[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lack of comparative "punch" or robustness would have been a much simpler way to describe it, I think.

Ah, I've heard this before with the K340. I know I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but I don't think that your amp is driving them to their full potential.

It's Jay btw, not Jan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll rephrase it for you: I've always wondered if the reason why people seem to feel K701's are unsatisfactory is because the headphones were designed to work best when plugged into a regular hi-fi amp or CD player. Most of the headphone amps I've read about here seem to be made to work well with Sennheiser 650's primarily, presumably to do with their popularity. As a result there are fewer amps that have a good synergy with K701's and so more people feeling they are unsatisfactory.

No, I understood what you meant, I just don't think it makes sense. It is pretty rare that a manufacturer will go through the trouble to voice an amp specifically for one headphone. The drive characteristics of the K701 and HD650 are different, but not grossly so... I would imagine any amp 'designed' for either would work well for the other. It's not like were talking about K1000's and Grado's here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Currawong /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are a couple of components, including Denon's top-of-the-line alpha-processing CD player I'd like to try out, so I'm thinking of taking my ALO K701's along with me to the nearest hi-fi store to both listen to the Denon and test my theory.

That is an excellent idea. It is always best to try things out for yourself. Getting to an audio store or a meet with your own headphones and music can really help weed out the chaff.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, I've heard this before with the K340. I know I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but I don't think that your amp is driving them to their full potential.

Your point is well-taken. I almost owe it myself to run the K340 off the speaker outputs (assuming the headphone input insufficient for the task) from the Denon AVR-1905. How shall I best configure the connection?

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's Jay btw, not Jan. :

So sorrry (blush). Well, Ja[size=x-small]Y[/size], if you were to chop the tail off the y and rotate what was left 180 degrees counter clockwise about the leading leg, you'd get something that looked arguably close to an n. : )

 

[pataburd]

Jay et al,
I rounded off today's listening with the K340 and Michael Jackson's remastered "Off the Wall" disc. They sounded great! They had sock, a solid bottom end and liveliness. I can't figure out this "on-again, off-again" reaction I'm having to these headphones?!?

Maybe I'll keep them around for a while longer. : )

Patrick

 

[dreamwhisper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not quite sure what you mean by sibling rivalry, but the K340 sounds very different from the K501.

They're both part of the AKG family!!

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Jay et al, I rounded off today's listening with the K340 and Michael Jackson's remastered "Off the Wall" disc. They sounded great! They had sock, a solid bottom end and liveliness. I can't figure out this "on-again, off-again" reaction I'm having to these headphones?!? Maybe I'll keep them around for a while longer. : ) Patrick

You gotta try experimenting with various K340 pairs. No one pair I have heard are exactly the same.

 

[regal]

It sounds like the 501 and 340's have a similiar sound signature based on the review. I hated the 501's distant midrange, but love the Sextetts forward presentation. Would the 340's lean toward the 501 signature or the Sextett ?

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by regal /img/forum/go_quote.gif It sounds like the 501 and 340's have a similiar sound signature based on the review. I hated the 501's distant midrange, but love the Sextetts forward presentation. Would the 340's lean toward the 501 signature or the Sextett ?

Regal,
I'm not quite sure how you arrived at your conclusion that the K501 and the K340 have similar sound signatures based on my review (they are distinctly different in several respects). For example, the K340--mine anyway--are tipped to the warm side of balanced, with less treble energy and high frequency "profile"/delineation than the K501; the K340 have looser deep bass (yes! my K501 generate exceptionally tight, deep bass!) and appreciably less airiness and 3-dimensionality than the K501.

Neither do I particularly agree with your assessment of the K501's "distant midrange." If anything, midrange balance, fluidity and integrity are the K501's life's blood, and what make me prefer them over the K340 (and the K701). I would also posit that the K340's midrange is less forward (which is a polite way of saying more recessed) than the K501's. (The K701's midrange, by comparison, is more forward than the K501's, as well as disjointed: with an unsettling anomoly in the upper midrange/lower treble.)

Lastly, having never heard the Sextett, I am not qualified to comment there.

PAB

 

[GuyMe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif For example, the K340--mine anyway--are tipped to the warm side of balanced, with less treble energy and high frequency "profile" than the K501; the K340 have looser deep bass (yes! my K501 generate exceptionally tight, deep bass!) and appreciably less airiness and 3-dimensionality than the K501.

This would be an apt comparison of my K400(K501) and MP Sextett(K340) as well.

You really need to hear a Sextett with proper earpads and elastics Pat. They, along with my K400, have a certain "magic" that no other headphone delivers for me.

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Regal, I'm not quite sure how you arrived at your conclusion that the K501 and the K340 have similar sound signatures based on my review (they are distinctly different in several respects). For example, the K340--mine anyway--are tipped to the warm side of balanced, with less treble energy and high frequency "profile" than the K501; the K340 have looser deep bass (yes! my K501 generate exceptionally tight, deep bass!) and appreciably less airiness and 3-dimensionality than the K501. Neither do I particularly agree with your assessment of the K501's "distant midrange." If anything, midrange balance, fluidity and integrity are the K501's life's blood, and what make me prefer them over the K340 (and the K701). I would also posit that the K340's midrange is less forward--which is a polite way of saying more recessed--than the K501's. (The K701's midrange, by comparison, is more forward than the K501's, as well as disjointed: with an unsettling anomoly in the upper midrange/lower treble.) Lastly, having never heard the Sextett, I am not qualified to comment there. PAB

I, on the other hand, have never heard the K501. I'd say however that the Sextetts are similar in terms of sonic signature to the K340. I personally find the K340s however to be generally more balanced-sounding (Sextetts are syrupy-sounding with emphasis in the mid-bass and somewhere in the higher frequencies) and have IMO a more accomplished sound (details, speed, enjoyability, you name it).

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander /img/forum/go_quote.gif I, on the other hand, have never heard the K501. I'd say however that the Sextetts are similar in terms of sonic signature to the K340. I personally find the K340s however to be generally more balanced-sounding (Sextetts are syrupy-sounding with emphasis in the mid-bass and somewhere in the higher frequencies) and have IMO a more accomplished sound (details, speed, enjoyability, you name it).

The K340 definitely have a "delightful, detailed ease" and "luxuriousness" about them, but without sounding slow, particularly rolled off or unduly prominent anywhere (although, to my ears, they are warm-sounding). When the K340 are the first and only headhones I don for an extended session, they sound just right, and I seem to want or need nothing.

When donned in sequence with the K501 or K701, however, I find myself needing a few minutes to adapt to the K340 (probably because I tend to favor the slightly forward presentation of the aforementioned to begin with). But after that it becomes more and more difficult to remove them [the K340], and correspondingly more and more easy to delve into all that luscious detail. The K340 subtly lure me in in that regard.

Afterwards, though, most noticably when I put the K501 back on, it feels like I've come out of cavernous, winter hibernation into the full spectral light and burgeoning freshness, pertness and litheness of spring. : ) The K501 perspicuously arrest my attention in that regard.

Anyway, I'm just a K501 kinda guy, in case you hadn't already noticed! : )

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyMe /img/forum/go_quote.gif This would be an apt comparison of my K400(K501) and MP Sextett(K340) as well. You really need to hear a Sextett with proper earpads and elastics Pat. They, along with my K400, have a certain "magic" that no other headphone delivers for me.

GuyMe,
Yes, I'd like to audition the K240 Sextett(s) sometime. As for now, the D2000 will serve as a distraction, though, while the K501 work their "magic" for me. : )
PAB

 

[regal]

pataburd, you're the only person I have ever heard describe the 501's as forward. They are the most distant sounding headphones ever made.

 

[mypasswordis]

I think you are both right, in a certain way. One Head-Fier described it as like having large speakers blaring from a far distance away; of course it's not that extreme, but the idea is right.

Edit:
Oh, and I also had trouble switching between the K501 and the Kx40s. They really are quite different presentations of sound, and I'd like to say that both sound right after getting accustomed, but can't because that's impossible. I recently sold my K501 not because I preferred the K340 but because the Lambda is basically what the K501 wished it could be, to my ears.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyMe /img/forum/go_quote.gif This would be an apt comparison of my K400(K501) and MP Sextett(K340) as well. You really need to hear a Sextett with proper earpads and elastics Pat. They, along with my K400, have a certain "magic" that no other headphone delivers for me.

I prefer the K400 over the MP Sextett.
They have better resolution, detail, and a lot more 'toe tapping' quality.

 

[GuyMe]

I've come to the conclusion that I like the K400 and Sextett equally, but I'm generally in the mood for one or the other.