[Jon L]

Thought I would float over here from Audio Asylum since acquiring AKG K-1000. Sometimes speakers just can't do what good headphones can.

Two things I need some info on.

I'm running the stock cable with my VAC Renaissance 30watt push-pull 300B amp. I kind of like the brightish/detailed sound. If I get the Stefan Audio cable, am I gonna lose some detail in the name of smoothness? FYI, some DIY cables using Vampire continuous cast/urethane are in the works.

Would something like the "AKG1000 amp" dedicated to K1000 sound better even though it's solid-state, discontinued, and cost $1200 new. My VAC, I think, sells for like $7500 these days! Mainly, I'm wondering if the low bass will be better with solid-state.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dougli]

Bump. Can any K1000 owners help this guy?

 

[wallijonn]

Welcome, Jon, ye with the big fat wallet.

Your amp will probably sound fine.

just about any cable is bound to be better sounding than the stock extension cable. the stock cable uses sub-quality speaker wire (if you take it apart you'll find dark tinges over all the wires). A DIY extension cable using 16 or 18 guage speaker wire (that is "clear" throughout (ie, real copper wire)) should sound a lot better.

if you use silver wire to make the extension, it may be overly bright, most likely exacerbating an already harsh high end. I'm sure someone has already made a cable using magnetic wire, also.

so no, chances are very great that no detail will be lost with an extension cable replacement. just the opposite is likely to occur. I myself just used four 4" strips of 16 guage wire to connect the speaker output leads to a Neutrik 4 pin XLR connector. whether you choose connectors that can handle 1000 watts or go with post pins which can handle 10 amps is up to you. I would just buy some really nice speaker wire and rewire the extension cable connector.

I've heard the SAC. it's a nice amp. but i do not think it is superlative. it is class A, after all, so you should warm it up for an hour before critically listening to it. i tend to think that the distortion threshold is too low, that is to say that it goes into distortion past a certain volume level very quickly. the main difference is that it is rated at 1 watt at 120 ohms, and therefore sounds best as it is optimised for the heaphone.

what the K1000 will sound like on your equipment is pure conjecture. you may find that you hear a lot of hum, or you pick up all sorts of 2nd and 3rd order harmonics which you may wish were not there, along with the usual overall colouration of the amp. if it sounds pleasing to you, fine. if not you may want to audition other amps at alocal meet, like the Conrad Johnson, KV11, Melos, nOrh SE9, Fisher 400, Marantz 1060 or any other amps which some of the users use. Since I have a very lean wallet, and very low pockets, i settled on a Parasound HCA1000 amp. it sounds fine, for me. what i like best about it is that the sound becomes mushy as the distortion point is neared. it does not go into distortion very quickly.

go over to the Amp section and look at all of the K1000 threads. the Stephan cable, among others, is discussed.

 

[Sugano-san]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon L Would something like the "AKG1000 amp" dedicated to K1000 sound better.

You may also want to have a look here:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...threadid=34715

I hope this is helpful.

 

[wallijonn]

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...&threadid=1571

 

[Jon L]

Just got some 20 AWG Vampire continuous cast solid core copper coated with urethane. I initially used one wire per each of the 4 runs, which sounded very good. Purity and clarity was leaps ahead of the stock cable. Many complain that the stock cable makes things sound too bright and thin, but my main complaint is that the midrange sounds veiled and clouded. The Vampire setup does not attenuate the treble at all, but brings up the midrange clarity to match the treble.

I understand that the Stefan Audio cables "tames" the treble while adding richness. If this is true, it must be adding some serious colorations over "absolute neutral." My experiments with solid core silver/teflon was too bright with K1000.

To add a little more weight to the clarity, I redid the wire by doubling up on each 4 runs. So far this sounds incredible. Perhaps I don't need to buy the Stefan Audio cable after all.

Keep in mind I'm running some smooth digital (Opus 21) via Quattro Fil IC to 300B push-pull amp. I'm sure a lot of setups will be too revealing with the Vampire wire...

Maybe I'll try it with my Marsh A200S solid state amp later. This is really fun, and I haven't listened to my real speakers for days now.

 

[Sean H]

Oh no, an Asylum Inmate, and a cable tweaking one no less!

 

[Jon L]

You can run from the Asylum, but you can't hide.

I admit I am into tweaking and DIY, but DIY is the most cost-effective way to improve your sound IMO. This is true for regular audio, but includes headphone setups also.

Really, if you haven't experimented with various DIY cables for your headphones, you really should try it, be it HD600, K1000, or even for your headphone amps. Power cords, power conditioning all should be looked into to squeeze that last drop of performance out of our headphone setups.

Who knows, with something like tweaked K1000, I may sell off my "regular" system.... Seriously.

 

[wallijonn]

Jon,

you're a man after my own heart. nice meeting another DIY'er. now how about some pics? aren't solid wires a bitch? now you know why i used 16 guage wire, even though it is stranded. it fits the holes nicely on the Neutrik connector, although it may have also accepted 14 guage quite easily.

and of course one would expect the SAC amp to sound fantastic, which it does. (just in case you thought that i didn't think of it highly. i just can't afford it, so...)

 

[Sean H]

You serious, Jon? You must not recognize my name, it's Sean H from the Asylum. We've exchanged emails before and such. It's been a while since I've posted there, this place has me locked up right now.

Oh, I know DIY well, I've got a lot of DIY cabling myself. Welcome to HeadFi! Kind of a tight knit crowd over here actually, hard to "get in," but I'm slowly being accepted.

 

[Jon L]

Hehe. Good to see a fellow stricken inmate.

I was about to pull a strigger on the HD600 like yourself, but saw a used K1000 for sale. Since HD600 seems very available while I've never seen a used K1000 for sale, I had to grab it.

I think so far it was the single best audio move I've made in quite awhile. I got it for $ less than the replacement tweeters costs for my "real speakers" for God's sake.

If I want to bring up my big speaker rig to compete with K1000, I've got some serious more tweaking to do. In that spirit, I should be getting the Furutech RD-2 in the mail today...

Hey, have you ever tried the Vampire continuous cast 20.5 AWG urethane wire for DIY, maybe even for HD600? I got it dirt cheap from diycable.com, and it so far sounds very good...

 

[carlo]

Hello Jon, welcome to Head-Fi!

(I remember you from AA, you might not remember me, just read your posts don't think we ever corresponded. Doesn't matter, glad you're experiencing a very good headphone.)

'Fi member tanfenton made Senn Cables using Chris' helix design for interconnects. I believe he used something very flexible for the inner spacing/dielectric, very interesting project and it may be worth asking him for his experiences. Senns aren't his cup of tea however so I suspect he didn't get the sound he was looking for, he's currently fiddling with K1000 and tube amps to get them where he wants them. I don't know if he's adapted the VenHaus design for K1000 yet.

Also Orpheus (member) uses a star quad on his K-1000. I find this interesting and the K-1000 very much sang at a meet he hosted coupled with another member's CJ integrated. In case you're looking for more stuff to search and read up about.

For your cables using CC Vampire are you using wires hanging freely or helix/spiral design around a spacer? Any problems with flexibility if its the latter?

 

[Sean H]

Hey, it's an Asylum reunion!

Yep, I am a stricken inmate but they transferred me here not too long ago.

I have not heard the K1000's myself actually but hope to one day. If you haven't heard the HD600 they have their own flavor like anything else and either will or won't work for you. The only cable rolling I've done with the HD600's is the Cardas and Equinox cables, haven't done DIY(the connectors pose quite challenge really). I'm giving the Grado RS-1's a try soon, should be interesting. Hang around here for a while and you'll see how many great cans there are out there, the K1000 and HD600 are only a couple of several.

Carlo- Thanks for the reply! Will let you know how they go.

 

[Jon L]

I think I remember reading something about this. Does he use the Belden (89292, 89248, 82248) for his star-quad?

Yuu know, I did make John Risch DIY 89292/82248 interconnect long ago and still have some Belden wire lying around.

In fact I received some WBT topline RCA's the other day and was planning a diy IC using the Vampire wire soon. But perhaps I need to make a star-quad cable for K1000. Then again, the setup I have now sounds so good, why change things...

LOL, I did just post a review of new BMI Shark v.i power cord on AA. It brings a smile to my face just imagining taking it apart and using the internal PLATINUM wire for K1000 or interconnects....

No wonder they call it the asylum.

I will take a picture of the vampire setup soon, but each run is less than a foot long. Each of the 4 runs is 2 strands twisted, but each of the 4 runs hang completely separate from each other...