[Michael G.]

Is this cabling upgrade worth it ($345)? Thanks.

 

[jpelg]

I'm curious about this too.

Larry seems to like what I would consider a brighter sound signature. Although I've yet to hear a sample, his impressions that removal of the PCB is better may not jive with mine. You may fall on either side. I wonder who else heard one and preferred the PCB-less version?

Will he do a full recable without removing the PCB?

 

[Michael G.]

I get the feeling that Larry had a pretty strong opinion about some things when he designed the PBC-less total cable upgrade - "Less is More". He claims that AKG's design for the PCB was "...overdone.". Yet I also wonder, could Larry's design be "underdone"? I would be wary of paying $350 - $500 (depending on cable options) for an "upgrade" that has has gotten no press reviews so far. I imagine that AKG put a lot of time and consideration into the design of the PCB. And you cannot easily reverse the mods if you don't like the results.

 

[Xanadu777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpelg Larry seems to like what I would consider a brighter sound signature.

I don't like what -I- consider a brighter signature but I do lust speed and resolution.

K1000's, R10's, SA5000's, 404's, CD3000's and along those lines are all overall too bright for me.

The PCB in the K1000's is a hinderance IMO. Adds muck and they are actually my definition of brighter with it, due to less resolution IMO. The notch filter was designed to lessen standing waves at certain frequencies, determined by ear shape and driver angle. While they may have solved that for the engineer who designed them, who has ears like him/her or hears in the same way at the same driver angle? So IMO either it was designed for that person or broadened to "catch" what others ears may have a problem with. Since I believe the latter would be more logical, we've missed hearing the frequencies that might bother another, but not us individually.

My experience was that it was very rare to have a standing wave. I can recall only once a horn playing the same note for an extended period that seemed to hit my sweet spot of shrill. I don't remember another time. I do remember how much better they sounded without the PCB though (and recable). Very natural sounding and a big improvement with piano's sounding natural.

AKG has announced discontinuation of K1000's, partially due to quality control. Having seen the bad of that for myself, I'm glad they realized something was not going well, but sorry they don't fix it and continue with production. I've had to do some occasional "factory service" myself (other brands have problems too). Taking apart and putting back together K1000's the first time was a stress filled affair and while it's gotten easier, it's still the bottom of my list (as in not fun) recabling job there is of all I've done. With drivers now at $322 each, there's no room for error, dancing around their sloppy voice coil setup.

While I think K1000's are cool (a bit ugly) and a heck of an innovation, I'm going to bow out of any future recabling of them. I told myself the last pair I did that was it, now my memory has been refreshed enough to pull the plug

As for the PCB, I put it right up there with other "they knew what they were doing" designs. The stock Senn cable, the "comfort" of stock Grado pads, the crossover in K340's, the adjuster band ends of CD3000's, the crumbling foam in Stax earpads, etc...

I made a box with three 4-pin jacks from an amp, one of which put the PCB in line with the signal. I used it to compare with the unadultered signal. I never felt a need to use it again. I really liked K1000's with a subwoofer, but when that wasn't feasible (most of the time), I moved on (and stripped the drivers, haha). They are capable of some fantastic visceral bass, but not in the wide open environment of K1000 enclosures.

To sum up, K1000's are a nice sounding can stock but a good 20% or more better sounding modded IMO. I just won't be the one modding K1000's anymore

Thanks for your interest, the memories, and sorry you have one less possible upgrade path (as in me) for your

's.

 

[jpelg]

Interesting points Larry. Thanks for responding.

1. I hope I didn't speak too much out of turn when I described what I thought your listening preferences to be.
2. I hope I made it clear that I haven't heard a pair of PCB-less K1000's to offer a listening impression. By your (sound) reasoning, everyone's ears are different, so what someone hears (or doesn't hear) in the PCB-less mod is also person-dependent, no? I'd love to read impressions from others who have heard this mod.
3. It's a shame you won't be doing the K1000 recable mods any more. I can imagine it's a very difficult, and stressful job, especially when working on someone else's pair. The community is all the poorer for not having that avenue now. Are you still making the extension cable, from the XLR-plug down?
4. If you could elaborate on the "quality control" issues that AKG suddenly found with the K1000's, I'd be interested. The K1000 has been in production for a long time. Is this a new development?

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanadu777 I don't like what -I- consider a brighter signature but I do lust speed and resolution. K1000's, R10's, SA5000's, 404's, CD3000's and along those lines are all overall too bright for me. The PCB in the K1000's is a hinderance IMO. Adds muck and they are actually my definition of brighter with it, due to less resolution IMO. The notch filter was designed to lessen standing waves at certain frequencies, determined by ear shape and driver angle. While they may have solved that for the engineer who designed them, who has ears like him/her or hears in the same way at the same driver angle? So IMO either it was designed for that person or broadened to "catch" what others ears may have a problem with. Since I believe the latter would be more logical, we've missed hearing the frequencies that might bother another, but not us individually. My experience was that it was very rare to have a standing wave. I can recall only once a horn playing the same note for an extended period that seemed to hit my sweet spot of shrill. I don't remember another time. I do remember how much better they sounded without the PCB though (and recable). Very natural sounding and a big improvement with piano's sounding natural. AKG has announced discontinuation of K1000's, partially due to quality control. Having seen the bad of that for myself, I'm glad they realized something was not going well, but sorry they don't fix it and continue with production. I've had to do some occasional "factory service" myself (other brands have problems too). Taking apart and putting back together K1000's the first time was a stress filled affair and while it's gotten easier, it's still the bottom of my list (as in not fun) recabling job there is of all I've done. With drivers now at $322 each, there's no room for error, dancing around their sloppy voice coil setup. While I think K1000's are cool (a bit ugly) and a heck of an innovation, I'm going to bow out of any future recabling of them. I told myself the last pair I did that was it, now my memory has been refreshed enough to pull the plug As for the PCB, I put it right up there with other "they knew what they were doing" designs. The stock Senn cable, the "comfort" of stock Grado pads, the crossover in K340's, the adjuster band ends of CD3000's, the crumbling foam in Stax earpads, etc... I made a box with three 4-pin jacks from an amp, one of which put the PCB in line with the signal. I used it to compare with the unadultered signal. I never felt a need to use it again. I really liked K1000's with a subwoofer, but when that wasn't feasible (most of the time), I moved on (and stripped the drivers, haha). They are capable of some fantastic visceral bass, but not in the wide open environment of K1000 enclosures. To sum up, K1000's are a nice sounding can stock but a good 20% or more better sounding modded IMO. I just won't be the one modding K1000's anymore Thanks for your interest, the memories, and sorry you have one less possible upgrade path (as in me) for your 's.

I generally try not to "fix" things when they aren't broken. But now I'm tempted to remove the pcb from my K1000. I remember seeing tiny hair-thin wires last time I opened my K1000, which makes me nervous. Does the pcb absolutely need to be removed physically, or is there a way to leave it in there and bypass it with some wire, etc?

 

[Patrick82]

Does everything above the lower midrange become more prominent after removing the PCB? Or does the bass also improve?