The best stethoscope

I've heard a lot about welch allyn stethoscopes,I've read on some forums that they are really great,but they don't seem...fun...

Littmann is the steth I'd like to play with..

The WA Tycos Harvey (Elite and others) seem to be priced higher online than the Littmanns for the most part. Anybody wanna speculate on why that is??

Obviously there are more out there to be studied and reported on but I see a concensus here.

The Welch Allyn Harvey stethoscope have shorter tubing than Littmann producing a more realistic sound compared to the long tubing of the Littmann. I have a Harvey Triple Head and Harvey Elite stethoscope and in my opinion the sound transmission is vastly superior to the Littmann.

I agree with Mashie about the Spragues. The sound quality just isn't there and I just don't see them used other than as a first student scope. The Welch Allyn scopes don't sound bad, but they're just not durable. I work in a major medical center and although I don't know if an official survey has ever been done, my subjective impression is that Littmanns are far and away the most widely used scopes. I use a Littmann Master Cardiology scope and I feel that the sound quality and isolation cannot be beat. It is also as loud as any scope I've used other than an electronic scope. Like a number of the Littmann scopes, it has a single diaphragm head that can be easily tuned to work like a pure diaphragm scope or a bell scope, all just by adjusting how hard you press on the head-- much more convenient than dual headed scopes. Electronic scopes are mostly, but not always used by people with hearing problems. My impression is that electronic scopes amplify the ambient noise just as much as the sounds you are trying to evaluate, and the fidelity of the electronic scopes is a notch under the Master Cardiology. If there is one downside to the Littmann Master Cardiology, it's that the head is quite large and heavy (which is one of the reasons that it sounds so good). This makes it unsuitable for neonates and young peds patients unless you put a rubber adapter on the head (it comes with the scope) to reduce the effective size of the head by at least half.

I also spend some time riding on an ambulance and the Master Cardiology is absolutely great for filtering out much of the engine and road noise so you can hear what you are trying to hear.

One last opinion is to stay away from scopes with two separate tubes that go from the head to the earpieces. The tubes bang together and make detailed listening a real chore.

One comment regarding ball58's post above about the length of the tubing is that sound transmission is not a function of the length of the tube. It is mostly a function of the mass of the head. In fact, it's no accident that the length of the tubing in most scopes is very similar because it is tuned to optimize the frequencies that you most interested in hearing.

Welch Allyn Harvey Tycos Elite beat the Littmann Master Cardiology for sound quality hands down - i have had mine for 5 years using it every day and it is as good a new

I think that the best stethoscope is "Littmann Cardiology"

The best it´s a Littmann!

It would be interesting to know what field of medicine anglesboro (MD, nursing, medfet) is in and to have a bit more information as to why he feels the way he does. I'm a doctor (MD) who spend a good part of the day evaluating blood vessel, heart, and lung sounds pre and post surgery, and I need to be able to hear very fine details. I realize there is a lot of subjectivity here, but I've used MANY different scopes over the years for extended periods of time (not just a quick listen), including the Welch Allyn and my personal opinion remains unchanged. As I said in a previous post, the overwhelming number of physicians I come in contact with use the Littmann Master Cardiology. There must be a reason, but each to his own.

I'm a veterinary surgical technician/nurse by trade. I've worked with large animals for many years and use a Littman Master Cardiology with extended tubes (hard to get around the belly of a horse or cow with regular tubes).

I also carry a Littman Pediatric in my case for the little critters. You can't auscultate a hamster with something that's as big as he is. No, I don't auscultate hamsters very often. If they get to that stage, they're pretty much a goner anyway, sorry to say! That peds scope comes in handy on lemurs and some of the other smaller animals though.

Wow ladydocisin, I would imagine a hamster's heart rate is quite fast. Must be fun counting that fast!

Now about wrapping a BP cuff around that little leg... :-D

I like the Prestige 121. I have it with clear green tubing. Pretty neat and I love using it.

[quote author=Roy Jones link=topic=23861.msg392988#msg392988 date=1319289463]

Littmann cardiology III is my favourite!

[/quote] you have good taste!

Littman is the best

I recently bought a Welch Allen Harvey DLX double head stethoscope, and I like it more than my Littmann Cardiology III. I definitely agree with those vouching for WA steths.

I've always thought the Harvey Elite is better than most Littmann models. What's the DLX like? I guess from the photos I've seen of it, rather cold?

The Harvey Elite pretty much is Welch Allyn's version of the Cardiology III.

It's heavier than the Cardio III. The tubing is about the same, except that the binaurals can be rotated independently of each other - whereas the Littmann ones are pretty much set. The chestpiece of the DLX is heavier, but cold (which isn't a bad thing IMO 😄). There are no non-chill rings on it. It comes with a normal diaphragm (which is a black with a nice hologram logo) and a corrugated diaphragm. The corrugated one actually amplifies heart sounds when you apply the right amount of pressure, but it's not like the tunable technology. The bell on the DLX is the best of any steth I have. I have an S3 that's known to come and go when using my Cardio III bell, but with the DLX it's audible consistently. It's even louder too.

I use a tycos triple head stethoscope. definitely a bulky stethoscope but like the look and good acoustics.

Hmmm... don't think I need much more convincing to get one! 😃

I have a Littman Master Cardiology and a Thinklabs ds32a, and they're both good for different reasons. The Littman has second-to-none acoustic quality, while the Thinklabs is pretty much unmatched if you're looking for a 'toy'. They're both pretty damn expensive though, and given the choice between the two, I'd probably go with the Thinklabs. It's great for recordings, the sound quality is actually extremely good, and you can always pump the volume up to ridiculous levels if you want to hear your heartbeat so loud that it's almost startling. The only thing I DON'T like is that it has an automatic shutoff after 5 minutes which cannot be turned off.

Littman. But then again I got mine for free!!! I have used an amplified once or twice and it works well in quiet environments but in emergency situations I have not found the electronics to work all that well.....

The one on my chest at the time

I have a littmann lightweight II which is good for my work as an EMT.

I have used spragues - they aren't bad for the price. But not cardiology grade.

I have a Kila cardiology steth which I like, but I am saving up for a littmann or a Welch allyn to see what the comparison is really like.

I also had a classic II which was good.

i think though the tunable diaphragm is a little silly. I can't tell much of a difference. Perhaps for a cardiologist there is a noticable difference but I just use the bell. Any one else notice this?

I love the WA DLX Double head

Great article and really useful as I've been looking for a better quality stethoscope

Prefer the Harvey stethoscopes. I use a Harvey Triple Head Stethoscope and love the sound clarity.

I'd really love to have an HP/Philips Sprague Rappaport (the original black one that all the knockoffs are based off of), but they're no longer in production and are VERY expensive on eBay.

A couple of points about the Welch Allyn/Tycos corrugated diaphragm: This diaphragm comes with the DLX (formerly known as Harvey, after a famous cardiologist who wrote and studied extensively on auscultation) double and triple heads, and in some cases with the Elite models as an extra piece. In the original instruction booklets Dr. Harvey discussed the rationale behind and use of the corrugated diaphragm. In the "convex" position (i.e. with the raised center part to the outside) the diaphragm will amplify distant sounds. This is helpful in people with distant lung or heart sounds, but the amplification comes at the expense of some sound quality. The flat diaphragm was thought to be better for picking up more detail, but Dr. Harvey discovered that turning the corrugated diaphragm around to the "concave" position gave a good combination of amplification and sound quality. He recommended this as the standard position for users of the double head model. The triple head models come out of the box with a flat diaphragm, a corrugated diaphragm in the convex position, and a bell. I've never tried the corrugated diaphragm on my Elite, but it would be interesting! Dr. Harvey designed the scopes bearing his name, but he had died by the time the Elite was developed.

Just got the Littmann C4 in burgundy. It's a great scope. Listened to my buddy yesterday and it was very very clear and could hear a lot of subtle heart sounds. Ever heard a the quietest wheeze in his lungs. It's also much lighter than previous model. Really like it