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AKG 1000 Amplification Advice

post #1 of 40
5/10/07 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Greetings,

I just purchased two amps that I am being told by trusted members will not drive my AKG 1000's (still waiting to receive them) to their best potential. The amps in question are a Grace M902 and a HeadAmp GS-X. I work on a ship and have very limited space in my stateroom to add an amplifier, especially a tube amplifier, which I would prefer. My source is the Esoteric P-03/D-03 pair, and I am thinking of using my existing EAR HP-4 as a preamp. I am looking for suggestions for small amplifiers that will mate well with the EAR. Poking around on Audiogon did not reveal much. I am thinking of perhaps a Spectral DMA-80(not listed on Audigon), but I know they are rumoured not to mate well with anything other than Spectral gear. The only other alternative I saw on the 'Gon that peaked my interest was a Pathos integrated amp that should sound great, but it is so big, I would have to just put it on the floor and try not to stub my toe walking around it.

Any advice would be of great value.

Cheers,

Bob Anderson

PS I am new to the forum, so those of you that don't know me should know that I am overseas, pretty far away from home, and my responses can be late. I am not being rude if I don't respond quickly, I am just 9 to 12 hours ahead of US time.
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post #2 of 40
5/10/07 at 11:26am
You have no room because your CDP is hugeeeeeeee. And I figured you were on a ship because when you posted the picture of your rack, you had bungee cords over the top component to hold things down. =T

Why not get a Passlabs Aleph 3/Firstwatt F1/RWA Signature 30 or something of that sort. There's an Aleph 3 DIY clone on Audiogon for $420 right now. =T
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post #3 of 40
5/10/07 at 11:33am
Check NIK in the headphone section- he reviewed the K1000's.

Have you tried the HP4 with them? It puts out 1 watt- might work for low volumes.


Mitch
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post #4 of 40
5/10/07 at 11:54am
What about something from Sugden? www.sugdenaudio.com
The ampmaster is the smallest poweramp(82mm X 230mm X 275mm (hwd)), then theres the musicmaster, same footprint but higher (website doesn't have dimensions) or one the A21 integrated models if you have a bit more space. The A21se is supposed to be really nice, I'd love to hear it with my K1000s
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post #5 of 40
5/10/07 at 12:08pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks to all for the advice. Signing off for the night from far, far away.

Bob
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post #6 of 40
5/10/07 at 12:30pm
Does anyone who tried the new RSA apache with the K1Ks at headfest care to post some impressions? This might be a relatively small option.
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post #7 of 40
5/10/07 at 12:38pm
I'd avoid headphone amps. They work decently but aren't at the level of the usual speaker amps recommended. I've heard the HP-4 with them and was unimpressed.
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post #8 of 40
5/10/07 at 12:54pm

Sugden and AKG K-1000

Quote:
Originally Posted by CanMad View Post
What about something from Sugden? www.sugdenaudio.com
The ampmaster is the smallest poweramp(82mm X 230mm X 275mm (hwd)), then theres the musicmaster, same footprint but higher (website doesn't have dimensions) or one the A21 integrated models if you have a bit more space. The A21se is supposed to be really nice, I'd love to hear it with my K1000s
I bought the A21a to use with the AKGs. My cdp is an Arcam FMJ CD-23.

The Sugden A21a is rated at 25 watts/channel and is advertised as a class A amp. I don't, however, think it's the ideal unit for the K-1000s - - to my ears the sound is thin and tilted way up toward the treble. Is it possible that it isn't muscular enough (i.e., not a high current amplifier)? Someone who knows about stuff like that should look at its specs. Also, I doubt that the cdp is causing the AKGs to sound that way.

For $1500 USD (in 2004) though, it's a beautifully built unit.
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post #9 of 40
5/10/07 at 1:16pm
I'm sorry to hear that, I always imagined that it would be a great combination.

With the Esoteric front end only something really special is going to do it justice.

I use the Musical Fidelity A5CR poweramp with my K1Ks which is 255watts and definitely has enough current But this is going to be too big (and heavy) for Bob I think.

Have you tried other amps that don't sound as thin as the sugden to you?
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post #10 of 40
5/10/07 at 1:59pm
you can use the GS-X as a pre-amp to the FirstWatt F-1 and that will produce world class results with the K1000.
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post #11 of 40
5/10/07 at 2:01pm
The GS-X won't have enough juice for the K1000s. For something small and good-sounding, I'd recommend Red Wine Audio Signature 30s, or if you want the monoblock version, the Signature 70s. Both are small-form and sound very good with the K1000s.
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post #12 of 40
5/10/07 at 4:40pm
Thread Starter 
It's late at night for me, and I can't sleep, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. Keep 'em coming! How does everyone feel about Audio Research or EAR? I use ARC Ref components at home, and they are fantastic. They make a 55wpc amp that is reasonably priced.
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post #13 of 40
5/10/07 at 4:44pm
Thread Starter 
I just looked at the First Watt, I was unaware it was a Pass product. I may really need to look at that one. Thanks again to all.
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post #14 of 40
5/10/07 at 4:53pm
Audiovalve RKV,small footprint compared to a F1(Gets really hot).
Does a great job with the K1000s.
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post #15 of 40
5/10/07 at 4:59pm
^
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