[njents]

Hello fellow sound lovers.  I am looking for a set of headphones that makes music sound as the artist intended with no coloration or change from the headphones.  I found these akg's on other forums as a fairly good priced find for what I am looking for.  I plan on using these for listening to classic rock/blues and electric guitar from a amp.  So would the DF or M version fit me better or possibly something else?  I am willing to spend some money for decent headphones.  Thank you for help in advance. 

 

[vid]

Neither will play music quite 'as the artist intended' since they both have heavy treble coloration. In addition, the DF tend to have heavy bass coloration in that the lower notes may be missing altogether, and the M in that they have boosted bass.

 

[GREQ]

I found the original K141 to be more neutral - mostly because the mids are slightly more forward and VERY smooth with an incredibly good timbre - but I'm using them with leather earpads that I made myself, which boosts the bass a little making up for the noticeable roll-off that they normally have with velours.
Pleather pads might be the way to go if that's a plausible route, unless you prefer circumaural for comfort - in which case a late version of the K240 sextett might have a more all-round balanced sound. The other 240 variants are technically superior, but the sound on the whole seems more natural or believable with the sextett, whereas the others can sound a little dry or technical, which isn't 'bad', just different.

 

[njents]

I might give the sextett a shot.  What is the worth of the sextett ($50-$150)?

 

[GREQ]

Quote:

I might give the sextett a shot.  What is the worth of the sextett ($50-$150)?

To be completely honest it depends on where you live.
 
In the US, you can expect to pay between $100-150, even for the models that are falling apart with the seller preaching about their legendary-unicorn-rarity-epic-vintage-cult-following blah-blah-blah... 
In middle Europe, expect to pay about $65 (50 euros) or around $80 if it's near mint. Which is also because being an Austrian headphone, there are quite a few more of them floating around here.
 
If you can, try to get it for around $50-60 (because they're not worth much more than that unless they're in MINT condition), but I doubt you'll find one for less than $100.

 

[njents]

So is over 100 worth it?  Lets say I know a person that knows a person that has pair in mintish condition.  The pair I saw has holes in the headband, silver stickers, and says
FOR OUTPUTS
4-600 Ohms
K240
made in Austria
So are these Sextett's or Sextett LP's or MP's?  I don't know the difference between them.
 
Thank you very much for your help.

 

[GREQ]

Well a near Mint sextett just sold on German ebay today for $68. So that's a pretty good guide and a reasonable price. 
Anything more than $75 needs to be wrapped in cloth woven of unicorn hair + the original packaging. 
 
EP, MP or LP can only be discovered on opening up the beast  (requires quite a fair amount of careful dismantling and un-soldering of cables and looking at the colour of the driver and baffles. )
Then, and only then can an educated guess be made (based only on the collected wisdom on this website) as there are no rock solid methods of classification - just pretty good guides. 
 
Oh, and those 'silver stickers' are actually aluminium discs, that are VERY easy to bend and dent if you're not careful, so disassembly should only be done as a last resort or if you have experience or good guidance. 

 

[njents]

Are you able to change the cable on the sextett or am I stuck with 1/4".  Also are akg k240m with a look.

 

[GREQ]

You could change the 6.35mm plug but I would just buy an adapter, which would at least keep the value of the headphone for the future.
 
The K240 Monitor (old gold version) is maybe worth it if you can find it for less than $50.
It's sort of an strange let down after the brilliance of the 70's and early 80's models. It's still not a BAD headphone either, but it usually sells for a fair bit more than the others because people think newer means better.
 
It has a more punchy bass, that is fun, but unfortunately bleeds a little into the mids disturbing things like female vocals.
Also it's a 'slower' sound. Which can be great for EDM, but usually not so great for classical music or any live acoustic recordings. 

 

[njents]

Thank you very much for your help.  I think I am going to go with the Sextett LP's due to comfort, overall sound and from what I've read from researching is they make instruments your playing sound like your standing next to the piano, guitar, etc.

 

[ourfpshero]

the 240df is one of the only certified neutral headphones. many would consider them bass-lite. the 240m has a little more bass, the sextetts even more bass. I personally liked the 240m best

 

[vid]

^ They may have a certificate of sorts of complying with the IRT standard, but obviously it's not a neutral one given the DF's frequency response.