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Reviews For: Sennheiser RS 180 Wireless Headphones

Category: Headphones & Boom-microphone Headsets

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Review Summary For : Sennheiser RS 180 Wireless Headphones
Reviews: 2MSRP: 380
Description:
Very comfy long range wireless headphones to cover a whole house and into the
yard.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.sennheiserusa.com/private_headphones_wireless-headphones_home_502875
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0025
K8JHR Rating: 2014-07-14
Super duper Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Good wireless cans. You pay a premium for decent wireless headphones, and this series of wireless headphones really deliver the goods.

My wife and I both use Sennheiser RS-160, RS-170 and RS-180 wireless headphones almost every day.
I use the RS-160 in the shack with my ham transceivers. We both use the RS-170 and RS-180 for listening to old time radio shows every evening, allowing us to listen without interruption regardless of what we do or where we move about in the house. Very light weight and comfortable. Extremely durable, considering they are so light weight. We use these two to three hours at a time, at least 5 days a week. I sometimes wear them for 7 or 8 hours at a time with no discomfort or fatigue.

Excellent audio. Adequate bass, but not particularly heavy handed or booming. Nice, smooth mid range and treble. Well balanced for all types of music and especially clear and crisp communications audio when used with a ham transceiver.

Highly recommended for TV, music, amateur radio, and practically any other audio source. Expensive, but worth it. Extremely durable, but don't drop them, toss them about the shack, or step on them... they will last a long time with normal, careful use. You can use up to four of these headsets at a time, and you can mix and match the models as they all work with all the transmitters in the series. Excellent wireless cans. You should be able to move about the whole house, provided you place the transmitter in a clear, central location. Locating the transmitting in a corner of a cement wall basement will limit transmitter range dramatically. Placing the transmitter in the center of the basement, up high near the ceiling, should provide whole house reception with just an occasional drop out. Better range than comparable sets - much better than, say, the Sony MDR-RF985R, which is also a good wireless headphone, costing less, but having a slightly less useful roaming range. Battery life is good, and the transmitter doubles as a charging stand. They take AAA NiMH batteries, so you can always have a fresh set on hand.

The RS-160 transmitter is not as strong as that of the RS-170 or RS-180, but it should cover your whole house if centrally located. The higher two models have a stronger transmitter, but still, central placement helps cover the whole house. The RS-160 and RS-170 are closed cup cans, while the RS-180 is a semi-open design. None are particularly noise blocking, and the 180 are not all that noise permitting. So, it probably does not matter which model you get from a noise-attenuation point of view. The best overall value is the middle model RS-170 - as it is a closed back earphone, with the higher power transmitter.


Bottom line: The Sennheiser RS-170 sound good, have good roaming range, and are well made and durable. I would not only recommend them to a friend, I would recommend them to my Mom, who is a very tough and demanding customer!

Just MY take... // K8JHR //
K0UNX Rating: 2010-02-07
EXCELLENT! Just ONE easily fixed flaw. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've been wanting wireless earphones for as long as I've been hamming (over a half century!) Having tried the Sennheiser RS 160, the PREDECESSOR of the RS 180, I knew this is what I wanted. The predecessor didn't quite cover my whole home, though. Its range was rated at 20 metres. When the RS 180 came out last month, its range was rated at 100 metres. I quickly ordered a set. I was not disappointed! You'll only get that range out-of-doors, in the clear, but this headset DOES cover my whole home, and well out into the yard. The sound is EXCELLENT, the velour "cans" are quite comfy, and there's NO SWISHING, HUMMING, or breaking up. The headset seems immune to my 100 watt rig on 75 to 10 metres.

Now I can skip to the loo or fix a cup of coffee in the kitchen without missing activity on a net. Note that this product was intended for the audiophile market, not the ham radio market. This latest model has AGC BUILT IN, so if you plug it into your TV, the commercials won't blast your head off during intermission.

I was so pleased with these cans that I purchased a second pair that I carry with me to field locations.

The RS 180 charges on its own transmitter / cradle. Just drop it on the cradle to charge. A full charge lasts a whole 24 hours. The two AA batteries are easily replaceable NIMH cells, so you don't have to order anything special. Just get replacements at the grocery store.

The ONLY COMPLAINT I have is with the buttons on the headset. They are very sleek, and your finger can't FEEL the buttons. That was easily solved by mixing up a small batch of polymer, and placing one drop each on the VOL + and VOL - buttons. After the polymer dried, I have easily locatable "detents". The On/Off/Standby button is between the volume buttons. There are also two buttons for BALANCE, but I left those alone, as I'm equally hard of hearing in both ears. :D