AKG K1000 has two different drivers

[mypasswordis]

Sorry Steve, I don't think I'd even read your reply, although I might have read it and then forgot I did. I think I just got a bit irked that I'd spent so much and then didn't really know what I was getting, but I'm very satisfied now and glad I bit the bullet. Thanks for helping me decide to get these, I can confirm our sonic tastes are very similar.

[swt61]

If you ever want to experiment with different amplification, I have a Consonance integrated that does a pretty decent job of driving the K1000. I like the Beta22 better, but it's not half bad. I can afford to live without it for a while, if you'd like to borrow it.

[mypasswordis]

I think I'm just going to live with trying out Marc's JFET amp once I get it built, but much thanks for the offer. I may send you a K340 sometime in the near future though, if you're still willing to cut out the plastic screens. I can order a 4 pin XLR plug or 2 3 pins, whichever you prefer, and make a cable for you to listen balanced.

[swt61]

I think I'm just going to live with trying out Marc's JFET amp once I get it built, but much thanks for the offer. I may send you a K340 sometime in the near future though, if you're still willing to cut out the plastic screens. I can order a 4 pin XLR plug or 2 3 pins, whichever you prefer, and make a cable for you to listen balanced.

Huh? The same JFET amp he had at the meet? I don't think it's gonna drive the K1000, it stumbled on his LCD-1 at a decent volume, of coarse I have no idea what the gain was set at. Sounded great with easier loads though.

Yeah, no problem on the K340, it's a quick and dirty mod. 4 pin works best for me.

[mypasswordis]

Huh? The same JFET amp he had at the meet? I don't think it's gonna drive the K1000, it stumbled on his LCD-1 at a decent volume, of coarse I have no idea what the gain was set at. Sounded great with easier loads though.

Yeah, no problem on the K340, it's a quick and dirty mod. 4 pin works best for me.

Yup that JFET amp. In my experience the K340 and K1000 are more efficient than properly damped orthos like his LCD1. Did you happen to try your K1000 on that amp? If it's just an issue of gain that shouldn't be a problem since that's easily changeable.

Cool I'll order some plugs and maybe some jacks tonight. Which reminds me I need to buy some from Birgir too.

[swt61]

No, I didn't try it. Not quite sure why, just didn't get around to it. You may also have a point. I would set the gain high though. Let us know how well it does once you get it finished.

[wrecked_porsche]

...pretty much everyone just says the treble is the best part of the K1000 and it has great extension. Weird. I don't notice roll-off with most of my other headphones so it's not my setup. They also say the K1000 is extremely resolving, detailed, transparent, fast, etc but mine is pretty average in those respects compared to my other headphones and in fact I feel like it smooths some of the details over to make sure nothing sounds harsh, so kind of Senn-like in that respect.

I've tried the K1000 from a headphone jack. The dynamics died-ded. Sense of presence ran away. Sure, it got very loud, enough to make me go deaf and then some, but the music felt lifeless. Then I tried them K1000 out of a few amps I had lying around the house; an Aura Evolution, a Pioneer, a Denon and a vintage Yamaha. Now we're talking!

The K1000 only comes alive when you're using speaker amps to kick it in the nuts. Oh and that "trouble" that you're having with the treble? Well you mentioned "extremely resolving" and "transparent" and this is exactly what they are. Every time I tried a different amp, the K1000 would allow me to identify the "flavor" or "coloration" from the amp. Going from one amp to the other, I could immediately tell the differences between the amps and how they presented the music.

Mine are the older style, however the box says "AKG Acoustics" on the foam, not "AKG K1000", and uses a softer foam with a larger space for the cable and connector to go.

I could be wrong, but if memory serves me correctly, my 11xxx light brown box version with the silver akg logo did in fact have "AKG Acoustics" written on them. I'd go dig up the pics now, but they are on my desktop and I blew the PS a few days ago, so that will have to wait.

Just my 2c I wouldn't use the wood box as any gauge to the age or the driver version. I've owned two K1000 with natural wood box that were different inside (top lid), but they were both in the same serial number range.

The top lid was different, and the serial numbers were close, but did they sound like they were different versions or did they essentially have pretty much the same sound?

I think I just got a bit irked that I'd spent so much and then didn't really know what I was getting, but I'm very satisfied now and glad I bit the bullet. Thanks for helping me decide to get these, I can confirm our sonic tastes are very similar.

Just take some time and try them out of as many speaker amps as you can, you will find they are very, VERY transparent. I feel that the O2mk1 resolves more detail, but somehow its slightly less transparent; does have a tiny hint of its own sound signature thrown in. Well at least on the 717 level (and below) amplification though. A BHSE or KGSS might fix that, I don't know.

I think my sonic taste probably mimics that of your and Steve too. Try this: "Lee Hazlewood - Cake Or Death" on your K1000... Its really spooky how it sounds like the singers and just beside your ears. Its feels like as thought he K1000 grill is the mic and the singer's mouth is just beside your ears as he sings into the mic. None of my other headphones can do this....

[mypasswordis]

The dynamics died-ded.

That's another thing I forgot to mention. Dynamics are awesome and so is impact. These drivers can move a lot of air!

Completely unrelated, but on the issue of comfort it's by far the most comfy of my headphones because my ears tend to sweat with sealed pads and hurt like crazy with supraaural pads or thin circumaural pads after awhile. I have the temple pad mechanism out one click on each side which evens out pressure. Tried two clicks but felt like the driver wasn't positioned correctly, but will experiment more with that, along with toe in.

Then I tried them K1000 out of a few amps I had lying around the house; an Aura Evolution, a Pioneer, a Denon and a vintage Yamaha. Now we're talking!

Ooh, which vintage Yamaha? I also use one, a CR-620 from the late '70s. Decent class AB amp with a pretty flat and transparent sound.

[wrecked_porsche]

Yes, with the right amp, the dynamics and impact are friggin' great.

Makes you wonder what people who say the K1000 "lacks bass" are on about. But then again, we are Stax people... Still, I think it has plenty-o-bass impact even for non Stax people. Soo darn tight, especially with the Class A Denon amp that I had. I was afraid the poor little driver was gonna pop out from the enclosure and hit me. The bass was soo damn taut and controlled, it was frightening at times!

~~

The Yamaha amp that I have is also from the 70's, 125wpc; its an NS series amp. Nice flat and clean sound. The thing I love most about that amp is the sense of presence that it has. I just love it when it sounds like the musician is playing an instrument right in my room just a few feet from me (when used with my speakers).

[mypasswordis]

The K1000 is missing in the low bass but it's flat down to 50Hz on my receiver and can probably improve a bit with better amplification. It's true, I never understand what people were on about with lack of bass on Stax. On the other hand, people don't really understand the concept of most dynamics not really resolving much of anything in the bass.

Stat fanboys often chide dynamics for having “one note bass”, and while I don’t ascribe to this notion, the complexity and texture of the bass out of the ESL-63 is just fantastic.

^ I'm pretty much one of these fanboys.

That Yamaha amp sounds suspiciously like the TOTL version of my CR-620, which is also an NS series... It wouldn't happen to be a CR-2020, CR-3020, CR-2040 or the like, would it? Or it might have been one of the really cool ones, like the CA-2010 which has a Class A switch.

[Fitz]

The K1000 only comes alive when you're using speaker amps to kick it in the nuts.

I've still yet to find anybody who could tell me what this fundamental sonic difference between a headphone amp and a speaker amp is, when they only really differ by output power. It's kinda like the whole SS amps sound X way, tube amps sound Y way overgeneralization.

[luvdunhill]

I've still yet to find anybody who could tell me what this fundamental sonic difference between a headphone amp and a speaker amp is, when they only really differ by output power.

binding posts sound moar better than magnetic, pedestrian plated Neutrik jacks?

[mypasswordis]

You mean nickel plated, right? And as I said before, compared to properly damped orthos the K340 and K1000 don't really need as much output power. They still probably need more than most other headphones, but I don't know firsthand since I don't own any anymore. Maybe the lightly oxidized bare copper wires going into the speaker outs makes a difference in sound.

[mypasswordis]

Well shit on my face and call me Shirley. I think I've found the headphone (with a couple of others to switch things up). Started this long and harrowing journey with a K501 and have come 'round full circle back to what I should have upgraded to in the first place.

[wrecked_porsche]

I've still yet to find anybody who could tell me what this fundamental sonic difference between a headphone amp and a speaker amp is, when they only really differ by output power. It's kinda like the whole SS amps sound X way, tube amps sound Y way over generalization.

Well, I re-read my posts above, I wasn't very clear with my posts there, my bad.

I didn't mean to imply that there was a sonic difference between using a headphone jack and speaker taps (there isn't a difference to me). No, far from that. When I said "headphone jack", what I meant to say was "headphone jack from a weak amp". It slipped my mind that it could have also meant headphone jack from a more than adequate amp. I was trying to say that when the K1000 does not get enough juice, it sounds lifeless... the dynamics are missing. My post was not about sonic differences between the headphone and speaker amp (because as you say and as I do believe, they only really differ by output power) but was more to do with available power on tap and the amps ability to control those K1000 drivers. I should have not used the headphone jack and speaker taps to distinguish between inadequate and adequate k1000 amping capability. My bad, my fail.

Instead of saying:

The K1000 only comes alive when you're using speaker amps to kick it in the nuts.

I probably should have said:

The K1000 only comes alive when you're using an amp with ample power reserve and control to kick it in the nuts.

Also, instead of saying:

I've tried the K1000 from a headphone jack. The dynamics died-ded.

I probably should have said:

I've tried the K1000 from a headphone jack of a weak ass amp. The dynamics died-ded.

BTW, I do not subscribe to the whole SS vs tube generalization thing myself because I have heard SS sound smoov and toobes sound harsh and bright.... I really should go get some sleep though... I have a 24hr 35 min flight coming up in 9 hours... I feel like a zombie.

[spritzer]

binding posts sound moar better than magnetic, pedestrian plated Neutrik jacks?

Gold plated brass FTW!!! That's clearly why we like Stax so much since they have always taken care to use non-magnetic parts...