Lots of responses and lots of misunderstanding. But thanks.

Well, I grabbed a pair of the Kenwood HS-5's today!
These are the first "communications" cans I have ever owned - very nice.

They certainly "restrict" the audio frequency response - 150Hz to 4000Hz
Compared to audiophile headphones like Sennheiser HD424 - 20Hz to 20000Hz!
These are excellent for spoken voice programs such as news reports, sports,
etc.
These will also be very good for serious SSB and CW Dxing.
High audio frequency hiss from the audio amp of the receiver is gone.
Atmospheric static crashes and local noise much less obtrusive.

The "narrower" audio frequency range of these HS-5's takes a while for the
ear to get used to it. The aural effect is somewhat like switching in a
narrow AM filter on your receiver. This should help out when trying to
catch that elusive ID on a weak and/or interfered station with atmospheric
noise such as distant lightning static crashes or local noise.

In the past I had also used those old Sennheiser HD424. I still have them.
Excellent headphones for listening to CD's. And they were very nice for SWL
if the station you were listening to was 20 over S9. But they let through
every static crash and audio hiss and hum on weak signals - very fatiguing
in the aural sense. But very comfortable to wear for hours since they were
"barely there" so to speak.

So far I am very happy with these HS-5's, light, comfortable - thumbs up!

"John S." wrote in message
oups.com...
The best I've found was a set of communications mono phones from Radio
Shack. They were just right for listening to ssb voice and broadcast
on shortwave. A mono to stereo adapter allowd them to be used on more
up to date receivers with stereo jacks.