HappymaN
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2002
- Posts
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Adam was kind enough to send me this cable to use with my K1000's (completely free of charge), because I was curious about the different K1000 extension cables floating around Head-Fi, and whether or not they actually made any difference to the sound. He told me that if I like the way it sounded, I could keep the cable, and even after offering more than once to pay for the cable, Adam refused. Don't you love the camaraderie here at Head-Fi?
The cable previously had some fancy WBT banana plugs on the end, but Adam kept those ($$$$) under my instruction, and I terminated the cable myself with cheaper, but high quality banana plugs that I bought on eBay.
Now, I must say, the cable itself is made beautifully. There is enough techflex here to cover my house.
And the blue of the Canare GS-6 cable really matches the black tencflex quite well.
Now, for sonic impressions:
Associated equipment:
NAD C542, Modded ART DI/O (on loan from fellow Aussie Head-Fi'er ronslam), stock ART DI/O, nOrh SE9 (stock EH and Sovtek tubes), stock AKG K1000 extension cable
I must admit, the differences in sound between the stock cable, and this cable are very minor. I struggled to initially hear any difference at all, but I think this was perhaps because I was expecting too much.
After a few days, I noticed a "thumping" sensation in my chest, with tracks such as Dave Matthew's Band's "Two Step", when the heavy bass notes hit in the intro. I then investigated further, and have now decided that the bass is extending deeper (which I think explains why the bass have become more visceral), and perhaps, the slight bass roll-off that the K1000's are notorious for has been smoothed out a little. I am hearing more bass, and bass notes that are more visceral in nature (does this mean they are deeper?). This helps to balance out the slightly bass-shy, bright nature of the K1000's, and seems to offer an overall more balanced tonal presentation. The cable allows the K1000's to give that impact that live instruments, such as drums really need to sound as they should.
As far as the rest of the frequency range goes, I found it near impossible to distinguish any other differences in sound between the two different cables. The ultra-fast, highly detailed nature of the K1000's remained. Spatial presentation was indistiguishable also, but I must admit, the K1000's seem like an overall, more "balanced" headphone with the use of Adam's custom-made extension cable.
The K1000 is truly a great headphone, perfect for late-night listening sessions in bed, when the rest of the house is dead-silent. Thanks for reading everybody, hope it was interest.
Khoa
I will post a picture of the cable in the next post.
The cable previously had some fancy WBT banana plugs on the end, but Adam kept those ($$$$) under my instruction, and I terminated the cable myself with cheaper, but high quality banana plugs that I bought on eBay.
Now, I must say, the cable itself is made beautifully. There is enough techflex here to cover my house.
Now, for sonic impressions:
Associated equipment:
NAD C542, Modded ART DI/O (on loan from fellow Aussie Head-Fi'er ronslam), stock ART DI/O, nOrh SE9 (stock EH and Sovtek tubes), stock AKG K1000 extension cable
I must admit, the differences in sound between the stock cable, and this cable are very minor. I struggled to initially hear any difference at all, but I think this was perhaps because I was expecting too much.
After a few days, I noticed a "thumping" sensation in my chest, with tracks such as Dave Matthew's Band's "Two Step", when the heavy bass notes hit in the intro. I then investigated further, and have now decided that the bass is extending deeper (which I think explains why the bass have become more visceral), and perhaps, the slight bass roll-off that the K1000's are notorious for has been smoothed out a little. I am hearing more bass, and bass notes that are more visceral in nature (does this mean they are deeper?). This helps to balance out the slightly bass-shy, bright nature of the K1000's, and seems to offer an overall more balanced tonal presentation. The cable allows the K1000's to give that impact that live instruments, such as drums really need to sound as they should.
As far as the rest of the frequency range goes, I found it near impossible to distinguish any other differences in sound between the two different cables. The ultra-fast, highly detailed nature of the K1000's remained. Spatial presentation was indistiguishable also, but I must admit, the K1000's seem like an overall, more "balanced" headphone with the use of Adam's custom-made extension cable.
The K1000 is truly a great headphone, perfect for late-night listening sessions in bed, when the rest of the house is dead-silent. Thanks for reading everybody, hope it was interest.
Khoa
I will post a picture of the cable in the next post.