[dstarr3]

As far as connectors go, Neutrik is pretty much as good as it gets. Can't go wrong with that.

As far as the printed parts, here's a MiniXLR version:
https://www.printables.com/model/155135-akg-k240-sextett-minixlr-mod

Unfortunately there's no real way to know how the connector and the printed part go together until you have the two in hand. It's possible the person designed it such that the Neutrik connector can just screw into the plastic, but it's also possible that they didn't. If you search Printables for "Sextett," you'll see that the only results are these two mods. So if neither work exactly as you'd want them to, gotta model it or modify it yourself, unfortunately.

(You can also search Thangs.com, which is an aggregator for all the big 3D printing repositories, Thingiverse, Printables, MyMiniFactory, etc, but even that only gets you two more results, neither of which are relevant, unfortunately)

 

[ItsVid]

As far as connectors go, Neutrik is pretty much as good as it gets. Can't go wrong with that.

As far as the printed parts, here's a MiniXLR version:
https://www.printables.com/model/155135-akg-k240-sextett-minixlr-mod

Unfortunately there's no real way to know how the connector and the printed part go together until you have the two in hand. It's possible the person designed it such that the Neutrik connector can just screw into the plastic, but it's also possible that they didn't. If you search Printables for "Sextett," you'll see that the only results are these two mods. So if neither work exactly as you'd want them to, gotta model it or modify it yourself, unfortunately.

(You can also search Thangs.com, which is an aggregator for all the big 3D printing repositories, Thingiverse, Printables, MyMiniFactory, etc, but even that only gets you two more results, neither of which are relevant, unfortunately)

Thanks. Yeah I think I'll just print/order the parts and give it a try.

 

[RedDress]

Hello there

After owning Akg k52 for 6+ years daily I wanted to upgrade to something better (k52 served me great by all means). After looking at what was available new to buy I somehow ended buying MP sextet of ebay, not sure how I ended on this decision xd but I have high hopes and good feeling about them.
Basically, I concluded from this thread that I would be best with a 70s receiver for them and after searching locally I found a Kenwood 4140 (it seems like a good option and love the look). To save me money/time for going to pick it up would that be a good candidate? Or do I need to search for something better/stronger?

https://www.hifi-wiki.de/index.php/Kenwood_KR-4140

Thanks for any help

 

[dstarr3]

Hello there

After owning Akg k52 for 6+ years daily I wanted to upgrade to something better (k52 served me great by all means). After looking at what was available new to buy I somehow ended buying MP sextet of ebay, not sure how I ended on this decision xd but I have high hopes and good feeling about them.
Basically, I concluded from this thread that I would be best with a 70s receiver for them and after searching locally I found a Kenwood 4140 (it seems like a good option and love the look). To save me money/time for going to pick it up would that be a good candidate? Or do I need to search for something better/stronger?

https://www.hifi-wiki.de/index.php/Kenwood_KR-4140

Thanks for any help

The problem with vintage receivers is that they're full of capacitors that have a limited functional life. Capacitors get old, they burst or leak, stop working, and often take down other components with them, etc. These capacitors can be replaced with fresh, new ones no problem, and the receiver will be good as new again, provided the capacitors were replaced before they became problematic to the rest of the system. But you'd have to verify that that was done, and preferably recently. It's generally not something you need to worry about until the capacitors hit maybe 15 or 20 years old, but the '70s were an increasingly long time ago. Any stereo from that era will need to have been serviced at least a couple times by now.

There's a few ways to go about enjoying Sextetts today:
•Vintage receivers, like you're looking at. But you'd do really well to make sure the vintage receiver you're interested in was recently serviced, and if the seller knows whether it has been or not, they also tend to know what they have and what it's worth, and it's harder to pay a reasonable price.

•OTL tube headphone amps, like the Bottlehead Crack. This is by far my favorite way to listen to my Sextett. The BHC + Sextett combo is some god-tier synergy in my book. And as good OTL tube amps go, the BHC is an incredible value. But the value is mostly so incredible because you have to put it together yourself. If you're not handy with a soldering iron, then you have to pay additional money to have someone else assemble it for you and then the value diminishes a bit. Still an extraordinary amp at the end of the day, though, and even if you have to pay someone for assembly, it's still the least expensive OTL tube headphone amp worth buying, and is still very very good.

•More modern used receivers, just about anything over 100WPC in the past ten or fifteen years will be a great brute-force way to listen to your Sextett. For instance, I have an Onkyo SR875 that's good for 160WPC, the thing weighs 80 pounds, absolutely monster transformer inside, incredible sound, it was well over $1,000 new, and you can find them on the used market today for about $150. These do have the same problem as vintage receivers where eventually the capacitors inside will reach the end of their usable life, and being that receivers in this price range are going to be about 10 years old, the "expiration date" on the capacitors is nearer rather than further off, but that's when you just huck it in the recycling and pick up another extremely depreciated AVR to replace it for similar money. These things are kind of disposable at this point. Pick one up for around $150 or less, enjoy it for 5-10 years, it dies, hit up the used market again for the new generation of $150 used AVRs, lather rinse repeat.

•The Emotiva BasX A2m, https://emotiva.com/products/basx-a2m-stereo-flex-amplifier. It's $280 for a brand new speaker amp, 50WPC, sounds great, and it can be configured such that it outputs that full power out of its headphone jack so you don't need to build/buy a speaker-tap-to-headphone cable. It's probably the cheapest new device you can buy that will do a Sextett justice. So if you want a KISS method of enjoying your Sextett for very little money (in terms of $ per watt), this is a great way to go.

 

[RedDress]

The problem with vintage receivers is that they're full of capacitors that have a limited functional life. Capacitors get old, they burst or leak, stop working, and often take down other components with them, etc. These capacitors can be replaced with fresh, new ones no problem, and the receiver will be good as new again, provided the capacitors were replaced before they became problematic to the rest of the system. But you'd have to verify that that was done, and preferably recently. It's generally not something you need to worry about until the capacitors hit maybe 15 or 20 years old, but the '70s were an increasingly long time ago. Any stereo from that era will need to have been serviced at least a couple times by now.

There's a few ways to go about enjoying Sextetts today:
•Vintage receivers, like you're looking at. But you'd do really well to make sure the vintage receiver you're interested in was recently serviced, and if the seller knows whether it has been or not, they also tend to know what they have and what it's worth, and it's harder to pay a reasonable price.

•OTL tube headphone amps, like the Bottlehead Crack. This is by far my favorite way to listen to my Sextett. The BHC + Sextett combo is some god-tier synergy in my book. And as good OTL tube amps go, the BHC is an incredible value. But the value is mostly so incredible because you have to put it together yourself. If you're not handy with a soldering iron, then you have to pay additional money to have someone else assemble it for you and then the value diminishes a bit. Still an extraordinary amp at the end of the day, though, and even if you have to pay someone for assembly, it's still the least expensive OTL tube headphone amp worth buying, and is still very very good.

•More modern used receivers, just about anything over 100WPC in the past ten or fifteen years will be a great brute-force way to listen to your Sextett. For instance, I have an Onkyo SR875 that's good for 160WPC, the thing weighs 80 pounds, absolutely monster transformer inside, incredible sound, it was well over $1,000 new, and you can find them on the used market today for about $150. These do have the same problem as vintage receivers where eventually the capacitors inside will reach the end of their usable life, and being that receivers in this price range are going to be about 10 years old, the "expiration date" on the capacitors is nearer rather than further off, but that's when you just huck it in the recycling and pick up another extremely depreciated AVR to replace it for similar money. These things are kind of disposable at this point. Pick one up for around $150 or less, enjoy it for 5-10 years, it dies, hit up the used market again for the new generation of $150 used AVRs, lather rinse repeat.

•The Emotiva BasX A2m, https://emotiva.com/products/basx-a2m-stereo-flex-amplifier. It's $280 for a brand new speaker amp, 50WPC, sounds great, and it can be configured such that it outputs that full power out of its headphone jack so you don't need to build/buy a speaker-tap-to-headphone cable. It's probably the cheapest new device you can buy that will do a Sextett justice. So if you want a KISS method of enjoying your Sextett for very little money (in terms of $ per watt), this is a great way to go.

Oh tnx for a great answer. You certainly gave me a lot to think about hmm. For a start I will check with the Kenwood seller if the capacitators were serviced, then I will figure out my best option.

 

[DivineCurrent]

What are the sound differences between the K240 Sextett and the K280 Parabolic? I used an old K240 Monitor years ago, and I would like to try more vintage AKG headphones.

 

[Davidzak64]

What are the sound differences between the K240 Sextett and the K280 Parabolic? I used an old K240 Monitor years ago, and I would like to try more vintage AKG headphones.

IMHO, The K340 with the green driver is the one to have. It's on another level above all my other headphones.

 

[richard51]

IMHO, The K340 with the green driver is the one to have. It's on another level above all my other headphones.

He is right there is not even a comparison between the K240 and the K340 even if the K240 is a good headphone...
I dont own a "green driver" though... But a "grey driver" which is anyway so good that nothing i ever listen compare...

 

[larcenasb]

I agree about the AKG K240 Sextett + Bottlehead Crack combo….so lifelike in terms of tone and excitement IME. Vintage 70s receivers are a good option though if you can find one in good working order for a good price—they typically have tons of power through the headphone output.

 

[dstarr3]

I've been doing some pad rolling on my MP Sextett. So far the best compromise of all things that I've find are Brainwavz hybrid rounds, but the highs are a little sizzly up top, and I'd love to cool that down a little bit. I saw a recommendation in here for ZMF Eikon Hybrid pads, which I actually happened to already have on hand, but I'm not a fan. The highs smoothed out a touch, but the bass gets super boomy and loose and bleeds all over the mids. I know the MP Sextett is a bassy headphone, but this wasn't fun bass, this was sloppy bass. Much better contained on the Brainwavz hybrid rounds. Still bassy, but no slop

So I'm thinking this headphone needs a round pad with at least a mostly round inside opening, angled for the benefit of the highs/soundstage, and shallow so the drivers sit close to your ears for the benefit of the bass. And all those things lead me to think that the Fostex TH-610 pads might just be perfect. That or, of all things, the Hifiman Pali pads, although that would require some modding.

I have some 610 pads, as well, but they're currently fitted to my E-Mu Teaks, which is a match made in heaven, so I'm not eager to remove them. But maybe I can cope with it for long enough just to test the theory. I tried the stock Teak pads, because they are also shallow and angled, except the inside opening is oval and just too small for my ears, which is why I don't use them on my Teaks. So that didn't happen.

Come to think of it, I do also have some Pali pads on hand, but fitting them would require some destructive modifications that I'm not sure I'm prepared to commit to.

I tried my Lawton pads for Fostex headphones, but I couldn't get them to fit. Considering I intend on selling these pads soon, I didn't feel like stretching them out to force them on.

I don't know, food for thought, I guess.

 

[GreenNeedle]

When I put the square edged foam pads on my MP and LP, the MP was really bassy and clouded out the mids. I was preferring to use the LP at that point which is the weaker bass and I thought they sounded really good. However on a whim I bought some brand new AKG pads from Thomann and wowzers. The MP with original new pads wiped the floor with anything else. I haven't used the LP for a long time now and the MP shows why so many studios used them back in the day. Exceptional sounding headphones and the original pad design is IMO crucial to the sound of the headphone.

 

[richard51]

The only headphone i owned (9) that really beat them so natural they are is the AKG K340...

But i enjoy them on my secondary headphone system ... Nothing else i own rival them... And the K340 is over anything anyway ... Optimized ( not right out of the box)

I used the fabric cloth pads with vented hole... Pads matter much as for the K340... ( i tried 5 different pads and the original one too, vented holes or punctuated pads are the best for the sextett as for the K340 ) I used a tube pre-amp (douk P2 ) with a battery headphone amp (Fosi SK01 ) and my french battery dac NOS SPS TDA 1543...

 

[dstarr3]

An update on my pad experiments: I mentioned earlier that I wanted to pursue earpads that were round, shallow, angled, and leather. To that end, I tried some inexpensive Fostex 610 clone earpads and after disliking those, some genuine Fostex 610 pads. Admittedly one point of mine was bang on: the shallowness and angled nature definitely tamed a lot of the sizzle that the Sextetts can demonstrate up top. Much smoother and airier up top. Loved them for that. But holy cow, did they also introduce an absolutely gargantuan midbass hump. Midbass Kilimanjaro, more like. Extremely overpowering. Maybe EQ could have helped, but I didn't want to bother. I just wanted to go back to the Brainwavz extra large round hybrids. Those do give the highs some sizzle I want to cure, but they are much more an acceptable compromise across the entire spectrum. The midbass hump on the TH610 pads is much worse than the high sizzle on the Brainwavz hybrids.

This makes me wonder if a hybrid version of the TH610 pads would be better or not. And weirdly, earpads that are round, shallow, angled, and hybrid leather/velour/perforated, it's an extremely specific demand, but that describes the Hifiman Palipads to a T. And I do happen to have a pair on hand, although fitting them would require irreversibly modifying them, so I'm not in a hurry to do that to the only pair I have. Maybe down the road I'll buy a pair with the intent to modify them, but I'm in between jobs at the moment, so that's not happening soon.

A couple other pads I have on hand that I'm interested in trying just for poops and giggles are the Lawton angled pads for Fostex, and the DCA Voce pads. I tried fitting the Lawton pads before and they were just barely a millimeter or two too small, such that maybe they could stretch that extra little bit to fit, but considering they're pretty valuable and I may consider selling them, I don't want to wreck them. But if I change my mind, maybe I'll give it another shot. The DCA Voce pads came with the Ether pads I bought for my HE6se V2, and all this time I've had no idea what to do with them because I didn't realize I was also getting them, so I may as well try fitting them and seeing what shakes. They're just in the DCA box doing no good to anybody otherwise.

Another idea I had is, I remember seeing somewhere, probably earlier in this thread, someone posting a photo of what original Sextett earpads looked like versus current K240 earpads. OG K240 pads vs current K240 pads, the two are surprisingly different, both visually and unfortunately sonically. And OG K240 pads of course haven't been made for decades. But I do remember thinking while looking at the photos of the OG K240 pads that they do look a lot like the pads you find on K553 headphones these days. It's hard if not impossible to source new genuine AKG ones without just buying a K553, so I don't know if it's worth experimenting, but it's a thought I had.

So yeah, in short, the Brainwavz extra large round hybrid pads still remain the best pads I've rolled on the Sextett. Which is weird, because it's Brainwavz: these pads synergyzing so well is entirely coincidental as they were not even slightly deliberately designed for the Sextett. Which is what makes me think there has to be a better pad out there, but... so far, I haven't really found it. And besides that, there aren't any pads on the market that specifically were designed for the Sextett, so that point is moot anyway.