I shared the following observations with a member who considered selling his K1000:

"I suggest that you may want to hold off selling the K1000. I have a couple of fantastic amps driving an R10, and a K1000, and the sound that I'm getting out of the K1000 is out of this world. I'm almost afraid to say this, but I think that the K1000 in my optimal setup may even be better than the R10. I'm powering the K1000 with an ASL AQ-1005DT power amp (which has wonderful 300B tubes), and I'm driving this power amp through the powered output of a SinglePower SDS amp (i.e., in this case I'm using the SDS as a powered preamp). In addition, I'm using heavy electric cables, which are plugged into a PS Audio Ultimate Outlet. My source at the moment is a Marantz SA8260 SACD Player. So why am I telling you all of this? The point that I'm trying to make is that I've never heard the K1000 sound anything like this, before connecting it to these amps. And, if you sell it, you'll miss the opportunity to hear what it can really do. When driven with the right amps, the K1000 may, in fact, be the best headphone that money can buy. My secondary point is that it may not be necessary to go as far as I have gone with regard to expense for amps that I'm using to drive my K1000. It may, in fact, be possible to obtain this spectacular performance from the K1000 with high quality, but lesser amps. But, others will have to advise regarding this. All that I can say is that when I used a passive preamp (i.e., as ASL Passive T2 preamp) to control the AQ-1005DT power amp., the K1000 never sounded anything like it does now. As you can tell from my preceding rant, I am actually flabbergasted by the unblievable performance that I'm now (and for the first time in the approx. 2 years since I bought the K1000) getting from it."

That's exactly what I have, an AKG K1000 without a complementing amp.
A K1000, just lying around.

This is very interesting news mikeg - you have a PM by the way

Hey mikeg, did the ps audio ultimate outlet have minimal negative impact on the Supra's sound quality? I know you were dissatisfied with your power conditioning before and liked the amp best straight from the wall.

But it's soooo uncomfortable for me (for me!!!) PS-1 was like a comfy sofa compared to it. I owned it for 2 months and it didn't get any better though I was bending the headband extensively...

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I think he still prefers the amp straight out of the wall. His home has some seriously clean power compared to mine. The monster power conditioner made an ENORMOUS difference in my house...made absolutely no difference in his house.

I was like What LOL

The monster power conditioner did not restrict the dynamics on my ex-Rudistor RP5 reference.

Mike has the Singlepower had the same positive effects when used as a preamp with other systems?

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As beloved NYC mayor Koch so often said, "try it, you may like it."

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Got it, and will respond by PM shortly.

I'm still trying to make up my mind regarding this matter. All of my previous tests were done by listening to the string section of a Mozart clarinet concerto. There were noticeable losses in clarity, resolution, impact, liveliness, etc., etc. in the string section of the orchestra, when powering the amp through power conditioners, surge protectors, etc. There was less loss when using the PS Audio Ultimate Outlet, but there was still some loss. But, since I hesitate to leave my amps, CDP, etc., permanently connected directly to the wall outlet, I have been listening exclusively by powering the equipment through the PS Audio device. What I now seem to hear are improvements in the mid to lower range instruments, which IMO makes up for the slight loss in the strings. The sound seems more smooth, and less grainy when the equipment is powered through the Ultimate Outlet. Of course, the price paid for the greater smoothness and reduced grain may be the aforementioned loss of resolution in the strings. I think that I'll have to do lots more testing in order to figure all of this out. Testing will be easier once I get the PS Audio Juice Bar, that I've already ordered. This will enable me to more rapidly switch connection of the system between the wall outlet, and the Ultimate Outlet. Thus, this is all still a work in progress.

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I haven't tried it with other systems, and I don't really plan to.

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"When driven with the right amps, the K1000 may, in fact, be the best headphone that money can buy"

That's certainly how I feel. I'm feeding my (modded)K1000 with VAC Renaissance 30 300B push-pull amp, and honestly, it doesn't get better than this amp for K1000.

I've had to tweak every inch of cable, power cord, supporting feet to optimize the K1000 setup, and after around 2 years of owning them, I feel I'm basically done with the setup. And yes, I do believe this K1000 setup absolutely kills pretty much any other setup, speaker or not, I've heard.

Only problem is that the tweaks that optimize K1000 setup aren't the same for my regular speaker setup. What a pain, but worth it.

I was the one who ended up selling the K1000's (for a bargain price to boot). No doubt the most transparent headphone I've heard and totally my cup of tea in sound. I could even hear 20 hz tones with ease with them on my setup(MAD Ear+ preamp output + 80 W SS speaker amp), but they were never ergonomically transparent for me. In otherwords I always felt their presence on their head. Stretching them out IMO would not have remedied the situation as then it would just be precariously loose as the temple pads are the only real point of contact. Maybe if I had a different hairdo where my sides weren't so thin and provided extra cushion.

I'd also just buy a new pair again if I really miss them, but I like phones where I can lay down lazily. I don't have the attention span/time to sit upright in one place and listen to an album with them. Although if I ever got around to renovating my desk/desktop and got a completely quiet computer I'd also consider getting them again.

Its also amazing that the K-1000 is 15 years old in design(course the R-10's, and Grado HP's are similarly dated). In those same 15 years I'm sure AT came out with a new flagship phone on an annual basis (which I don't personally think is a great thing either judging from what I've heard). AKG hasn't really updated their flagships in awhile and I worry if their new management (which undoubtedly has changed in 15 years), is playing it safe and only sticking with the consumer or mainstream studio products.

Now a K1000 in a Sony F-1 Frame...there would be nothing better!

I have used the K1000s in my main system Using My Hovlland Hp100 preamp & Conrad Johnson Premier 12 monoblocks with Kt88 tubes with stunning results
Source was Sony9000es as a transport With my ML360s dac.
I have yet to try it with My Meitner gear as a source,,Also going to add A pair of BEL1001s MkIIs I picked up to the Mix to see how the K1000s like those.
The K1000s are something else ,the only downside for me is a quite listening enviornment you need for them.My system is in my livingroom.

I just got my speaker system set up and i am intrigued if the sophia EL34 amp will be a good match with a K1000 .

I have a naim cd player and flatcap power supply.

Does anyone here who has a AKG K1000 loan me their cans for a week or two to see . maybe i can cut my system down and get rid of the MPX3 and HD650.