I have some old (25 years) AKG 240's with model name "sextett".Honest!
Each earcup has 1 central driver surrounded by 6! passive diaphragms.
The new 240's have what's called an "XXL Varimotion " driver, one per
earcup and it appparently covers the entire face of the earcup.
Is one better than the other? Help!
I bought my AKG 240's when they were new on the market in 1975 or '76. I still have them and they work fine. The passive diaphragms were one of the main selling points. I have always loved the open clean sound and was disappointed to learn that the headphones that bear the name today are a different design. I just got a pair of K701's hoping they could recreate some of the magic I felt with the old 240's.
I haven't heard the newer ones yet, but I do plan on doing a comparison between the K240, K240M, K240DF, and K240S sometime.
The old K240 sextett is surprisingly balanced and does a really good job of getting out of the way and letting you focus on the music. I agree with mikesul on the very clean, open sound.
This is fascinating. My father bought a pair of 240 in the mid-80's and then a few years ago I bought him a "new" pair of 240M because his 240's had gotten really ratty. He said something like "Son, thanks for the thought, but these new phones don't sound anything like the old ones. I'll keep the old ones."
I'm not going to ask him to take his vintage 240 apart, but what are the differences and when were the changes made? My 240M are about six years old, and I enjoy them for rock but not much else.
Keep the sextetts... I've been looking for a pair for a while.
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This is fascinating. My father bought a pair of 240 in the mid-80's and then a few years ago I bought him a "new" pair of 240M because his 240's had gotten really ratty. He said something like "Son, thanks for the thought, but these new phones don't sound anything like the old ones. I'll keep the old ones."
I'm not going to ask him to take his vintage 240 apart, but what are the differences and when were the changes made? My 240M are about six years old, and I enjoy them for rock but not much else.
The original has six passive radiators (small drivers with no coil/magnet) surrounding the main driver, rather than just thin damping pad. A similar set of passive radiators was used in the K340 as well.
I haven't heard the newer ones yet, but I do plan on doing a comparison between the K240, K240M, K240DF, and K240S sometime.
The old K240 sextett is surprisingly balanced and does a really good job of getting out of the way and letting you focus on the music. I agree with mikesul on the very clean, open sound.
i'd love to hear about this comparison, Fitz. did you ever do this?
The 240 Sextet was my first real headphone and I still have it. It is actually a rather decent headphone, musical and enjoyable.
Unfortunately I have not heard the new K240 to compare.
Looking forward to your review Fitz.
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Old vs new AKG 240's
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