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K501 advice from K501 owners.

post #1 of 8
6/22/08 at 1:43pm
Thread Starter 
I am in the process of trading for a pair of K501's. From what I have researched so far, these are some much loved cans. My only concern at the moment is amplification. I have a Headamp AE2 and not currentl planning on an amp upgrade. Would these cans be a waste of time for this amp combination? I also have 2 home setups (Pioneer Elite receiver for home theater and Onkyo TX575 for vinyl) but most of the time these cans would be at work with ipod and AE2. Any opinions would be appreciated.
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post #2 of 8
6/22/08 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ronnielee54 View Post
I am in the process of trading for a pair of K501's. From what I have researched so far, these are some much loved cans. My only concern at the moment is amplification. I have a Headamp AE2 and not currentl planning on an amp upgrade. Would these cans be a waste of time for this amp combination? I also have 2 home setups (Pioneer Elite receiver for home theater and Onkyo TX575 for vinyl) but most of the time these cans would be at work with ipod and AE2. Any opinions would be appreciated.
I don't think they are extremely hard to drive. I'd say it is better to use a home amp. I currently use the gilmore lite and I am very satisfied with the K501. They have a really nice relaxed sound that gives you out of head experiences
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post #3 of 8
6/22/08 at 2:15pm

Relax

I'm listening to my K501 on my Little Dot MKV amp that outputs the same 1/2 watt like your Headamp AE2 and the K501 is well powered (volume at 11) and sound fine so kick back and enjoy it while your upgraditus is in remission. I also hooked the K501 up to my Nano (the skinny one) and it plays well and loud with it too.
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post #4 of 8
6/22/08 at 2:52pm
I have yet to find a headphone jack that made my K501 sounds horrible. Well, may be my cell phone, but I haven't tried that.

Out of my Sony DAP, it's midrange lacks tangibility and is on the soft side, but not what I'd call bad. But I guess it'd probably take a quite a bit of power for it to shine.
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post #5 of 8
6/23/08 at 1:29am
the best strength of the k501 is its coherency, there's no spikes or drops in the response and basically sounds fluid top to bottom with smooth transients neither sharp or dull. has good detail and can be 'airy' with the right recordings. although bass response is tight and articulate, there's hardly any authority behind it. to get any kind of weight, it needs a beefy amp (audio valve rkv amp comes to mind). reason i got rid of my pair was it has this fake soundstage thing that really bothers me, i'd rather have no stage than get a pseudo one from headphones. plus, it sounds pretty boring, doesn't exactly carry a tune, just presents it on a gray colored plate.
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post #6 of 8
6/23/08 at 1:46am


You need vacuum tubes.

Tube mids + K-501 mids = bliss.

If you add vinyl to that be sure to keep a towel around so you can clean up after yourself.
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post #7 of 8
6/23/08 at 7:16am
You can "listen" to most any headphone through most any jack. But in order to "hear" the music you'll definitely want a good home amp with the K501.
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post #8 of 8
6/24/08 at 10:06pm
I found my best combination was a solid state QED MB45 headphone amp, which has 2 watts output. My 501s came alive in every way, especially bass. I was more than a little shocked.
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