Koss KSC75 September 12th, 2005 | by Brandon King

Features and Design

In July 2003, we reviewed the Koss KSC-35 headphones.  They had excellent sound quality, but lacked build quality and comfort.  Koss must have realized that they had a winner on their hands, because they updated the line with the KSC-75, which addresses all of these issues.  The result is one of the best sets of headphones you can find for under $100—way under $100.

The KSC-75s are individual, over-the-head, clip-on headphones.  The design is unremarkable, but not as 1970s foam-and-plastic-looking as the KSC-35s.  The external housing is a light gray, faux metallic, finished plastic.  The piece that fits the body of the ear is a soft, translucent, rubber-coated chrome wire.  The entire earclip piece is a single wire, which is stiff but flexible.  This makes the KSC-75s extremely easy to customize to any ears and any preferred snugness.  The drivers are surrounded by the same foam pads as on the 35s, which are comfortable but slightly cheap looking.  Over all, the aesthetics are much improved, but not as cutting edge as some of the options from Audio Technica or Sony.

The obvious intended uses are outdoor and leisure listening.  They are very easy to drive, though not quite able to attain the levels of some other offerings.  Still, MP3 players and laptops will sound great through these headphones.  While we try not to make price a driving factor for purchasing a product, it is undeniable that the price point is so low that as a workout headphone, the KSC-75s are perfect due to their low cost to replace.  At $20, you won't be breaking the bank the next time you snag the cord on the elliptical trainer.  Also, the cord is black, which means that would-be iPod thieves looking out for those iconic white strands leading from your ears will pass you by.