[patricklang]

Well, I'm still breaking them in and waiting for the sound to open up a bit more, but I'm already extremely impressed. The imaging and detail are phenomenal. I like them almost as much as the K1000's, I don't see myself spending $700 when these are just so good. I'll be posting more of a review later on once they're broken in a bit more and I have my amp pushing more current

I do have a few questions though for k501 owners. In many recordings, I'm perceiving the main portion of the music to be slightly behind my head, rather than the side or front as I would get with my Grados. I don't remember this on the K1000's I tried at a meet. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, how much do the pads and headband soften up? Right now, the bottom part of the pads rest squarely on the joint of my jaw and it causes a bit of fatigue after a while. I'm debating putting them around a box or something to stretch them out a bit. Have any of you tried this?

 

[daycart1]

We'll just see how long you resist the K1000

I found the 501s comfortable immediately, I hope they work out for you.
I sometimes hear the "forwardness" of Grados as the image's being "in front". So by comparison, headphones with more soundstage might sound "behind".

Also, the drivers might not be positioned properly if the headphones don't fit your jawbone. Have you tried moving the headband slightly forward on your head?

 

[patricklang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 We'll just see how long you resist the K1000 I found the 501s comfortable immediately, I hope they work out for you. I sometimes hear the "forwardness" of Grados as the image's being "in front". So by comparison, headphones with more soundstage might sound "behind". Also, the drivers might not be positioned properly if the headphones don't fit your jawbone. Have you tried moving the headband slightly forward on your head?

I just tried moving them a bit forward and up, and they are a little better. Before I had the drivers pretty much centered on my ear, assuming it would be the best sound. I can't tell any difference in sound, so I'll try this a while.

As far as the K1000's, we'll see after the next meet when I a-b them to 501's

 

[TrevorNetwork]

I actually found the K501+Dynahi to be one of the only headphones I have heard where the imaging is directly in front of me. Enjoy the K501s they are superb headphones. I have been comparing them to stock HD650s, and I prefer the K501s far more.

 

[kiwirugby]

Patrick,

Congrtaulations on your 501s. Good purchase.

Be patient they take a really long time (100+ hours) to break in and get a less-shy bass). I have found taht some bass boost or EQ helps a great deal.

Mine ahs always fit really well and the pads have always been comfortable.

I listen to classical music mostly (some jazz), and I have not found them to be "behind" my head. Obviously there are parts of an orchestra (say, brass) that are and one expect to find them so. With piano and chamber music the sound seems pretty square on for me.

What kinds of music do you listen to? And, are you using an amp?

 

[bubbagump]

if you are used to forward (read face-axis?) soundstages, then the k501s will take a little getting used to. The soundstage can be very large on the k501s depending on the recording and amplification. still to this day on mine i get freaked out on some live recordings cause some way off centered stuff that hits mics will get positioned so far sounding behind me that i'm thinking its someone in the room or something. good things Patrick, good things-

 

[PinkFloyd]

Nice one Patrick!

I'm not going to repeat what I have said on many occasions regarding these headphones as there's plenty of my droolings to be found in a search but will say that these phones do require and extensive bed in period and a good amp is a necessity to bring the best out of these wonderous cans.

Any old amp won't necessarily do the job either...... my favourite amp, the Chiarra, doesn't like them........ my second favourite amp, the WNA, can't drive them for toffee..... The Graham Slee Solo with its Current Drive Output takes a real grip of the K-501's drivers and I defy anyone to tell me they don't possess bass....... just listen to them through a Solo folks.

So don't assume that any old amp will drive them...... audition carefully and you will reap the sweetest mids, most spacious soundstage and out of the head floor bound bass.......

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say, watch this thread I'm sure Romanee will confirm just how good the bass can be with the K-501 at the next NY meet

Have fun with your K-501's Patrick and give them a good workout.......

All the best.

Mike.

 

[Romanee]

PinkFloyd -

Does the LM6171 (or LM7171) used in the WNAHA have any possible relevance to Jahn's Solo?

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Romanee PinkFloyd - Does the LM6171 (or LM7171) used in the WNAHA have any possible relevance to Jahn's Solo?

No,

His solo has an AD823 the same as the stock 2004 solo

 

[BigD]

Welcome to k501 cognito!
Dont you just love the fit,finish,material and build quality of these fons!!! One of the Best headphones in this category! They look really expensive

 

[patricklang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwirugby Patrick, Congrtaulations on your 501s. Good purchase. Be patient they take a really long time (100+ hours) to break in and get a less-shy bass). I have found taht some bass boost or EQ helps a great deal. Mine ahs always fit really well and the pads have always been comfortable. I listen to classical music mostly (some jazz), and I have not found them to be "behind" my head. Obviously there are parts of an orchestra (say, brass) that are and one expect to find them so. With piano and chamber music the sound seems pretty square on for me. What kinds of music do you listen to? And, are you using an amp?

I listen to a pretty wide variety of stuff, but mainly electronic, industrial, and rock. One cd that the soundstage seemed too far back was Sterelab's "Margarine Eclipse" . Other cd's such as the Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" seem pretty well centered, but its artificial imaging when compared with classical (I call mixed imaging artificial, as is most electronic).

Its not really a problem, just sort of an observation. I think the Grado's are more up front, and my closed V6's didn't present a wide soundstage. I do have a crossfeed on my amp that I can use when I want it

Oh yeah, I'm currently driving them from a Meta42. Right now the amp is still tuned for my lower impedence grados, so it will probably improve a bit when I work on it this weekend. I'm planning to crank the gain up and add an extra el2001 to each channel, right now I just have 1 buffer/channel. The opamp is an AD8620.

Again, I'm VERY happy with these headphones already, just looking to bring all I can out of them. Now where's the k501 smile?

 

[patricklang]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I have been gathering parts for more amps. I'm thinking about building a version of Morsel's M3 for the discrete mosfet output, I expect it to have the power needed for the K501's. After that, I'm probably going to build PPL's next creation thats in the works

Are there any other DIY designs you guys would recommend?

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd No, His solo has an AD823 the same as the stock 2004 solo

Yep I believe we popped in the LM but the AD ended up having more synergy for the Solo. Slew rates be damned!

 

[gsferrari]

Anyone wanna send a AKG K-501 to me in Florida for the October 23 FL meet?

Cheers!

 

[patricklang]

Just wanted to post a followup to this for posterity.

After about two weeks, the sound has opened up some more and the bass seems a little deeper. These definitely do need a break-in, the sound is still getting a little better

Physically, the pads and headband seem to have softened up a bit and they are very comfortable. I'm not having any problems with them being too tight on my head anymore.

I think its time to change my sig to team akg&guinness