[Ikarios]

Hi all,
I just received a very good condition pair of K501s and I really like the sound - they have the signature AKG midrange and a similar air compared to the K701, but have more bass, pull back the treble so that it's neutral in comparison to mids and bass, and don't have the artificial "hollow" soundstage the K701 does. As a tradeoff, the K501 loses some detail and crispiness in the treble - but this is with the stock pads. Using some kind of black magic voodoo juju, I swapped the K501 pads with the K701 pads. The most noticeable difference is that the highs, once smooth and a little sibilant with the K501, are now detailed and crisp, which is exactly what I liked with the K701 - without having any treble peaks or sibilance, or an overexaggerated treble like the K701 has. Needless to say, I really like the K501 with K701 pads.
 
Of course, with everything I like, there comes a drawback. The K701 pads on the K501 are even more uncomfortable than they've ever been with the K701. They're harder/firmer and dig into my skull a little bit, and my head is much larger than a typical human head, so the headband/elastics are stretched to the maxxx and still barely accomodate my head. It's difficult to listen for more than an hour or two with the K701 pads, whereas with the K501 pads I was going on four hours with no problems.
 
So, what I wonder - do the K601 pads sound the same or similar to the K701 pads? They have the same kind of velour, or at least they look like they do, so I figure coloration by pad material won't be much different. I've read that the K601 pads are softer and don't have the extra padding in the back like K701 pads do, so that will help. I've read one impression where someone says he can barely hear the difference between K601 pads and K701 pads, but he said he wasn't much for details, and I've become quite attuned to minute differences over the past few months. Anyone have any experience? Thanks!

 

[paulb09]

My experience with the K701 pads on the K601 is that they reduce the treble sparkle a bit, and increase mid bass a bit compared to the K601 pads. So perhaps the K601 pads will bring out a little more treble on the K501 as well. From a very old thread I seem to remember most people preferred K601 pads compared to K701 pads on the K501, but I don't remember their reasoning. If you do a search for "K601 K501 pads" or similar you might find that old thread.
 
At first I didn't really notice much, but that's perhaps because I had new foam rings of a lower density too, and they seem to make a slight difference as well. Not sure if the K501 has the foam rings under the pads, but if it doesn't then you needn't worry. If it does, you can take them out and see how it sounds.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

The main difference I think is the shape, for which the K501 frame was not designed to be flexible enough. If you look at it from an angle, the front is a little thinner than the rear. The other AKG pads I think are symmetrical. This is onw way that AKG achieves that K701 soundstage - Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic did that in the HD800 and T1 by angling the drivers in the frame itself.

 

[ballard3]

Quote:

My experience with the K701 pads on the K601 is that they reduce the treble sparkle a bit, and increase mid bass a bit compared to the K601 pads. So perhaps the K601 pads will bring out a little more treble on the K501 as well. From a very old thread I seem to remember most people preferred K601 pads compared to K701 pads on the K501, but I don't remember their reasoning. If you do a search for "K601 K501 pads" or similar you might find that old thread.
 
At first I didn't really notice much, but that's perhaps because I had new foam rings of a lower density too, and they seem to make a slight difference as well. Not sure if the K501 has the foam rings under the pads, but if it doesn't then you needn't worry. If it does, you can take them out and see how it sounds.

 
Would you confirm that the K701 pads  fits perfectly to the K601 ?

 

[Ikarios]

Quote:

 
Would you confirm that the K701 pads  fits perfectly to the K601 ?

Wow, this is an old thread. Yes, K501/K601/K701 pads are all interchangeable amongst their respective headphones. If I still owned a K701 I would have K601 pads on them because I think they sounded the best and were the most comfortable.