Help chooseing an upgrade path for K1000!
Oct 8, 2003 at 12:37 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16
Tenson

Tenson

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Hello,

I have a pair of AKG K1000 headphones that so far I have been using with my Cyrus 3 amp and Arcam Alpha 9 CD player. My only complaints are that the sibilant parts of tracks can sometimes be over emphasised and also a bit bright (very bright before I changed my interconnect) I have now saved up enough money to get a dedicated amp for the headphones! Yay! But I am uncertain what path to choose.

I can upgrade my Cyrus with the PSX-R which I have read can help ‘spitty’ treble and this way I can also upgrade my speaker setup at the same time.

Or I could get a dedicated valve amp for them. I have been looking at the Norh SE9 which is a 9Watt, class A, EL34 SET.

So basically I was wondering what you would suggest I do? Obviously the valve amp will be warmer and smoother than the Cyrus but could someone describe what the difference in sound is with a class A amp? Will it really make that much difference?

Cheers!
 
Oct 8, 2003 at 1:22 AM Post #2 of 16
Hello Tenson,
I use an Arcam FMJ CD23 so our AKG systems are similar. I received my Norh se9 this week and got a few hours of listening in before my AKG's right side blew
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The audio that I did hear was really nice. The amp is a great match for the AKG and a stellar value too. The build quality seems very good and I have found no reason to switch tubes thus far. The combo can still sound bright with my Arcam, although most of the time it was just fine once I found the optimal ear positioning. I think the Norh's value would be hard to beat, although I am sure there are many nice esoteric single ended amp combinations. If you can afford it, you may want to swing for the RKV. I am very interested in trying out the AKG with one of Antique Sound Labs 2A3 SET amps. The Orchid can be had for around the same price as the RKV.

BTW, I wouldn't call this amp lush (or even warm, at least not with AKG's), but it does have a smooth character that shows itself with a liquid midrange.
 
Oct 8, 2003 at 3:17 AM Post #3 of 16
Oct 8, 2003 at 11:05 AM Post #4 of 16
what about the sophia el 34 amp. I haven't used it but there was a thread a couple of months ago extolling its virtues. Since todd and headroom are having a price war maybe you could get a good deal on this amp!
k1000smile.gif
 
Oct 8, 2003 at 11:09 AM Post #5 of 16
Alas! If only you had been here a couple of months ago. There was a whole cartel over here buying up the sharp class D amp on sale on ebay. Apparently the idiots at Sharp decided to flog their $4500 integrated amp for $200-$300 on ebay. One of the members of the headfi cartel (aka Team Sharp Digital) actually has the K1000s and hasn't stopped singing the praises of the combo since.

Edit: Typo
 
Oct 8, 2003 at 10:47 PM Post #7 of 16
Dear Tenson,

By personal experience I can confirm that tubes are the way to go with the K1000. I've used this amp with the original (solid-state) K1000 amp as well as with various CORDA amps but these were simply too clean for the K1000. Tube amps (I used both the RKV and the Vincent headphone amp) sound better. Especially the strong bass and the somewhat recessed and warm treble of the RKV results in a beautiful synergy with the K1000.

By the way, if you're interested in the RKV you might take a look at Mall-Fi!

Cheers,

Jan
 
Oct 9, 2003 at 12:20 AM Post #8 of 16
Hi Jan, I got these K1000's from you! lol!

I read in the manual that there is a K1000 amp made by AKG, but I could not find it on their site. Is it still possible to get it? Just curious.

Okay, so I will be getting a Norh SE9. I will have to wait and save up a bit more though as the import tax is a bit more than I expected.
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However I would still like to know the difference in sound between a class B (I presume the Cyrus is class B?) and class A amp.
 
Oct 9, 2003 at 12:52 AM Post #9 of 16
I would suggest you try another extension cord first. This helped the brightness problem in my system. You can make a decent cord yourself for as little as $30. I have heard a lot of good thing about your amp, so I think maybe all you need is a better extension cord.
 
Oct 9, 2003 at 2:19 AM Post #10 of 16
Quote:

Originally posted by Tenson
However I would still like to know the difference in sound between a class B (I presume the Cyrus is class B?) and class A amp.


Class A and B designations are types of circuit topologies and don't always relate to quality. In general a well designed Class A amplifier sounds better than a well designed class B amplifier but that doesn't always apply. To complicate things even more, there is also Class AB, Class C, Class D, and apparently it goes halfway through the alphabet, to describe different circuit designs.
 
Oct 9, 2003 at 2:39 AM Post #11 of 16
Okay guys I have decided to try a different cable first.

I have ordered up 2 meters of this 6-Core PURE SILVER Cable
biggrin.gif


I just hope that because of it being silver it doesn't sound even brighter! But I have heard of people using silver cable for the K1000. Besides.. when you buy something by credit card you are by law entitled to send it back if you are not satisfied! lol
 
Oct 11, 2003 at 12:12 AM Post #14 of 16
Welp.. Got the cable now! Gosh those banana plugs were murder to put on! Taking the plastic covers off nearly took my nails off instead! Lol *sounds silly complaining about his nails*

Anyway, It is seems to have reduced the brightness a tad. Not allot, but that’s what I wanted. I am not sure if It sounds better though, the treble is more controlled but the sound seems slightly recessed in comparison to the stock cable. Then again it might just be that I am tired! Nothing sounds that good right now. It defiantly has more detail.

I will give my opinions properly later.

The cable looks killer though! It has 'PURE SILVER' written down the side
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