[Meyvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 Oh, sweet! Does that mean the Aleph 30 is in fact fully balanced?? Similar to the F1?

Couldn't say; I've never opened one up. Unfortunately these days, balanced inputs or outputs do not necessarily mean units are actually balanced. Sometimes they just have XLR inputs. If I had to guess, though, I'd say the Aleph 30 is most likely a balanced amp. I'm sure someone around here can tell you for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by axky99 I assume Aleph 3 or 30 and First Watt F1 need to be driven by a pre-amp. How come I can't see anyone list their pre-amp on their signature or profile.

Many of us have our preamps built into our sources; my Zhaolu has one onboard. The Lavry DA10 and the Benchmark DAC1, already mentioned, have them as well. As to your earlier question about solutions other than both a pre and power amp, simply get an integrated amp. Heck, people have gotten great results from old Marantz integrateds on eBay, which actually don't run that expensive.

 

[humanflyz]

If you look in the Aleph 30 manual, it states that it is NOT a true-balanced amplifier. The output is single-ended, the XLR inputs are in there for further noise reduction.

 

[axky99]

I just got my K1000.... when i start my audition, I found there are some noise or hiss came out(my volume is around 3 to 4 o'clock); when i turn it to 12o'clock, it's normal but very low..... it's because the phone havent burnin? How many burnin hrs does k1000 require. Thankyou!

 

[humanflyz]

If you are running the K1000s out of the Raptor, then that's what you'll get. No burn-in will change that.

 

[Trawlerman]

Wow.... long time no post. Been a while since I last visited here.


Anyway the K1000s are an awesome headphone / earspeaker combination. It would be folly to try and drive these from a headphone amplifier because they just don't have enough output to drive them efficiently.

The K1000's need at least one watt of pure amperage to drive them to decent levels. One watt doesn't sound like much but considering that most speakers can do 88/89db for 1w input it's a fair output.

You will need an amp that can put out much more than this though as most runs of speaker cabling are terribly inefficient and lossy. By the time it reaches the speakers the power has dissipated at lot.

So how does this relate to the K1000s? Well the K1000s should be treated as speakers and not cans. Get that right in your head from the off and you are on the right track to getting the most from them.


For my part I run the AKG K1000s with a pair of EL34 tubed push-pull monoblock amplifiers. One for each channel. They can easily peak at 100w and still be within their PEP output.
As the K1000s are ruthlessly revealing of their sources I have a high-end CD player in the form of a KRELL MD10 Transport and STUDIO DAC. Surely it's an old CDP but it's still capable of kicking the butt of 95% of CDPs out there.

The old adage of Crap In = Crap out really relates well with the K1000's. You want the best? Get your hand in your pocket and buy the kit that is needed. Headphones are not a band-aid fix for poor source components and mis-matched amplifiers.

 

[axky99]

I haven't seen anyone talk about K1000 pair with an integrated tube speaker amp.... Don't they work well with K1000 or the other reason? I may want to try to look for integrated tube amp... I have thought about Sophia Electric's Baby AMP.. but i wonder if there are any other choice.

 

[humanflyz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by axky99 I haven't seen anyone talk about K1000 pair with an integrated tube speaker amp.... Don't they work well with K1000 or the other reason? I may want to try to look for integrated tube amp... I have thought about Sophia Electric's Baby AMP.. but i wonder if there are any other choice.

The number of amps you can use with the K1000s are almost limitless, that's why you don't see every possible combination under the sun being discussed. If you want an integrated amp that has really good combination with the K1000s, try the Red Wine Audio Signature 30. A couple of experienced K1000 users have reported really good synergy with it.

But if you ask us every single combination there is under the sun, we won't be able to help you out that much simply because there are too many combinations to try.

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by axky99 I haven't seen anyone talk about K1000 pair with an integrated tube speaker amp.... Don't they work well with K1000 or the other reason? I may want to try to look for integrated tube amp... I have thought about Sophia Electric's Baby AMP.. but i wonder if there are any other choice.

I'm using an ASL AQ1001DT (in triode mode - 30wpc) (NOS RCA black plate input tubes), and I like the sound. humanflyz's Aleph give it a thicker sound (which I prefer), but the lusher tube sound my amp has is not something I want to give up. My amp has bass but can sound a bit thin compared to the Aleph. I get a thicker sound in Pentatode mode, but it gets a little muddier. My ASL is an integrated. Why do I have it? Because it works wonders works great with my speakers.

The ultimate would be the lush, beautiful sound of my tube amp with the thicker, bassier sound of the Aleph 3. I'm sure it's out there but I just haven't taken my K-1000's around to different dealers.

 

[axky99]

Red wine Signature 30 is on my list. the one thing i dont like that amp is powered by battery; it just make me feel weird about it..... also, i though it's a power amp.

 

[humanflyz]

The Signature 30 is an integrated amp; the Signature 70 are the monoblocks.

 

[axky99]

I thought tube speaker integrated amp should be the best mate with K1000, isn't it? how come I dont see any discuss about that?

 

[axky99]

I found there is used Music Hall Mambo for 799 at a local hi-end store.... any idea how it sound like or what is Music Hall's house sound? Thank you!!

http://www.musichallaudio.com/mmf_pr...&prolook=mambo

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by axky99 I thought tube speaker integrated amp should be the best mate with K1000, isn't it? how come I dont see any discuss about that?

I agree - I think that would be the ultimate. Solid state just can't give the tube sound I'm looking for no matter how well it mates with the K1Ks. I think it just needs to be found, and there are only a handful of people trying to find that, and most of those people just get the Aleph or F1, Red Wine etc.

So, we need pioneers

 

[humanflyz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 I agree - I think that would be the ultimate. Solid state just can't give the tube sound I'm looking for no matter how well it mates with the K1Ks. I think it just needs to be found, and there are only a handful of people trying to find that, and most of those people just get the Aleph or F1, Red Wine etc. So, we need pioneers

Maybe you should just use a tube pre-amp to add that tube sound Rob

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by humanflyz Maybe you should just use a tube pre-amp to add that tube sound Rob

That would be another option. I will go seperates again when I get more money and upgrade my ASL. I will probably ultimately want an amp/preamp that will work with my Von Schweikert speakers and the K1K's for practical reasons.