Larry,

Yeah I had some of those for about 3 decades and then they conked out on me.

Is there a truly significant difference between the new ones and the ancient ones?

I do know that even the new ones work much better for me than anything else I have seen in any price range locally.

I did see a pair on the internet the other day that cost 4000 dollars and looked like something you would have seen back in World War II. But I don't think I'm gonna go there.