[thee mutz]

I tend to agree and disagree with the above. I can sort of understand the talk of it being DACs but then is the output of a smartphone (I don't have a smartphone) linear from low volume to max? Does having to push the volume of the smartphone higher to get the "desired" volume mean it is more distorted or struggles to maintain consistency?

I didn't understand the talk of Scalability a few years ago but I do now. There is a vast difference between listening to my HD580s/Sextetts direct in my laptop than through a sufficient headphone socket of an amp of course via a an external DAC.

just curious: I understand that the Sennheiser HD 580 are also classic headphones, how do they sound compared to the sextetts?

 

[GreenNeedle]

just curious: I understand that the Sennheiser HD 580 are also classic headphones, how do they sound compared to the sextetts?

They are 2 different beasts. The Sextetts are much more direct, neutral. The 580s are much smoother, warmer. Most metal/fast rock pre '94? is better on the Sextetts. Metal/Rock post that period mostly sounds better on the Sennheisers with the odd exception. Most modern stuff from most genres sounds better on the Sennheisers. I tend to put this down to music becoming much more technically layered. I mean effects, computers doing their work.

It isn't that one sounds bad and one sounds great for a particular music. It is just one sounds a bit better. There are rare examples where you instantly take one pair off because it just sounds awful and then the other pair sound great but they are rare.

If I was trying to mix (I am no sound engineer) music I would probably use the Sextetts because (to me) they are a more honest "live" kind of sound and I like albums that sound like the band just went in the studio, miked the studio up and everybody played and recorded the whole song together.

When I say "pre 94" it may be to do with when the "loudness" wars started on CDs? May just be where computers started taking the strain off mixing desks.

 

[Monsterzero]

If yall are looking for a vintage headphone that compliments the Sextetts superbly I suggest looking into the Sennheiser HD250.
It does everything that the Sextett doesnt(mainly sub bass).

IMO the HD250 and Sextetts will have you covered for pretty much every single genre of music for very little $,relatively speaking.

 

[thee mutz]

Ok, i ordered a dac/amp combi today ( fiio K5 pro) so in i few days i can hear for myself if it is a big upgrade in soundquality or not.

I intend to connect it to a samsung s 10e phone using a usb C to usb B cable which leaves me with a few questions:

do i have to set the volume control of the music app on the phone on 0% or 100% ?

is it plug and play or do i need to change some settings on the phone? ( i read things about usb debugging and other usb settings that need to be changed )

 

[Coug]

Set the volume at 100. That way there should be no changes to the e-signal to the DAC. Not sure about settings, I do not have to make changes on mine, but not the same phone.

 

[thee mutz]

IMO the HD250 and Sextetts will have you covered for pretty much every single genre of music for very little $,relatively speaking.

I saw a few HD 250‘s for sale, but not for very few € unfortunately. I will keep looking I also saw parts of your review of them on youtube, ( i do not have the patience to listen for 20-25 minutes to a review while not be able to hear the headphones myself ) you said they sound better through a tube amp though.

 

[Monsterzero]

I saw a few HD 250‘s for sale, but not for very few € unfortunately. I will keep looking I also saw parts of your review of them on youtube, ( i do not have the patience to listen for 20-25 minutes to a review while not be able to hear the headphones myself ) you said they sound better through a tube amp though.

Yeah,the HD250 is better thru an OTL,whereas I prefer the Sextetts thru solid state. I mean the HD250 still sounds very good thru SS,just sounds better IMO via the tube treatment.

Finding a good,inexpensive HD250 will require some patience.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Interesting, it looks like the Meze 99 is a direct styling ripoff of the AKG 240. I didn't know until I started looking into this thread. Are there other cans that look so similar?

 

[Coug]

I dunno, the Meze are closed back, oval, and wood cups. Some similar styling cues though. Superlux hd 681 is nearly identical in looks (except color accents).

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Clearly AKG has been around before Meze or Superlux even existed. The influence on styling cannot be denied, can it?

 

[BigMikeBass]

My apologies if this type of photobomb activity is too much... I just thought these pics might be an ok addition...

 

[thee mutz]

I have no problems with pictures of these beautiful headphones
i see six of them hanging on the wall, are they all sextetts or do you also have other old AKG’s like the K240DF or K280 parabolica which more or less look the same?

 

[BigMikeBass]

I have no problems with pictures of these beautiful headphones
i see six of them hanging on the wall, are they all sextetts or do you also have other old AKG’s like the K240DF or K280 parabolica which more or less look the same?

Thanks! I've been into K240's for a while. They were my first 'real' studio headphone, when I bought my MKii's in the 90's. I'd gathered a few more over the years, but had been dying to hear the sextetts. 20 years pass and one day I found a set on kijiji in Calgary... I don't live anywhere near Calgary, so I decided to chat with the seller and see if I could get them shipped. She was a nice lady with a mom-n-pop used good shop. She had them listed as 'old AKG headphones' for $20 . I talked to her for a little while about them, I believe she said they were her uncles. I figure I could have gotten them here, shipped, for $30 or $40, but guilt got the better of me and I told her I'd send her $100 (cad) if she would ship them... still a great deal, and she was happy about the extra coin.

I got them... I put them on... I cried.

I wish I were joking... Though I'll admit I'm softening with age, I've cried maybe a handful of times in the past decade... deaths and failed relationships... these were headphones! They sounded like my road-worn, near-50-year-old ears were 20 years old again. There were serotonin and dopamine releases that took me back to Jr. high school. They weren't like modern headphones. They weren't flat... they weren't accurate... but they were like food or candy... the most musical headphones I'd heard, and they would inspire me to piss off every friend I have, trying to shove them onto their heads every time they'd come over for the next few months.

At some point, I found my way to eBay Germany. To get a nice set over, you'll pay prices that are similar to buying a set here in Canada... But!... these things are everyone's grandfathers headphones over there... there are a lot in various conditions and you can find serious deals if you're handy and obsessed. So I've been practicing restorations, thinking that if I get it right, I can make a little back and re-introduce them to a few people. I've gotten a few other sets since then and I've been able to get some to a few to friends who I know have the ears to appreciate them.

This path led me to deals on most of the K240 line, so I set out to collect them all when/if I could find the deals. I need just 2 now to complete it... there are a set of French K242 sextetts on their way now, and at some point I'll need to find a K240R, if in fact that's even a real headphone, lol.

My little journey has taken me to a few others, including K270 Playbacks (sort of), K280 Parabolics and K290 Surrounds. Basically the same headphones in various formats, but the shape of my ears didn't take well to the vertical driver arrangement of the K270/280... but the K290s are a real treat for me... imagine if your K240's were modeled after a PA rather than nearfield monitors. I've opened mine up a little with DT770 pads, they fit around the bass ports a little better and seal up great.

I've sold the K280s and have recently decided I need to recoup a little, so I'm going to list the rest and stick to the K240s, which work a little better in the studio than the others. I may keep the 290's as well, lol... it's hard to let them go.

 

[Coug]

Great photos. Much appreciated. I’m just beginning my descent down the rabbit hole (three MPs (originally thought the first pair were LPs, butI was wrong), two Monitors (one NIB, one well used pair that smell horribly of hair tonic for spare drivers and parts as needed), two K140s (and a bag of parts), and another set of sextets of indeterminate production on the way). I’ve been asking myself why am I buying theses (other than the last 2 sets I got for less than $50 shipped and I just had to buy them), and you have given me the answer. Fix them up and pass them along to those I know will appreciate them. Charge just enough to get the next pair and parts and keep the cycle going, spreading the joy. Perfect solution.

 

[thee mutz]

Great story! How do the K 340’s sound compared to the sextetts?
I never heard about the K 240R? Do you have a link to some info about these?