The HS-5 have been my fovorite headphones for many years. I have tried numerous others, but always end up using the HS-5. I just like the way they sound for communications work. My set of HS-5 came wired for mono. To take advantage of the audio capabilities of my new rig, I rewired the headphones for stereo. My HS-5 headphones have a three wire cord, so rewiring for stereo simply involved popping off the outside cap and changing the wiring. I found the service manual for the HS-5 on the Kenwood site, which showed the mechanical construction.