Member Reviews: AKG Acoustics K240 Monitoring Headphones

Got a deal on some of these 600 ohm out of stock beauties in mint condition and am about 3 hours into testing them. So far I am pleased with the quality and fit. Got mine hooked up to a Musical Fidelity V-can so there's no worries about power. When i first got them I hooked them up to my iphone and could barely hear them, even with the volume all the way up. I then realized how much more is needed for these and why they took the next generation k240's down to around 55 ohm. Once i burn them in I'm sure they will be a good casual listening can. Anyway, i couldn't pass up a good deal. Why 600 ohm? Well I'm sure there's a reason to get them if you find some. I finally got my V-Can to...

Found these classic headphones at my local thrift store for 20$! I just had to pick them up immediately when I saw them. Lucky I was, they were in perfect working order, and also cosmetically in a good shape.     The sound?   When I first heard them, I was really surprised. Since they were "monitor" headphones I expected them to sound ear piercing, with little or no bass, but wrong I was. The AKG's have a natural warm sound with solid bass and plenty of detail.   So let's compare them against the 400$ Sennheiser HD600's, and see how they hold out?   Bass: The AKG's have slightly more oomph than the Sennheisers, but the nature of the bass is...

Of my three AKGs (K271S, K240M, K280), those are my favorite. They are very comfortable and also smaller and lighter than the closed-back circumaural AKGs. Being 600Ω cans, they are somewhat dependent on the source: My old JVC CD player drives them well, so do the powerful headphone amps of older mixing boards. With less powerful outputs, e.g. digital pianos, they work ok, with portable equipment not so much. Their sound meets my taste for general listening very well. Overall they are balanced and pleasant with reasonable attention to detail. Bass isn't as recessed as e.g. on the K271 - for listening that's a good idea IMO. Also, they lead to relatively little ear fatigue, although...