[Duggeh]

My housemates only decided to let me know that a parcel had arrived for me after teatime today, those scoundrels. Anyway I excitedly plugged my first AKG into the Ergo amp. These really are very good, better than I was expecting them to be, very comfortable and very large soundstage, excellent bass drive and a good but not the best I've heard in a dynamic headphone midrange. Very good and I'm glad I'm getting the chance to hear them, but not the giants that some here have made them out to be.

I had expected them to be a lot heavier than they are, not sure why. Also took a while to get the headband to work properly so that the earcups weren't hanging off the sides of the bottom of my ears.

Been listening mainly to Jean-Michel Jarre with them so far and I haven't really been listening critically. They do seem to need a fair bit of juice to get going though, both in terms of where the volume dial has to be turned to and in terms of the listening volume level.

Any quick and easy tweaks that the seasoned K340 crew might recommend I try?

 

[derekbmn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any quick and easy tweaks that the seasoned K340 crew might recommend I try?

Well for quick and easy you could remove the cotton and tape the openings. Also put some new elastics on.

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif and a good but not the best I've heard in a dynamic headphone midrange.

Ahh yes, but the midrange isn't dynamic, it's electret.

 

[catscratch]

Isn't the crossover at 4kHz? That would make the treble electret and the midrange dynamic.

I just grabbed a pair. Not sure if they are the bass light or bass heavy version, but I can't wait to hear them in any case.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ahh yes, but the midrange isn't dynamic, it's electret.

Depends on what you call midrange. The crossover to the electret (probably 6dB/octave) is at 4kHz. To me that's treble.

Oddly.. By the time folks here at Head-Fi started talking about these dinophones I'd forgotten most of the details of their construction from when they were first released back in the late '70s.

When they surfaced here nearly 30 years later I assumed that AKG would've crossed them over at just the point where the electret would've been starting to struggle-- about 100 Hz, subwoofer crossover territory. This would've made them like most hybrid planar speakers, which cross over to a conventional woofer around that frequency.

Imagine my shock when they were shown to cross over at about the frequency where a 6" 2-way speaker would hand off to its tweeter.

I imagine that this allowed AKG to use tiny stepup transformers for the electrets and build those transformers into the earcups (rather than a separate box) with only a small weight penalty.

So yeah, I'd like to see someone use a 'stat for lower-midrange all the way up to the top with a dynamic element (preferably tunable for damping and level) for a kind of on-the-ear subwoofer. Seems logical to me. But that's not what AKG built, and I'm sure they had good reasons.

 

[nelda]

AKG K340 love is spreading....

 

[guzziguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had expected them to be a lot heavier than they are, not sure why. Also took a while to get the headband to work properly so that the earcups weren't hanging off the sides of the bottom of my ears.

Are the rubber bands shot? That's pretty typical unless somebody has replaced them recently. Mine were shot.

Quote:

They do seem to need a fair bit of juice to get going though, both in terms of where the volume dial has to be turned to and in terms of the listening volume level.

I agree with this compound statement. They are current hogs and sound best played at relatively loud levels. I always find myself turning up the volume it seems.

Quote:

Any quick and easy tweaks that the seasoned K340 crew might recommend I try?

Yes, just schedule a slot at Headphile. Send them in when it's your turn and you'll get them about 10 days later. It's relatively quick and really easy. You didn't say anything about cheap!

Enjoy them. I sure love mine.

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta /img/forum/go_quote.gif Depends on what you call midrange. The crossover to the electret (probably 6dB/octave) is at 4kHz. To me that's treble.

I thought it was 400Hz. I must be imagining things, excuse me.

 

[SonicDawg]

Now you owe it to yourself to mod them!

 

[facelvega]

you might also want to cut out the thick plastic screen over the earpieces and replace it with speaker cover fabric. After that, reducing/removing the cotton, taping up the holes in back at least partially, and of course the elastics, it's all about recables and rewiring.

 

[swt61]

Duggeh they get so much better after Larry does his magic! The stock phones only give you a peek at what they can be. Also you need an amp that's well suited to them like the Darkvoice 336I. Then you'll be very happy.

 

[Duggeh]

Tried taking out the cotton and taping up the back of the cup on one side, more bass but I feel I've lost some clarity and highs. Might recable them to dual entry...

A question, when i first opened these up, i thought there were 5 dynamic drivers and the one big electret. but those 5 membranes arnt drivers at all, are they just some sort of damping and the dynamic driver is that green thing right in behind the electret?

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very good and I'm glad I'm getting the chance to hear them, but not the giants that some here have made them out to be.

Well, most of us that are making them out to be 'giants' are listening to modded sets. What amp are you using Duggeh? Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif A question, when i first opened these up, i thought there were 5 dynamic drivers and the one big electret. but those 5 membranes arnt drivers at all, are they just some sort of damping and the dynamic driver is that green thing right in behind the electret?

Those are the passive diaphragms that acomplish the crossover. The bass driver is actually behind the electret.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, most of us that are making them out to be 'giants' are listening to modded sets. What amp are you using Duggeh?

Ergo Amp 1, with the AMT disconnected.

 

[spacemanspliff]

What Larry does makes them the top cans under a grand IMO. The only ones I haven't heard in this category is the GS1000. The H340 has a wild mix of Grado growl w/ Senn Lush and warmth, Sony speed and AKGs bitchin detail in mids and highs. Again, just my impressions but very, very happy with them ATM.