[477621]

Nice score! Years and years ago I stumbled across a NOS MP, still in the plastic bag and everything!

Nice, that must have been a fun day.

MP is my favorite,followed by EP and lastly the LP. That thump youre hearing in the MP? You will get more of it in the EP,which is pretty much the only difference to my ears.

Between the LP and MP, the bottom end thump is very similar on my setup. The MP seem easier and perhaps a bit more forgiving in the Mids and Highs, the LP is more lively. Both sound great, I can see me using both a lot. I was expecting to get them and prefer one or the other. But... Like them both.

 

[477621]

I made an order from the UK parts company, got fresh pads for both of my Sextetts and also fresh elastics for the LP. Quite awesome to experience what they both sound like properly stock. I really love the sound signature of them both. Not currently sure if I prefer the stock pads to the DT770 M pleathers, but the stock pads give a little more depth to the soundstage. Neither of them are detail monsters like my Ovies, but they don't miss anything.

 

[477621]

Before I bought the LP, my Q701 occupied a niche spot in my collection. The LP to me sounds like a more refined version of the Q701 which I have decided to sell. The mids clarity and sparkle is pretty bonkers. Still on the hunt for an EP to see what they bring.

 

[carrden99]

I have read through this entire thread and as a result I have become a huge AKG 240 fan. I got the 340's first. That was prior to reading this thread. I then went to the 240 (mp's i believe) sextetts. Did some more reading of some other threads and grabbed the the 240 df's. I also found a pair of 240 600 ohm monitors and grabbed them as well. This was all on top of a pair of Monolith 1060c's which were actually given to me.

So....I have been listening to them all. Not a big range of music genres...been listening to stringed acoustic music....mostly Jerry Douglas playing dobro....some Alison Krauss and Union Station...some classical...a little Jazz (not strings).

My initial preferences among the AKG's

K 240 sextett smooth, very musical, and totally immersive. bass can get a little boomy at times.
K 340 and K 240 600 monitor (very close) similar to the sextetts but not quite as resolving.
K 240 df (mine are a tad bright for me....very detailed and resolving with a wider soundstage than the sextetts but they just seem a bit bright. I probably should just listen to them for a few days to see if I can adjust to the sound. these could be my favorites if I can tame the brightness a bit. I love the resolution and the wide soundstage.

I was surprised at how good the K 240 600 ohm monitors sounded. I got them for around 35 dollars....cleaned them up a little as the foam disk inserts were falling apart. So I cleaned off the plastic....added new foam disks and gave them a spin. They sounded much better after performing this task. I really do like them quite a bit. I am amazed at how good a pair of 35 dollar headphones can sound.

I will probably look into putting some new earpads on them. I did replace the earpads on the K340's and the k240 sextetts with Neomusica sheepskin earpads. They fit right on to the k240's but were all but impossible to get on the 340's. I do like the comfort of them and they did improve the sound.

So I am now an avowed AKG 240 600 ohm headphone convert. I love the simplicity...the comfort....and most importantly the sound. Just my 2 cents. I don't consider myself an audiophile, but more of a music listener who has been listening to all types of music for a very long time. Thank you for all the info that was provided in this thread. It was a very educational and enjoyable read.

I guess that I should add that I am streaming Tidal using a Meridian Explorer 2 DAC into an xDuoo TA-01 headphone amp. I don't have my main stereo set up at the moment, but will be listening to other sources when I do get back up and running.

Dennis

 

[kvik]

rf K240DF try foam inserts, if yours are without. These go between driver and earpad. To me they tame the treble sligthly.
https://www.spectrumaudio.com/akg-2260z0901-insert-for-akg-k240-headphones/

 

[larcenasb]

K 240 sextett smooth, very musical, and totally immersive. bass can get a little boomy at times.
K 340 and K 240 600 monitor (very close) similar to the sextetts but not quite as resolving.
K 240 df (mine are a tad bright for me....very detailed and resolving with a wider soundstage than the sextetts but they just seem a bit bright. I probably should just listen to them for a few days to see if I can adjust to the sound. these could be my favorites if I can tame the brightness a bit. I love the resolution and the wide soundstage.

Dennis

I totally agree about the K240 DF, it was a bit bright for me. My listening time is mainly divided between my K240 Sextett MP and K501 vers. 1 these days. On one hand, the K240 does--as you say--get boomy at times but it sounds so balanced and natural at other times. On the other hand, the K501 at times sounds thin compared to the Sextett, but seems like the vocals are completely uncolored and right-in-front-of-me at other times. Haha, so I usually use the K240 for pop, movies, and male vocalists. Then I use the K501 for audiobooks, podcasts, debates, corcert recordings, classical, singer-songwriter stuff, and female vocalists. I've noticed though that the K240 has far superior imaging. The K501 doesn't pinpoint vocalists and instruments, they are kind of lost in the vast soundscape, sounding like they're coming from everywhere. With the K240, it's obvious the singer is here, guitarist over there, and so on.

I've been using Brainwavz earpads for my K240 and absolutely love them. My ears don't touch the baffle, so it's much more comfy.

Glad you've found these great made-in-Austria vintage cans. Cheers!

 

[kvik]

@carrden99
If your TA-01 has internal gain jumpers (latest revision apparently hasn't), try low gain and see if that tames the brigtness.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/xduoo-amplifiers.682282/page-5#post-12697050

 

[carrden99]

@carrden99
If your TA-01 has internal gain jumpers (latest revision apparently hasn't), try low gain and see if that tames the brigtness.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/xduoo-amplifiers.682282/page-5#post-12697050

Okay....my TA-01 is new and does not have the jumpers. I did take the rotting earpad discs out of the 240df and replace them with some new ones that I had gotten with new sheepskin earpads that I purchased for my 340's. That helped a little, but to continue with your thought I did swap the headphone amp to a Schiit Magni III which has gain. I put it on low gain and did not like the sound, but I switched it to high gain and I do like the sound. The treble is tamed. So I have to think this one through as I purchased the Schiit Magni for a friend. I will listen to the DF's using it and see how much I like the combo. I think that I still like my xDuoo TA-01 paired with the 240 Sextetts better, but the Schiit did improve the brightness problem. I am wondering if it might have tamed it too much. Need to do some more listening.

I am still liking the Sextetts better than the DF's. The bass on the Sextetts can be boomy at times, but everything else is wonderful and the overall musicality of these headphones is immersive to me.

I think that the discs that I am using on the DF's may have tamed the treble too much. I will try new earpads and different discs on the DF's , but right now the Sextetts are the superior headphones for my listening tastes.

I removed the discs completely and am without discs inserted at all. While a bit bright the headphones sound better than with the thicker pads that I had used as replacements for the rotted pads that the headphones came with. I have also ordered some other replacement pads off of fleabay that come in 2 thickesses. I will try the thinner discs to see how they work...other than that I might just try and improvise with something of my own invention. Does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement disc that worked well for them?

 

[GreenNeedle]

I made an order from the UK parts company, got fresh pads for both of my Sextetts and also fresh elastics for the LP. Quite awesome to experience what they both sound like properly stock. I really love the sound signature of them both. Not currently sure if I prefer the stock pads to the DT770 M pleathers, but the stock pads give a little more depth to the soundstage. Neither of them are detail monsters like my Ovies, but they don't miss anything.

Which UK parts company did you get these from? I searched last year for elastics and couldn;t find one that would send to the UK and none in the UK

I still prefer the LPs. The MP does sound better than before IMO with the larger deeper aftermarket pads keeping them further away from the ear. Maybe my ear drums are different but when they are closer to the ear (basically touching the ear) with the stock pads the bass overpowers the middle and there is some top end seemingly missing. The LPs seem to balance things out better even with the stock pads.

I can see what you meant r.e. seeing the orange through the back. In the ebay pics you can see it. It is like the EP was a single orange disc, the MP Orange with a cream disc piece on the inner side and the LP all white.

 

[477621]

Which UK parts company did you get these from? I searched last year for elastics and couldn;t find one that would send to the UK and none in the UK

I still prefer the LPs. The MP does sound better than before IMO with the larger deeper aftermarket pads keeping them further away from the ear. Maybe my ear drums are different but when they are closer to the ear (basically touching the ear) with the stock pads the bass overpowers the middle and there is some top end seemingly missing. The LPs seem to balance things out better even with the stock pads.

I can see what you meant r.e. seeing the orange through the back. In the ebay pics you can see it. It is like the EP was a single orange disc, the MP Orange with a cream disc piece on the inner side and the LP all white.

I contacted AKG who gave me a number for a company which turned out to be retail facing (Soundtech) but they put me on to the consumer facing supplier (EMS/Electronic Music Services I think). I do not keep emails so cannot be certain but repeating what I did will give a similar result or just call EMS first. 01702 613172

Whoever it was, they sent me an invoice, I paid it and they arrived. I have an extra set of elastics and pads as ordered extra.

I rewired them to 4 pin XLR and the extra power they now get from my amp makes them sound so sweet. I go through phases of preferring LP over MP but currently preferring the MP and 340 over the LP.

 

[dezafinado]

Is there anybody out there???

This is a Tale of two MP Sextetts...

About a year ago I got a pair of K240 Sextett in very good 'used' condition. These produce the most musical mid-range in my small collection (K701, HD650, Fidelio X2) and a pair of K280 from the late '80s that I no longer have. Not only do the Sextett sound great with Pink Floyd and other rock tracks, the high notes from the E string of the violin never sounded so good... such finesse, clarity w/o the edginess I often get from other phones. Although the HD650 are warm-sounding and technically more proficient, they're not as musical as the Sextetts, especially with acoustic material. I keep coming back to the Sextett.

Since the Sextett are 30+ years old, I recently bought another pair in "new old stock' condition as back-up. At the first session, the NOS set were bright and brittle at the top-end, thin in the mid and bass regions. The difference between 'used' and 'NOS' were distinct. So I left them plugged to my integrated amp and tested them every 2 days. After 200 hours, the Sextett character emerged... the top-end settled down, mids and bass became fuller. However, there were still differences I could detect. So onward I left them plugged in and somewhere at 300 hours, they stopped changing. Overall loudness (SPL) of the NOS is slightly lower, bass not as full, and the top-end a bit edgy. Now at 400 hours, I can't detect any change from 300 hours. The highs on the NOS are still slightly brighter, which give the mids more definition but less body/mass... on bright tracks, the NOS can be a bit sibilant. Having less mid-to-upper bass, the NOS still have less warmth. I'm constantly reaching for the tone control knobs on my amp... bass (100Hz) about +2dB, treble (10kHz) -2dB to trim the highs and add more flesh to the overall tonal balance. I've also done comparisons using the Bottlehead Crack amp and the same results carry over.

So my question are:
1. Do any of you who have multiple pairs of MP detect noticeable differences in the sound signature?
2. And when acquiring a NOS pair, does it take a very long time to burn them in?
3. Will my NOS pair continue to improve or that's it?

Physical differences .. Used / NOS
Grills glued / Removable
More clamping / Less clamping

Thanks

 

[Monsterzero]

Are you certain the new pair is in fact an MP and not an LP? Silly question but it needs to be asked.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Are you certain the new pair is in fact an MP and not an LP? Silly question but it needs to be asked.

Check these out I'm sure you'll know something is a bit fishy but cool none the less. There are 2 pairs on ebay.

 

[Monsterzero]

Lol. Correct. Fishy and cool

 

[dezafinado]

Those aren't Sextett... they're Sextelt. The collectible edition made by Mozart himself.

Check these out I'm sure you'll know something is a bit fishy but cool none the less. There are 2 pairs on ebay.