[tmars78]

So I just had a pair of AKG K340s land in my lap for the cannot be beat price of $0.00. I only have a few questions about them. I have searched the forum and found answers to a few, like they are SUPER HARD to drive. Takes every bit of power my STX can put out to get decent sound from them. Now on to my questions:
 
Is there anyone on the forum that does mods to these? I am willing to have them balanced and buy an amp strictly for these, if I decide to keep them and not sell them. I know they need knew elastics, as they won't stay in the smallest position and just drop down to the largest setting. At this moment I have fixed that problem with a small piece of electrical tape.
 
Also, is there a way to tell around what year the pair I have is from? I have looked a few pictures of them on the web, and noticed some have AKG on the headband, and some do not. Mine does not have the logo. 
 
If I don't go the balanced route, would it be better for me to buy a tube amp for them or buy a small speaker amp and have the wires terminated so I can use them on the speaker amp. I have seen a few people recommend this, and am wondering if that is really a viable option. 
 
I think that is all the questions I have right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If I think of anything else, I will update this thread. 
 
Thanks for reading!!!

 

[vid]

They most likely have a varying channel imbalance across the frequency range. Look for a stereo EQ to fix that with.

 

[tmars78]

Quote:

They most likely have a varying channel imbalance across the frequency range. Look for a stereo EQ to fix that with.

 
 
Wrong thread? 
 
 
And anyone? 

 

[vid]

Nope, right thread.

 

[tmars78]

Quote:

Nope, right thread.

 
 
Ok... 
 
I don't know why you think they have a channel imbalance. I never mentioned anything along those lines. I meant having them terminated with XLR connectors to make them balanced, and then getting an amp for them. This is a picture of fellow Headfier Audiosceptic's pair. 
 

 

[vid]

Tyll has measured two pairs of K 340 that I know of, http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK340DIYModifiedMorphsciA.pdf and http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK340Stock.pdf. Both have noticeable channel imbalance issues. My pair also had this - most notable around 3 kHz, as did those two that Tyll measured. Thus I'd offer as a bet that AKG either had less than optimal driver matching for some K 340, or something in them didn't age well.
 
Most vintage AKGs I've heard have had a very good channel balance, but the K 340 seem problematic in that regard.

 

[tmars78]

Quote:

Tyll has measured two pairs of K 340 that I know of, http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK340DIYModifiedMorphsciA.pdf and http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK340Stock.pdf. Both have noticeable channel imbalance issues. My pair also had this - most notable around 3 kHz, as did those two that Tyll measured. Thus I'd offer as a bet that AKG either had less than optimal driver matching for some K 340, or something in them didn't age well.
 
Most vintage AKGs I've heard have had a very good channel balance, but the K 340 seem problematic in that regard.

 
 
I don't hear channel imbalance in my pair. Now I haven't spent a great deal of time with them either, but I don't hear it. Maybe I will measure them and see. These were well taken care of. and look pretty much brand new. Like I said the only thing that is bad with them is the elastic. I'll measure them and see if I get the imbalance you are talking about, and let you know how it goes. Thanks for mentioning this.
 
Since I have your attention, any recommendations for them? I really like them, and plan on keeping them for awhile. 

 

[vid]

Mine sounded better with AKG's velour pads. No guarantee that this would be the case for the pair you have.

 

[tmars78]

Cool. I was looking into getting the velour pads for mine as well. Is there anyway to know around what year they were made? I have seen so many variations of them, and would like to find out as much info as possible on the pair I own. 

 

[borizm]

Only one of mine had the channel imbalance, the second has "only" middle range nasty peak, and the third K340 is tonally 100% balanced - by the way I'm selling it here: http://www.ebay.pl/itm/121102582019

 

[Gustav Mahler]

For K340 mods check out http://www.headphile.com   .......Larry Dale does excellent work. I just got my K340s back from him a couple of weeks ago with his mods and balanced wiring.....sounding sweet!
 
Cheers!
 
Gustav
 

 

[CrystalT]

why does it cost over $200 for a simple recable job? 
 
Can someone provide measurments that recabling honestly makes a notable difference to sound? I picked up a near-mint pair for $150 locally, and they don't sound as good as my Shure SRH840, or Pioneer SE-A1000. .-.
 
midrange just isn't as great, nor is percussion as my existing cans. Driving them is a non issue with my vintage dedicated speaker amp. Being a total nerd for vintage and antique gear, I made the plunge to buy them, but I want to justify the expense of mods. I did the same with my SR60 and I actually preferred the stock sound to modding them.

 

[JCCI]

The AKG K340 was my first headphone back in 1979.
 
It is a 2-way headphone. The tweeter is not electrostatic it is an elecret type, so it doesn't require a high polarization voltage. The disadvantage is that the elecret ages and this might cause a bad unbalance. I doubt there is any spare in this case, specifically because an unused elecret tweeter would age just the same way just by storage time.
 
Hope this helps.