Consumer Electronics

DYNAMIC HEADPHONES

The widespread adoption of dynamic or moving-coil loudspeakers in the 1930s raised the question as to whether it would be possible to use the same principle for headphones. If the drive units could be made small enough and light enough, they would presumably offer equivalent frequency response and much reduced distortion.

Moving-coil earphones designed in 1936 and released in 1937 were discontinued in 1939 as too cumbersome and too expensive to justify continued production. But by 1967 twenty seven firms had entered the market and one-time descriptions like heavy, cumbersome, and metallic had also given way to lightweight, comfortable, and high quality, with headphone listening rapidly becoming an accepted part of the hi-fi ...