[krmathis]

Thanks Piotr.

For comparing the K1000 against the HD800, and share your impressions with us....

I am even more secure the HD800 is not for me, while the K1000 certainly is.

 

[Anders]

I agree that K1000 is exceptional in many aspects but it has a big drawback - the frequency curve drops severely in the lowest octave. If it had some useful low bass output, I would probably be satisfied with it as my single headphone. If you don't listen to bass heavy music, K1000 may work - or if you don't care for bass extension.

Angling the drivers close to the ears gives a little more bass but you can never get full bass output because limitation of the driver. In many aspects it is similar to listen to small monitor speakers. The only solution with K1000 would be to use a subwoofer - and some have done that - but then why not get a speaker system instead?

So I still need the HD800 and it is also an excellent headphone. Better than K1000 with some source material and very all round - almost never fails with any type of music. It is very correct and not always as engaging as K1000, but still very good. The headphones are so different that much is dependent on personal preferences and the type of music you listen to. I choose both.

 

[Kraps]

Thanks, Pyotr! Very helpful write up. Especially for someone like me, who only knows K1000 and is considering HD800.

 

[Quinto]

I have a darn dilemma..

I wanted to buy a HD800 (1000 euro), but I can buy a K1000 for 750 euro which has about 100 hours..

FWIR the HD800 doesnt match 2 well with my grace M902..The AKG matches better?
Buying an other amp isnt my preference at this moment..

Lets put it this way, which can would make the best Glenn Gould phone paired with Grace? (Best is for me most detailed, timbre, intimate and involved..)

Much appreciate your opinions, cheers.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quinto /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a darn dilemma.. I wanted to buy a HD800 (1000 euro), but I can buy a K1000 for 750 euro which has about 100 hours.. FWIR the HD800 doesnt match 2 well with my grace M902..The AKG matches better? Buying an other amp isnt my preference at this moment.. Lets put it this way, which can would make the best Glenn Gould phone paired with Grace? (Best is for me most detailed, timbre, intimate and involved..) Much appreciate your opinions, cheers.

I have both phones and like the HD800 much more. You'll need a powerful speaker amp for the K1000 and even my 8-watt ZDT is underpowered. The K1000 are not as accurate, detailed or as fast as the HD800 regardless of which 5-12 watt amp I've tried with K1000.

 

[West726]

I prefer the K1000 generally, but if you're aiming for Glenn Gould, I'd pick the 800s.

 

[mopps]

I prefer the presentation of the K 1000 by far. To me it is the most balanced (okay, except for the weak deep bass), transparent, wide, open and natural presentation close to ideal I can imagine. Generally/basically I don't like headphones with key note emphasis (IME) like the Senns. IMO the HD 800 is technically a very good (and probably the better) nonetheless as for soundstage and realness an ordinary headphone. My K 1000 (serial no. 11xxx) is driven by a fully balanced class A/LEF C.E.C. HD53N headphone/speaker amp via an XLR4 to 2x XLR3 cable, power output is 18w/4Ω, 13w/8Ω, 4.7w/32Ω.

 

[mopps]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have both phones and like the HD800 much more. You'll need a powerful speaker amp for the K1000 and even my 8-watt ZDT is underpowered. The K1000 are not as accurate, detailed or as fast as the HD800 regardless of which 5-12 watt amp I've tried with K1000.

IIRC, AKG suggested to use ideally a speaker amp with minimum 20 watts and near 0 ohms.
So I wouldn't be surprised if your K 1000 will never work optimally, IMO.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

My ZDT can do 500+ mw into 120 ohms which is about half the power I need, so yeah, I just need to keep looking for the right amp.

 

[Quinto]

I'll go for the Sennheiser I guess, because of the amp requirements of the K1000.. I have just convinced my girlfriend I will need a 6th headphone, I don't have any energy left for the new amp story

Thanks for your input guys.

 

[kunwar]

after 3 sessions (couple of hours each) now comparing the 2, the k1000 is a headphone that to me is in a class of its own.
The HD800 is a great headphone, a flagship product at that, the senn engineers have done a fantastic job of getting rid of that crappy hd650 veil, its gone!!!!!! (i removed both foam bits from the earcups to get around it but some persists)
it resolves well, sounds great and if someone had never listened to a K1000, would sit up there in pure quality of sound delivery. i would love to own one, it does a fantastic job when compared to the 650, no question about it..AND it begs to be run balanced, this is a serious option to consider/factor in.....(i am speaking in a relativistic sense having run the k1k balanced and common ground)

i have some hard decisions to make, its this or that awesome Manly Stingray. boy did the K1000 sound lusciously accurate, gorgeous, stupendous soundstage.... i will gladly buy another k1000 if i ever got the opportunity. these things are awesome, the only thing that would improve it would be a 2 driver concept where the other driver handles bass and bass alone. i think that is what akg should be aiming for, there ain't anything wrong with the everything else that the k1000 does, maybe we will see a 2 driver earspeaker, with the bass one surrounding/projecting around the inner driver...

who knows..
(i used a dac1 with a wadia/denon/arcam transport)
k1000 was run balanced from dac1 outs and unbalanced from my sr71, lehmann black cube, hd 800 non balanced all along from all 3 options.

Music was

paulmac 3000 feet high
black hawk down soundtrack
whitlams
Secret Garden (various)
Rachmaninov (various iterations of the 2 & 3 piano concerto)
Heifetz, Rabin, Oistrakh, Kreisler, Menuhin (various pieces)
Rostropovich, Jacqueline du Pre, Casals, Fournier (bach cello suites)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

 

[moonboy403]

So your listening sessions with the K1000 were done with the Stingray or the DAC1 balanced out?

 

[kunwar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonboy403 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So your listening sessions with the K1000 were done with the Stingray or the DAC1 balanced out?

dac1, the stingray wasn't an option for the hd800, it did run through the sr71 and the lehmann amps though, if that helps

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

Sorry for reviving an old thread but... WHAT?? I've always been told the HD800 has the biggest, and most natural soundstage of any can... K1000 has this honor instead? Cool.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Sorry for reviving an old thread but... WHAT?? I've always been told the HD800 has the biggest, and most natural soundstage of any can... K1000 has this honor instead? Cool.

 
In my case the K1000 had a more "in front" soundstage with decent width, while the HD800 have a more "all enveloping" soundstage coming from all directions, 360 degrees.  Some people will like one more than the other - I preferred the HD800.
 
The K1000 lacked deep bass extension or foundation and had less impact than the HD800, but they had more midrange presence.  I sold the K1000 to buy the LCD-2 which I enjoy more, but the HD800 are still one of my favorites except for classic rock which needs something like the LCD-2, HE-500, HE-6, or D7000.  I really wanted to enjoy the K1000, but in the long run I just couldn't, even with 55-75 watt speaker amps.