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Audiophile replacement cable for the AKG K1000

post #1 of 13
5/10/02 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
I am in the process of designing an audiophile replacement cable for the AKG K1000 headphones. The cable would be from the 4-pin XLR female connector to the ampilifer.

Anyone interested in such a cable? If so, could you please let me know in this thread or by emailing me @ jserdechny@snet.net.

I would be interested in what length and what type of connections to the ampilfier you would prefer.

The cable is estimated to sell for $129.00

Thanks!
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post #2 of 13
5/11/02 at 12:44am
hey James, sorry to go off-topic, but is there any chance you might make a cable that's compatible with AKG's new K240S? Maybe a custom version of the HD590 Equinox or something (although a $100 cable for a $100 headphone is kinda pushing it ), since the K240 isn't popular enough to warrent manufacturing products around it, I don't think.
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post #3 of 13
5/11/02 at 2:17am
James, i would be interested in an "audiophile" cable for my K1000. i prefer either banana or spade connectors...personally i think the total cable legnth including the section connected to the headphone should be at most 10 ft meaning the amp adaptor section only needs to be about 4 ft long...i've always felt the current adaptor cable length of about 10 ft is MUCH too long, making the total length of both cables about 16ft which causes me endless headaches trying to keep the excess out of harms way...

Good Luck, hope things work out
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post #4 of 13
5/11/02 at 10:48am
James

Would this cable differ, other than the connector, from the HD600 replacement cable?
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post #5 of 13
5/11/02 at 8:19pm
Thread Starter 
Kelly -

Yes - this cable will differ from the Equinox HD600/580 cable formula.

It will be specifically designed to improve the performance of the AKG K1000's.

In the case of the K1000's the top end can be a little dominate at times and this is one of the areas the new cable will improve.

The cable will also improve the lows and mids.
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post #6 of 13
5/12/02 at 12:21am
James,

How would a K1000 owner attach the cable to the headphone? For the HD600 it's just a matter of plugging in a cable. How is it done with the K1000?
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post #7 of 13
5/12/02 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 
The K1000 stock cable has two major problems - it is to long (16-ft) and will pick up RFI and EMI because the cable is not designed to reject such interference. It also is not doing justice to the wonderful high frequencies this headphone is capable of.

The cable I am designing will correct these problems and improve the K1000's performance.

The K1000 is hard wired from the headphone until 6 feet - at that point there is a 4-pin XLR male connection - this attaches to a 10 foot section with a 4-pin female XLR and is terminated with pins that connect to the amplifier. I am designing a cable that replaces the 10 foot section. I plan on reducing the length of this section to 4.5-ft and offering different termination for the connection to the amp.
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post #8 of 13
5/12/02 at 4:03pm
Good news! The major criticism I have seen against the K1000 is that it can be slightly metallic in the treble. One reason I haven't bought it yet. Hope the cable will cure this problem.
Could the cable make the K1000 fit better with solid state amps?
Would it be possible to open the K1000 and hardwire a single length cable? At own risk of course.
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post #9 of 13
5/12/02 at 4:52pm
When I first listened to my K1000 a few days ago, it sounded metalic in the treble. This was when using inexpensive Radio Shack connectors between CD and my interim solid state receiver. But, the metalic sound totally disappeared as soon as I replaced the inexpensive connectors with Dimarzio M-Path 3' connectors that I just then received from HeadRoom. My K1000 absolutely no longer sounds metalic, and I expect it to sound still better when I replace my existing amp with a high quality tube amp.
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post #10 of 13
5/12/02 at 5:10pm
I have seen this, or similar criticisms in other reviews as well. It could depend on cheap or mismathed interconnects in these cases also. I hope so, as it increases the potential of the K1000.
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post #11 of 13
5/12/02 at 7:39pm
I was wondering if you could offer a cable that allows the AKG-1000 to be able to connect to a headphone amp via 1/4 plug. If I remember correct, some headphone amps are powerful enough to drive the AKG-1000s Some of them can go as high as 1 watt and some even higher.
Any possibilities?
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post #12 of 13
5/12/02 at 9:29pm
Thread Starter 
Ander,

The cable will make the K1000 a much better fit with solid state amps. I have thought about hardwiring a single length cable - I'm not sure I want to take that risk ( ex. voiding the warrantee)

Before I consider hardwiring, I plan on designing the right cable for the K1000 - which would be hardwiring a single length that optimizes it's performance. Them, I will design a cable that replaces the 10-ft section on a K1000 which has the original first
6-ft of stock cable.

The goal would be to have the K1000 with the 6-ft stock/and my newly designed section to the amp to equal the performance of the hardwired cable version. Basically what I need to do is design that latter section to compensate for the cable in the first section.

Vka,

Yes it is a possibility. If your interested - and if I can find a little time to do it - I can make a cable with 1/4" termination based on the formula I come up with for the cable to the amp.
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post #13 of 13
5/12/02 at 11:12pm
You say that the stock K1000 cable pícks up RFI and EMI. Shortening it from 5 to 2 meters should diminish the problem but there should be some residual interference.
Maybe you can compensate the remaining length of stock cable with a new cable that gives synergy, but it doesn't seem to be the best solution. The connectors between cables could also be assumed to slightly degrade performance.
I think that a hardwired cable is the ultimate solution for demanding audiophiles. Of course it must be sold without garantee to what happens to the headphone in case of faulty installation. Good instructions would be enough, and those who want the safe alternative could get it.
I recently rewired my Rega arm with the Incognito kit. There was no garantee if I destoyed the stock cable without succeeding to install the new one. Actually this upgrade is impossible to reverse.
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