Introduction: Vintage Headphone Upgrade

About: Someone that likes to tinker. I don't claim to be good at what I do; I just enjoy what I do.

In this video I take a pair of WWII era (I think) headphones and upgrade them with modern drivers and a smartphone friendly cable. This upgrade is not very difficult, basic soldering skills are needed.

I had two goals for this project:

  1. Keep the vintage look as much as possible
  2. Keep the cost as low as possible

To keep the cost down I used a pair of drivers from a a set of broken headphones and supplies I happened to have on my desk.

I used 50mm drivers that fit almost perfectly in the housings. 40mm drivers, which seem to be more common, can be used but you'll need to find some way to stabilize them inside the ear cups. From my research 50mm drivers can be purchased online ranging from less than $10 up to around $50.

Estimated cost for the headphones and upgrades: $20

Total time: Less than 30 Minutes

For this project I used:

Tools:

  • Soldering Iron
  • Flat Blade Screw Driver
  • Hobby Knife or Scissors

Supplies:

  • Vintage Headphones
  • Headphone Drivers
  • Double-Sided Adhesive Tape
  • Cable From Earbuds or Other Headphones
  • Solder
  • Dense Foam