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I say the K1000 is THE best headphone for the money!! - Page 2

post #16 of 112
12/28/05 at 2:15am
Is it true that you have to keep your head perfectly stationary with them on? That and lack of funds have always deterred me. Can't keep the ol noggin still nomatter what.
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post #17 of 112
12/28/05 at 2:17am
the amp requirements for the K1000 are heavily overstated, in my opinion.
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post #18 of 112
12/28/05 at 2:20am
Well, you certainly can't bob your head while listening to spinal tap. You can move around, turn your head, and even lie down while listening to K1000s.

Actually, K1000s sound even better when I lie down. I can tilt the drivers up a bit, so that they are pointing towards my ears (some headphones with angled drivers do this). Positioning is all about preference.
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post #19 of 112
12/28/05 at 2:25am
Won't any integrated amp for speakers drive the k1000s fine through the speaker outputs? I have an antique sound lab 15watter for my horns. hmm. k1000 might sound great with these
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post #20 of 112
12/28/05 at 4:11am
Yep, agree. This is the most astonishing transducer I've ever run across. The fact that it's big and red and makes you look like a reindeer or a high voltage tower is just the proof that the guys that came up with these things were absolute sound fanatics! Until you've heard them, you don't quite understand what's possible in audio.

That said, I agree with those who've posed that the amp dilemma is overrated. Just find a good low power integrated amp. Try a NAD 3020. The T amp works fine as well.
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post #21 of 112
12/28/05 at 5:45am
I disagree for two reasons:

1) There are several great headphones out there that can be had for half the price right now.

2) The K1000s are very finicky and require very careful system matching. So much so that it's not such a bad idea to build an entire system around them. You can't just run them out of an ordinary headphone amp, which right there adds to their cost (not directly, but indirectly) as most good amps cost more money than good headphone amps.

They're amazing headphones if one wants to spend the time and effort to system match. Much like my R10s and the Qualias they demand patience and attention and an attentive listener who's willing to devote a system to them to get the most out of them. But best bang for the buck? I completely disagree. I think that honor would have to go to either:

1) The ever popular Grado SR60 (is there a more popular introduction to high(er) end headphones?)
2) HD580
3) SA5K
4) K701s
5) HD650

All cost less and are easier to build a system around than the K1000s.
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post #22 of 112
12/28/05 at 5:48am
but they don't sound as good
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post #23 of 112
12/28/05 at 6:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by some1x
but they don't sound as good
That wasn't what the thread was about though. Besides, I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps I've yet to hear the K1000s at their full potential but I've never been all that impressed. Right now I'd probably take a recabled 650 or, at about the same price, a RS-1 over them.
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post #24 of 112
12/28/05 at 6:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGhostWhoWalks
That wasn't what the thread was about though. Besides, I'm not so sure about that. Perhaps I've yet to hear the K1000s at their full potential but I've never been all that impressed. Right now I'd probably take a recabled 650 or, at about the same price, a RS-1 over them.
I haven't heard K1000s at their full potential either; but they impressed me more than recabled HD650 and RS1 My understanding is that the OP's intent for this thread was to challenge head-fi'ers to find a more "dynamic, impactful, totally OMG.." headphone in K1000's price range.
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post #25 of 112
12/28/05 at 6:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by some1x
I haven't heard K1000s at their full potential either; but they impressed me more than recabled HD650 and RS1 My understanding is that the OP's intent for this thread was to challenge head-fi'ers to find a more "dynamic, impactful, totally OMG.." headphone in K1000's price range.
Have you heard a balanced RS-1 through a SDS-XLR? It blows the K1K away in terms of dynamics, impact, and "totally OMG" factor. You haven't heard a RS-1 until you've heard it balanced through that beast. In fact, that's what rekindled my faith in the RS-1s and kept me from selling them because I plan on getting a SDS-XLR pretty soon. So, until I hear a K1K at its full potential through a setup that shows off what it can truly do, I'll have to disagree that they're even the best at their price point, much less the best "bang for the buck".
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post #26 of 112
12/28/05 at 6:53am
SDS-XLR totally changes the price scheme. You would have to pair up K1000s with a Lamm ML2.1 to even the scales
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post #27 of 112
12/28/05 at 7:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by some1x
SDS-XLR totally changes the price scheme. You would have to pair up K1000s with a Lamm ML2.1 to even the scales
Someone bring that setup to a meet one day and maybe I can compare. But seriously, the RS-1s didn't sound like the same headphones I'd had for the past 5 years or so. They sounded like a completely different headphone through the SDS-XLR. It really was amazing.
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post #28 of 112
12/28/05 at 1:21pm
I think the K 1000 has good low-end response, although the amount and quality of the bass is heavily dependent on what you power them with. I also agree that the power requirements of the K 1000 are often overstated - quality is much more important than quantity.

The best amp I've ever heard with the K 1000s is the Sophia Electric Set One - it was solid and tight on the low, clean and smooth in the mids and the highs were quick and accurate.

I've heard them sound good with other pieces of electronics too, it's just that particular piece of equipment was a nearly syngergistic combination with the K 1000.

Listen and love!
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post #29 of 112
12/28/05 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
pffft if you want to throw the balanced RS-1 arguement in fine but compare them to a K1000 w/ http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/s...rt2/k1000.html and I know who wins.

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post #30 of 112
12/28/05 at 6:02pm
My two cents...

Look at the design of the K-1000, and the research and care taken to accomodate human ear anatomy and related aural cues. There is no hint at compromise for marketing, comfort or the "you-look-like-a-fool-wearing-those," factor, let alone the fact that you need to drive them with a real, balanced amp. There was no reliance on conventional high end audio wisdom...no chrome, precious metals, organic varnish over rare woods, no tubes, or any of the other male jewelry that usually appeals to those at a certain price point. Nope. These things are red, and metal grilled and damned ugly on your head.

In short, I don't think there is any transducer on this earth that rivals the K-1000 for being a balls-to-the-wall radical assault by engineers, who knew what they were doing, on the conventions and compromises in other, um...headphones...earspeakers...transducers...what ever you want to call them.

If they sounded like cardboard between doughnuts the K-1000 would still be notable for the fanatical devotion to doing something radically and market defyingly different. That they sound closer to music than just about anything out there makes it all the more the shame that they are going out of production.

Your ears and mileage may differ of course.
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