[TDL-speakers]

Hello,
 
I'm just a little curious  about these AKG headphones.
 
Are the K501s more musical and less analytical  than the K601s?
 
I used to have AKG K701s and owned them for 2 years. They are good headphones, but too clinical for me. Not musical like my Grado SR80s!
 
I've recently  bought a Heed CanAmp headphone amp. Will this headphone amp have enough power/voltage for the K501/601s?
 
Kind Regards.

 

[BotByte]

Problem is, is that the K501's are discontinued.
 
I liked the K701's but they were too finicky with my receiver at some times.
 
The K501's were known for their bass and the K701 vastly improved upon that.
 
K601's sound very unbalanced and tend to go into the mids and lower highs then forget about the lows and upper highs.
 
 
The K701 were a huge improvement to the K501's IMO

 

[tdockweiler]

The K501 is one of the most musical headphones I've heard. Up there with the DJ100 and HD-598. If I had only bought this headphone first, I would have saved myself a ton of money!
 
For me, the K601 is like a snore-fest compared to the K501. Yet the K601 is more musical than the K702 IMO! Kind of weird, I know.
 
K501 also has a massive soundstage compared to the K601, yet music doesn't sound like you're hearing it from inside an airplane hangar. The K702's soundstage just feels so abnormal after hearing the K501. Even the K601's soundstage may be a bit artificial, but I haven't compared them a whole lot side by side. The K501 doesn't quite give me that front row like experience, but more of an up-front like experience compared to the K601 and K702. Certainly not like a Grado, but these sure do have some engaging mids for sure. Female vocals are just amazing on them. Might give my DJ100 some serious competition. The mids on my K702 just felt a bit recessed almost at times. Well, not the upper mids.
 
I don't know why, but I must have some magical pair of K501s. This one has noticeably more bass and even bass impact than my K601. This makes no sense. Even the level of detail is higher! It's certainly no detail monster and is fairly forgiving though just like the K601.
 
The K501 to me also has a lot more treble than the K601, but it still a step down from the K702 when it comes to treble extension. The K501's treble is smooth and non-fatiguing. I find the K702's treble a pain to deal with.
 
 
 
 

 

[TDL-speakers]

Thanks, guys.
 
When did the K501 discontinue?
 
Regards.

 

[tdockweiler]

2006 I believe. They went down to $120 and $99 from what I've read.
 
 
BTW I 100% disagree with Botbyte on almost every point. Sorry, but no big deal. Not because I'm a huge K501 fan.
 
I think if anything, the K501 were probably known for their lack of bass (on some pairs). Although they did have a bass heavy version. I don't have it.
 
K601 to me is one of the most balanced sounding headphones there is. Some pairs sound different than others and it varies between amps. On my Asgard my first (early) pair had this strange lower treble teak.

 

[BotByte]

Quote:

2006 I believe. They went down to $120 and $99 from what I've read.
 
 
BTW I 100% disagree with Botbyte on almost every point. Sorry, but no big deal. Not because I'm a huge K501 fan.
 
I think if anything, the K501 were probably known for their lack of bass (on some pairs). Although they did have a bass heavy version. I don't have it.
 
K601 to me is one of the most balanced sounding headphones there is. Some pairs sound different than others and it varies between amps. On my Asgard my first (early) pair had this strange lower treble teak.

We disagree on a whole lot of things. I love my T50RP that you found horrifying and I got bored with your DJ100's.
 
 
I found the K501's very nice for listening rather then analyzing.
The K601 for analyzing
and the K/Q701's for both.
 
But then I also like the Shure 940 for the same reason.
 
If you want a headphone to lay back and listen to, go K701 because it will show more details and be a little better. If you want to listen to music while you do something (writing for me) and still know there is music there, go K501 is you can find them. But I don't know many people to let them go. The K601 would be best for studio work and such.

 

[TDL-speakers]

OK, thanks guys
 
 
Regards.

 

[tdockweiler]

Quote:

We disagree on a whole lot of things. I love my T50RP that you found horrifying and I got bored with your DJ100's.
 
 
I found the K501's very nice for listening rather then analyzing.
The K601 for analyzing
and the K/Q701's for both.
 
But then I also like the Shure 940 for the same reason.
 
If you want a headphone to lay back and listen to, go K701 because it will show more details and be a little better. If you want to listen to music while you do something (writing for me) and still know there is music there, go K501 is you can find them. But I don't know many people to let them go. The K601 would be best for studio work and such.

Haha, not quite. Basically I can't even give ANY opinion on a modded T50RP! I think the problem is that my T50RP was un-moddable (is that a word?). I must have spent a a few days in total trying to make them sound good.
I got little glimpses of what they might sound like at least, but it was in a VERY goofy comfiguration that made no sense. I even bought blu-tack, some Akasa Foam and even tried every sort of dampening material there is. I even tried mods on the pad side.
One idea I had that mine was bad was that it made my ears ring even without being all that loud.
 
I love it when people can disagree on headphones sounding good or even HOW they even sound and not have it turn into a flame-thread.
 

 

[rawrster]

I thought the K601 was quite nice when I owned them. To this day it is the most comfortable set of headphones I've ever tried. It was fairly balanced although top and bottom extension isn't quite up to par compared to some other phones like my DT880 but since the DT880 are much more expensive it isn't a fair comparison.

 

[ocswing]

I haven't tried the K501, but I recently did a comparison between the K601 and K701 and overall I like the K701 more.
 
To start with I thought that they were pretty similar overall. I like the K701 for its separation and detail and the presentation of mids (guitars and vocals), but I do think there are a couple spots that stick out in its frequency response. The K601 to me fixed the holes in the frequency response being more balanced/cohesive and overall more musical. The K701 doesn't work with everything I throw at it and I don't feel the K601 has that problem. It'll work for a lot of stuff. However, I felt it wasn't as good with detail and instrument separation. I can't say I noticed a too much of a difference in the bass. I think the bass sticks out a little bit more because the sound is more balanced, but I don't think it has more quantity. It's simply because the presentation of the mids aren't as forward so it stands out more.
 
For me the K601 also wasn't as comfortable. The bumps on the K701 headband don't  bother me and it has bigger earcups. My ears touched the pads on the K601 both at the top and bottom of my ear. I think that if I was only going to have one headphone and was limited to a lower price range I would go with the K601, but I like the K701 more and have a secondary headphone to cover the stuff that the K701 can't.

 

[paulb09]

Strange, because whilst I don't own the K701, I do currently have K701 pads on my K601, and the only major difference in regards to shape is that they're angled. I guess they must have changed the pad construction along the way some when.
 
Quote:

 
For me the K601 also wasn't as comfortable. The bumps on the K701 headband don't  bother me and it has bigger earcups. My ears touched the pads on the K601 both at the top and bottom of my ear. I think that if I was only going to have one headphone and was limited to a lower price range I would go with the K601, but I like the K701 more and have a secondary headphone to cover the stuff that the K701 can't.

 
 

 

[mrarroyo]

I owned the K501 and K701 concurrently and I borrowed a K601 to compare. Fast forward 4 or so years and I still own the K501, only the RS-1 have been with me longer so that should tell you how much I like/enjoy the K501. The mids on the K501 need to be heard to be believed, hope you have an opportunity to listen to a pair of K501. Good luck.

 

[TDL-speakers]

I might think about getting some AKG K501s.
 
How much do they go for?
 
Regards.

 

[mrarroyo]

It seems they have gone up to about $175 for a pair in very good shape or better.

 

[tdockweiler]

I paid $200 for mine on the forums and it was in perfect shape with box. If I had know how good it sounded I would have no problems paying up to $300. I hope nobody gets any ideas! I'm glad I got a pair because I don't use Paypal and it's been a bit tricky to find them. One of the few headphones I've had where everything sounds just right.
 
It's just so weird going back to the K601 after listening to these. It's funny how I had the K702 and upgraded to the K601 and then later upgraded that to the K501

Ok, sure the others are technically better, but I could care less. I wonder if there are any that prefer the k601 to the K501?
 
Stupid question, but is there a Grado that's similar to the K501 signature? Last night my DJ100 (with M50 pads) kept reminding me of a K501 with much more bass and a smaller soundstage. It was kind of strange. Of course this was only on songs i've heard a million times.
 
Lately I've been tempted to try another Grado. SR-125 has been temping since it supposedly has less treble than the 225 and 325i. 325i had way too much treble for me.
 
Is there anything else out there that sounds similar to the K501?
 
Still trying to figure out why this K501 seems to have more bass than the K601/K702. Maybe my amp loves them. I have the V.1, but it doesn't feel bass light as people described.