[lejaz]

Quote:

Has anyone come across a headphone that shares most of the qualities of the Sextetts (nice detailed mids, somewhat-bassy, slightly recessed but fun treble) but does everything better - i.e. more detail in the treble, more control over the (imo slightly bloated/bloomy) bass, more soundstage?

Have you heard the 240DF? It probably has equally good, or better clarity in the mids....probably better treble (at least compared to my old 240S)....perhaps not as much bass....very good with acoustic jazz.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler /img/forum/go_quote.gifThe Sextett feels like a semi-open version of the DJ100 that's far easier to drive.

 

Harder to drive than the 600ohm Sextett?  I find that hard to believe for a headphone with "DJ" in the name and with the price and target audience that the DJ100 must be shooting for.  The Sextett is one of the hardest to drive phones out there.  It sounds good with modest amping, but it scales more than almost any other headphone I've heard- it's like the HD650 in that way. 
 
Either way I'd like to hear the DJ100 though based on your descriptions.

 

[rhythmdevils]

but the DF wouldn't work if someone likes the tonal balance of the Sextetts right?  Isn't it way brighter and fairly harsh in the treble? 
 
I think the LCD-2 is the closest I've heard to a refined Sextett.  I've had that thought a few times listening to them.  Similar balance, similar realistic tone and weight to instruments and similarly good imaging without huge soundstage.  But the LCD-2 has much better resolution and is more refined in every way.  Except I hear some issues with reverb in the LCD-2 which are not present in the Sextett.  A lot of people don't hear this though. 

 

[lejaz]

Never heard the sextett myself, but going from memory, I don't think that the DF is much brighter than the k240S. Very similar tonal balance throughout the mids between the two phones...almost identical, but the 'S' has a big broad bump in the upper bass that the DF doesn't have, and the DF has greater clarity. Now if you want to talk bright, the k70X comes to mind. Much bigger upper mids/lower treble peak than the DF or the 'S'. The DF sounds pretty darn close to flat, at least to MY ears.
Quote:

but the DF wouldn't work if someone likes the tonal balance of the Sextetts right?  Isn't it way brighter and fairly harsh in the treble? 
 
I think the LCD-2 is the closest I've heard to a refined Sextett.  I've had that thought a few times listening to them.  Similar balance, similar realistic tone and weight to instruments and similarly good imaging without huge soundstage.  But the LCD-2 has much better resolution and is more refined in every way.  Except I hear some issues with reverb in the LCD-2 which are not present in the Sextett.  A lot of people don't hear this though. 

 

[vid]

Guys, guys... let's not drive the DF prices up even more, huh? They're already dearer than the Sextetts, basically.
 
90 euros for DFs, 60 euros for Sextetts.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Its due to supply that the DF costs more IMO. It is much less common than the Sextett.

 

[lejaz]

Quote:

Guys, guys... let's not drive the DF prices up even more, huh? They're already dearer than the Sextetts, basically.
 
90 euros for DFs, 60 euros for Sextetts.

The sextetts are much cheaper where you are then. Seems almost the reverse here in the U.S. The sextetts often go much higher than that....over $100...on the for sale forum here I've seen them for $120. I got a slightly beat up DF for $55 on U.S. ebay about a year and a half back.

 

[tdockweiler]

Sorry, I worded that wrong. That's what I get for trying to type a message while in a hurry to leave.
Yes, the DJ100 is far, far easier to drive. Still needs a good amp though. The E5 is the absolute bare minimum and it's still not a good match for me.
Somehow the E5 drives them better (and louder) than my Nuforce Mobile. Straight out of the Ipod Touch they're not even worth buying I think, but not quite horrible sounding.
It just depends on what songs are being played. Bass heavy music while unamped is a bad idea.
 
My Sextett feels even harder to drive than my old K601! If I use a powerful source I don't need to crank the volume up loud on my amp though. Only 60% with the Asgard when I use an Oppo CD player.
 
Quote:

Harder to drive than the 600ohm Sextett?  I find that hard to believe for a headphone with "DJ" in the name and with the price and target audience that the DJ100 must be shooting for.  The Sextett is one of the hardest to drive phones out there.  It sounds good with modest amping, but it scales more than almost any other headphone I've heard- it's like the HD650 in that way. 
 
Either way I'd like to hear the DJ100 though based on your descriptions.

 

[rhythmdevils]

That makes sense.  I don't think anyone will ever make another headphone harder to drive than the Sextett unless it is expensive and/or geared only toward the audiophile market that has amplification- like the HE6. 
 
I don't think my Asgard is such a great match for the Sextett, or at least my similarly priced SOHA1 seems to drive them better in terms of dynamics and soundstage.  But the SOHA is a DIY amp which changes the cost/performance ratio so it's not really fair. 

 

[moodyrn]

The best amp I've ever heard with them is a balanced bijou I used to have. It is diy however, but the sound was so good, I kept it as long as I did just to drive sextetts. Some might think that a diy amp with 700.00 worth of parts is over kill for a 100.00 pair of cans, but the sextett scaled very good with it. And that combo beat some pretty expensive combos I've had in the past. It also drove them nicely out of the single ended output as well. Single ended bijous come up from time to time in the sale forum, so with a little patience someone might be able to score one for 300-400.00. I do believe it's worth it. That amp have unlimited power for 600 ohm cans. Even with owning stax and the he-6, I still miss that combo. That was probably the best mids I've heard to date. That combo sounded better than a pair of k340s I had at the same time(it drove those wonderfully too).

 

[moodyrn]

And yeah the sextetts are some very hard to drive cans. They have a rep for being bass lite by some. But that really is a myth. They can be bass lite when they are not properly driven. With the right amp, the impact will definitely put a smile on your face.

 

[vid]

     Quote:

The sextetts are much cheaper where you are then. Seems almost the reverse here in the U.S. The sextetts often go much higher than that....over $100...on the for sale forum here I've seen them for $120. I got a slightly beat up DF for $55 on U.S. ebay about a year and a half back.

The Sextetts seem to regularly go for ~60 euros on German eBay. Are Germans not very happy about shipping to the US? Quite a few of them seem to not be very happy about PayPal, though, and much prefer a bank transfer, which I guess might be a problem as well?
 
Here's a pair that just went for 25.50 euros: http://cgi.ebay.de/AKG-K-240-Kopfhorer-Headset-For-Outputs-4-600-Ohms-/250774972598
 
They're valued much higher by Head-Fi sellers, and I'm not sure why people wouldn't just get them off the Germans for less money.
 
Then again, $55 for the DF is an awesome deal.

 

[rhythmdevils]

I think the Lyr will be a great match for them.  Unfortunately I didn't really manage to listen to it much at the recent meet here and didn't listen to it at all with the Sextetts.

 

[Armaegis]

I've seen Sextetts go anywhere from $60 to $200 shipped depending on condition and mods. Some of the cheap ones really need a lot of work and I've been less than impressed at the quality of some of the ones I've seen for sale.
 
The Sextetts are hard to drive loud, but the key thing is that they don't sound "bad" when underpowered. The hardest headphones to drive that I've owned have been the K340 (both bass heavy and light).

 

[Ikarios]

Quote:

Have you heard the 240DF? It probably has equally good, or better clarity in the mids....probably better treble (at least compared to my old 240S)....perhaps not as much bass....very good with acoustic jazz.

I have two K240 Monitors, which are fairly similar, and I can extrapolate what the DFs sound like from the two. While I think they sound a little bit better in the treble, they're far too bright for normal listening. I'd prefer a clear upgrade anyhow.