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K-501 : first impressions - Page 5

post #61 of 69
10/10/09 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Cmon guys - a lot of threads get sidetracked/jacked, but I think we can get this one back on track.

pataburd certainly isnt the first to try very hard to like the K701 and come away preferring another pair of headphones, AKG or otherwise, but it doesnt have to be WWIII everytime we disagree on this topic. There are two terms that I have come to see as red flags here - 'balanced' and 'neutral'. Both will inevitably provoke those who dont consider said headphones to be either, and I'm happy to retreat to the safety of my wonderfully bright/coloured Grados when that happens. One of the fantastic things about *not* owning the K1000 or similar is that ignorance is bliss.
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post #62 of 69
10/10/09 at 11:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quinto View Post
Can we keep American political crap out of this thread please, thank you very much
I concur that discussing politics should not be discussed here, besides it is not allowed by the forum rules. However your post "... keep American political crap ..." is also out of place and not appropriate.

Back on topic, I own the K501 and K701. Both have been re-cabled by Alex of APureSound using his V3 cable. Personally I prefer the sound presentation of the K501 over the K701 and the K601 which I had an opportunity to listen to thanks to vorlon1's generosity. I have compared the K501 and K701 out of multiple sources and amps with the same result. The K501 is just the more engaging and open sounding of the two. BTW, I listen mostly to jazz if that helps put into context my preference. Cheers.
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post #63 of 69
10/10/09 at 11:56pm
I have really enjoyed my time with these headphones. I dabbled with Sennheiser (both 600 and 650) and some other cans prior to buying these. For whatever reason, I lost my thirst for acquiring or testing other headphones after I got the K501's. I'm sure many better phones exist; it's simply that I'm perfectly satisfied with these.
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post #64 of 69
10/11/09 at 8:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrarroyo View Post
I concur that discussing politics should not be discussed here, besides it is not allowed by the forum rules. However your post "... keep American political crap ..." is also out of place and not appropriate..
I already gave this more response then I should, lets leave it at that.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mrarroyo View Post
Back on topic, I own the K501 and K701. Both have been re-cabled by Alex of APureSound using his V3 cable. Personally I prefer the sound presentation of the K501 over the K701 and the K601 which I had an opportunity to listen to thanks to vorlon1's generosity. I have compared the K501 and K701 out of multiple sources and amps with the same result. The K501 is just the more engaging and open sounding of the two. BTW, I listen mostly to jazz if that helps put into context my preference. Cheers.
Great to hear. I haven't heard the 601/701 myself, but I love my K501 sound for jazz. I owe this forum for the discovery of this great HF

I'm very anxious to get my K501 back from ApureSound, I'll have to be patient, not my greatest virtue Cheers.
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post #65 of 69
10/11/09 at 9:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ns6490 View Post
I have really enjoyed my time with these headphones. I dabbled with Sennheiser (both 600 and 650) and some other cans prior to buying these. For whatever reason, I lost my thirst for acquiring or testing other headphones after I got the K501's. I'm sure many better phones exist; it's simply that I'm perfectly satisfied with these.
I have the same feeling, I´m a happy man with my K501, others can be more high/end I´m sure, the K501 does it all right for me and more.
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post #66 of 69
10/11/09 at 3:46pm
My dad owns a pair of these, and i like them, but not for a long time. After a while, they push against my jaw, really annoying! The sound is full of details, bass is smoot, but i miss something..they sound just a little to artificial.. I like more my Grado's, to be honest..
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post #67 of 69
10/11/09 at 7:26pm
Mind you Stijntjeuh, these are no rock/pop cans
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post #68 of 69
10/12/09 at 7:25am
Thread Starter 
The last thing I would suggest is that the AKGs are the perfect cans for every genre/musical taste *but*:

after writing a reasonably long post in 'Portable Sources' where I gave a host of reasons why my netbook was a poor choice as transport for my bedroom rig, I transferred a couple of albums of WAV files from my main machine onto the Acer, connected it to the Topaz via USB and reached for a pair of headphones - nothing on the couch bar my largely neglected K601s. I agree with many of the criticisms of the 601 here and elsewhere, and my expectations from this combination werent high. I might add that I have felt a bit 'meh' about some of my music of late - too many hours listening to a lot of it at work from a DAP reduces my enthusiasm and its easy to just collapse in front of the box without listening to a single tune.

I know this is psychological, but it sounds utterly fantastic. The 601s have always been strong with acoustic instruments and female vocal, but I'm listening to a lot of metal tracks tonight and its blowing my mind. The growling vocals and the guitar is all there, but its the percussion that is doing my head in - lots of crossover and drum runs that have that magical positioning that comes with the brilliant soundstage that the 601 possesses. I considered trying other phones to see if the spell lasts, but to be honest I'm not willing to risk taking these off and losing the magic.

The piercing treble is still there in a couple of places, but I guess I'm sufficiently deaf at that end of the spectrum that I can deal with these cans and the notorious Grados. Age can be a blessing.

Just plugged the 501 in to see how different the same band sounds, and its immediate :
- significantly more 'in your face' : not Grados, sure, but I've come in from row 5 or 6 to somewhere closer to the band
- not fatiguing, but that percussion is still blowing my mind : so tight yet powerful
- unfortunately, as artificial as the 601 soundstage is, I'm missing it on these tracks.

I agree with the point made earlier that there is a certain artificiality (both cans), and I still find the 501 more plasticky than the 601, but they both bring so much to my listening experience that I could care less on either point. Like the 325is, you either like these cans or you dont : the difference is that I would be a lot happier to recommend a pair of Grados with 50 or so hours on them to another Head-Fier than I would the AKGs : whether it was my ears or the headphones, something took a long time to kick in with the 601s.

Again, thanks to everyone for the excellent feedback in this thread - AKG owners are certainly a thoughtful lot, even if we dont agree on every aspect of our headphones.
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post #69 of 69
10/13/09 at 8:41am
Here is another data point in my K501 / K601 comparison. I spent some time testing both of these cans through a Gilmore headphone amp (a modified Headamp V2, my brother tells me) and comparing them to my speaker system setup (OPPO CD / DVD source, Audible Illusions Modulus 2D preamp, Counterpoint SA-220 power amp, Apogee Centaurus speakers, kimber 8tc cables). THe recording I used to test this was a Wendy Sutter recording of Phillip Glass Songs & Poems for Solo Cello, Songs 1, 2 and 3.

What I found first off is that these headphones sound remarkably like the speaker system in most respects. I was able to equalize the respective volumes to get a good test. The differences I noted were mostly in soundstage. The speaker system soundstage is large both side to side and front to back. It is set up in a very good listening room, and these speakers image quite well for full range speakers. So, both headphone systems had less soundstage than the speaker system. As other posters have noted, the K601 presents more of a back of the hall sound, while the K501's are somewhat more forward, which I prefer, having been a trumpet player and being used to sitting in the orchestra. I suppose if I wanted to be realistic that I would reverse the left and right channel.

The other main difference that I found was that the K601's high end sounds slightly more like my speakers than the K501's, but the K501's midrange sounds more like the speakers than the K601's. There is a slightly warmer signature on the K601's in the mids. I am also hearing a bit more low end extension on the K501's on this amp.

The final thing I have discovered that I totally did not expect is that the K501's actually sound surprisingly good unamped through my iPod Nano 3G. This really surprised me, and was true on a variety of music.

My next search will be for a desktop amp to use with these cans, as I need to return my brothers stuff to him. I am toying with possibly an AMB M3 or a Cavalli EHHA build.
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