[Tuberoller]

I had a set of K1000 for about two weeks and played with them using a bunch of different amps,about 15 in all.My friends Mike and Jeremy,Co-owners of Decibel Audio, participated in some of the listening and we all concluded the Fisher was best sounding.We tried all the amps they had at the store,which included the latest Creek,Roksan,Cambridge and Classe' solid state amps and my own Scott,Fisher, ASL Wav8's,ASL Tulip,Mac,Audio Research and a Norh SE-9 we borrowed from the dealer across the street.This dealer,from Sound Living,also took part in our listening and thought the Fisher sounded best as well.One amp that I do not recommend is the ASL Wav 8 monoblocs.They just sound far to "grainy" and are noisey as hell.I like the PS Audio HCA2 Digital amp and think it is the absolute best amp for the K1000 that I have personally heard.I didn't have the HCA2 when I had the K1000 from headroom but the guys at Decibel both bought their own K1000s an I loaned them the HCA2 and got to hear it for a few hours myself.The Fisher and the PS Audio amp are my clear choices.I will be buying my own set of K1000s soon and will offer some solid impressions.

 

[RVD]

Thank you very much for your reply Tuberoller. I appreciate your opinion greatly. Would you say the PS Audio is worth the extra $1000 or so over the Fisher? Thanks

 

[FCJ]

I'm now using the nOrh SE-9 with the K-1000s and I really like the combo. Sweet sounding, great soundstage, top end brightness of the K-1000s is not really evident with the combination. For only $399 shipped I recommend it highly (and it does have enough power to drive the K-1000s to a decent volume).

 

[mikeg]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tuberoller I had a set of K1000 for about two weeks and played with them using a bunch of different amps,about 15 in all.My friends Mike and Jeremy,Co-owners of Decibel Audio, participated in some of the listening and we all concluded the Fisher was best sounding.We tried all the amps they had at the store,which included the latest Creek,Roksan,Cambridge and Classe' solid state amps and my own Scott,Fisher, ASL Wav8's,ASL Tulip,Mac,Audio Research and a Norh SE-9 we borrowed from the dealer across the street.This dealer,from Sound Living,also took part in our listening and thought the Fisher sounded best as well.One amp that I do not recommend is the ASL Wav 8 monoblocs.They just sound far to "grainy" and are noisey as hell.I like the PS Audio HCA2 Digital amp and think it is the absolute best amp for the K1000 that I have personally heard.I didn't have the HCA2 when I had the K1000 from headroom but the guys at Decibel both bought their own K1000s an I loaned them the HCA2 and got to hear it for a few hours myself.The Fisher and the PS Audio amp are my clear choices.I will be buying my own set of K1000s soon and will offer some solid impressions.

I respectfully disagree. My ASL Wav8's do not sound "grainy", and are *absolutely* silent, when used with my K1000.

 

[Rondo]

Just to add to the many (excellent, I'm sure) choices, a 300B SET if you want tubes, a Grace 901 if you prefer SS.

 

[kelly]

Eh? You ditched a W2002 for a K1000 with the reason being COMFORT? You are an odd fellow, RVD, but as long as that wireframe brings pleasure to that skull of yours, I wish you luck.

A handful of people are digging the RKV paired with the K1000, since most agree that the K1000 is a tad harsh on top and a little light on bottom and the RKV is a little rolled off on a top and a tad overemphasized in the bass. I've not gotten to hear the combination yet but from hearing the two components seperately I can see where people are coming from with that. And that'd keep you well below your budget, even if you bought the impedancer. Then you could toss a little more money toward the StefanAudio Art cable.

If you're into the DIY thing, maybe consider building a Gilmore headphone amp/preamp and running that to one of Gilmore's scaled down power amps. That'd probably be a pristine sounding set up... but pretty labor intensive to achieve.

 

[Old Pa]

[size=small]AudioValve RKV Mk II[/size]

See Jan Meier for both. You won't be sorry.

 

[RVD]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Quote:

Eh? You ditched a W2002 for a K1000 with the reason being COMFORT? You are an odd fellow, RVD, but as long as that wireframe brings pleasure to that skull of yours, I wish you luck.

I know it sounds weird, but I don't like things resting on my ears and the W2002's do that. The K1000's don't touch your ears at all hence the greater comfort. Luckily, I will get to try out the K1000 and make sure they are right for me.

The RKV interests me greatly. Do you have to buy the impedancer
to use the K1000?

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by RVD Thanks for the replies everyone. I know it sounds weird, but I don't like things resting on my ears and the W2002's do that. The K1000's don't touch your ears at all hence the greater comfort. Luckily, I will get to try out the K1000 and make sure they are right for me. The RKV interests me greatly. Do you have to buy the impedancer to use the K1000?

I don't believe you have to but it is recommended. It improves the blackness of the backgrounds considerably for low impedance phones so I imagine it'd be nice for the K1000 as well. It's not all that expensive, especially considering how far below your budget the RKV itself is. And, as an added bonus, when you get bored with the K1000, this solution will give you one of the world's best headphone amps for other headphones as well.

 

[Old Pa]

Do not need the Impedancer for the K1000s; Meier will terminate the K1000 harness to use with the RKV if you purchase the K1000s through them.

 

[FCJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by kelly when you get bored with the K1000, this solution will give you one of the world's best headphone amps for other headphones as well.

Once you hear the K-1000, I doubt you'll ever get bored with them. Also, Equinox cable tames the bright high end and makes the sound out of the K-1000s more cohesive.

The RKV does sound extremely interesting. . . .

 

[Old Pa]

MY RKV background is dead quiet with the K1000 without the impeadancer, which I appreciate as it remains my impression that another circuit with another set of cables and another set of mechanical connections is not desirable if not necessary. I got the RKV as a "flyer" when Jan began carrying them and now it's one of my favorite and most used. I like the K1000s very much and don't understand the hostile ink they get, unless it's just to have some opinion. For your states tastes and proclivities, RVD, the combination would seem to be just the ticket. For starters, it would be my inclination to try the combo without the Equinox cable.

 

[RVD]

Thanks for all of the replies. Thanks to wallijonn, I was able to borrow his K1000's for a week. I am currently using my Melos to drive them as I have nothing else and it is doing a great job, just a little to harsh. Looking from the recommendations so far I have narrowed it down to a few amps:

On the lower end of my budget:

RKV
Not recommended, but I am curious about it: The Prehead
Norh SE9

The Fisher I knocked off, because I worry about reliability.

On the higher end of my budget:

PS Audio HCA-2
Tube City 300BC
Grace 901

I can definitely tell this is going to be hard to choose.

Something I worry about the tube amps is tuberolling. My Melos was easy to tuberoll and to be satisfied, but how affected are the above-mentioned tube amps affected by replacing tubes?

 

[Orpheus]

don't forget... Headroom recommends the ASL 1005 series... which is also another 300b tube design.

 

[RVD]

Quote:

Headroom recommends the ASL 1005 series

I am also interested in this amp, but can't seem to find anybody that sells them. Does anybody know where to purchase them?