[analog'd]

I'm blown away at the sound coming from my k1k's. I thought I'd heard the pro-use pressing of abbey road as good as it could get with grado gs1000's. likewise the munch/heifetz bso beethoven vln concerto, classic records remaster and new living stereo sacd/16 bit dual disc (i'm hearing the redbook via my naim cd5).

well, even though pre break-in I thought I'd made a mistake swapping out the original cable, and felt that even more after 24 hours; after 48 hours the hardwire was a reformed beast, and the akg's were singing like never before. tonight i'll hear them w/ another 24 hrs on em, bringing them to the minimum recommended break-in period. can't be any better than last night, can it? (i hope it can , i hope it can ...

last night they began to surpass my speakers (kef 105.2's) in high end craziness and general audio bliss. I'm hearing the mids now as i thought the akg's could never deliver, sweet and fluid - but still faster than lightening.
bit of a soundstage increase; bass is stronger and just as tight.

guess that's it. wow. the gs1000's are such a different flavor, and are so good, that I know I'll be using them often. but the k1000's now produce the best sound my sytem is willing to turn over.

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog'd I'm blown away at the sound coming from my k1k's. I thought I'd heard the pro-use pressing of abbey road as good as it could get with grado gs1000's. likewise the munch/heifetz bso beethoven vln concerto, classic records remaster and new living stereo sacd/16 bit dual disc (i'm hearing the redbook via my naim cd5). well, even though pre break-in I thought I'd made a mistake swapping out the original cable, and felt that even more after 24 hours; after 48 hours the hardwire was a reformed beast, and the akg's were singing like never before. tonight i'll hear them w/ another 24 hrs on em, bringing them to the minimum recommended break-in period. can't be any better than last night, can it? (i hope it can , i hope it can ... last night they began to surpass my speakers (kef 105.2's) in high end craziness and general audio bliss. I'm hearing the mids now as i thought the akg's could never deliver, sweet and fluid - but still faster than lightening. bit of a soundstage increase; bass is stronger and just as tight. guess that's it. wow. the gs1000's are such a different flavor, and are so good, that I know I'll be using them often. but the k1000's now produce the best sound my sytem is willing to turn over.

Congrats! Your signature is starting to look like mine

 

[analog'd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 Congrats! Your signature is starting to look like mine

well, here's my best shot...

 

[Audiofiler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog'd guess that's it. wow. the gs1000's are such a different flavor, and are so good, that I know I'll be using them often. but the k1000's now produce the best sound my sytem is willing to turn over.

Nice do there..you will love those cans if you can get the amp and rig up for them.. I loved my K1K's, and their sound with most material just sounded right with those phones..no question.

Once you get the comfort down, and general soundstaging (bc the K1K has the most massive headstage of any phone I ever heard) you will be happy as crap..and happier too that you kept your GS1000's, as they compliment material and recordings that the K1K wel...just won't do or do politely, we'll call it that

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog'd well, here's my best shot...

haha nice signature!

Audiofiler is right! You do need backup to the K1K's. They don't lie when recording is shrill or badly mixed

 

[analog'd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiofiler you will love those cans if you can get the amp and rig up for them..

I think a big part of why I'm so happy with them is they are delivering the best of what my system has to offer.

amp: David Berning's (audionics of oregon) BA150. this is a tube amp that adds no further tube colouring to my Marantz model 7 preamp. it puts out 40 watts (switchable to 150). selectable feedback starting at zero. sources are a naim cd5 w/hicap; a VPI aries w/jmw 10 tonearm and benz micro ruby 3 h cart, pass labs xono phono stage, chang lightspeed pwr filters, linn ic's).

bottom line is I've been waiting for my headphones to catch up with my rig, not vice versa. allready balanced out my tubes with my xono and cart, so when the spkr can deliver it, there is just a tad of tube warmth in the mids. period. i AM done (except for phones of course!)

 

[rontokyo]

So no one asks what your impressions were during breakin and why you were dissatisfied? At at this point--after 48 hours--how would you characterize the improvements in sonics?

 

[analog'd]

Ron, the highs which I found so amazing before, were not. imaging was just not there (each instrument in a distinct place in relation to the other instruments). bass timber/tone was not sweet. it's hard to say because I was SO miserable, what I remember most is ...feeling miserable.

I am going to listen some more now (it's over 72 hours!) and will describe improvement(s) afterwards.

 

[yellafella321]

the k1000, while very fun to listen to, still just doesn't sound right to me. While the soundstage is a real treat, it can get old, and you're left with a headphone that leaves you unsatisfied. GS-1000 >> K1000 (for me at least)

 

[analog'd]

y, describe the amps/source you've heard them with.

 

[yellafella321]

we were at daba's apt, humanflyz brought over the k1000 that he got off australian ebay. we hooked it up to the sft dynamight single ended feeding off a dac 1. While the soundstage was simply incredible, i also had the feeling that the lower half of the orchestra was missing, no cellos/bass/tuba/low brass. His are #3000'ish, so its supposedly one of the bassier models, and while it had tremendously airy treble, the same effect could be had by taking the pads off the gs-1000 and tilting the pads out, so its not the headphone itself thats great, its just having that toe-out effect. The one thing that I absolutely loved was the "bong" of the tom-tom in a jazz piece. But once again, this was replicated by tilting the gs-1000 drivers outwards. I dunno, I lost the intimacy of headphones, I lost the headphone feel, and it just wasn't as engaging and moving as the grados.

They definitely sound good, theres no doubt about that. In my mind it blows the balanced hd650 away, and with a proper setup, will only sound better, but the gs-1000 still takes the cake for me.

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog'd I think a big part of why I'm so happy with them is they are delivering the best of what my system has to offer. amp: David Berning's (audionics of oregon) BA150. this is a tube amp that adds no further tube colouring to my Marantz model 7 preamp. it puts out 40 watts (switchable to 150). selectable feedback starting at zero. sources are a naim cd5 w/hicap; a VPI aries w/jmw 10 tonearm and benz micro ruby 3 h cart, pass labs xono phono stage, chang lightspeed pwr filters, linn ic's). bottom line is I've been waiting for my headphones to catch up with my rig, not vice versa. allready balanced out my tubes with my xono and cart, so when the spkr can deliver it, there is just a tad of tube warmth in the mids. period. i AM done (except for phones of course!)

That is the whole point with the K1K's if you have a good system (tubes help greatly), they will show it off. Anything less and they will make you pay for weaknesses in your system or recording.

The dealer I got my pair from said give them 500 hours of burn in. I did notice improvements, even after 200 hours - after that I lost track.

 

[audiomagnate]

Do you have a Marantz 7 or 7C? Is it a "new" one or an original?

 

[analog'd]

my marantz is a 7. it is not one of the replicas. i love it. before that i was using a melos, and a rogue audio for a while. the 7 just smoked those and everything else I tried. should say it "unsmoked" em I guess, because the veil went goodbye, the detail and soundstage grew, etc etc etc.

i'd sell my soul to robert johnson fore i'd sell my model 7...

 

[tyloh73]

"AKG K1000 (partially nude) w/Stefan Audio Arts hardwire and a pint of Dove butter pecan ice cream"

just out of curiousity,what do you mean by partially nude?did you remove the larger or smaller grille?

i am not sure about smaller grille,but removing larger grille will result in wider soundstage,clearer sound.but the differences are more noticable if you toe the driver out(as far away as possible from ears).