[wink]

My K1000's get lots of attention to meets I bring them to.

 

[qazxsw80]

Hello. I have another question. Some people have a problem with their k1000s, for example 
 
 

So far my one complaint with the K1000 is the poor dampening.  I seem to get more rattles and vibrations when listening to lower frequencies than I do with any other headphones.  The majority of listening is fine but every now and again I will hit a frequency that causes resonance and disrupts my listening experience.  Aside from that these headphones have a really realistic soundstage and image which is astounding. 

 
 

I did a close inspection of the driver through the wire cage using a bright light and saw no indications of hair(s) or other contaminants on the driver.  The sound is generally super clear, and the rumble/vibration is only noticed when I'm playing something which has strong bass or certain lower frequencies which is why I suspect its part of the internal mechanisms which is hitting a resonant frequency.

 
 

I get that noise as well when I had a pair in the right driver only. Not in all songs though.

And  as far as I know it doesnt depend on glue between parts of  the wire cage. I found a quote from Akg's forum 
 
 

[size=small]Driver failures are very rare with K 1000. In very old products it may be that the foam damping inside the system deteriorated due to normal ageing. In such a case you will notice an audible distortion at lower frequencies. If a K1000 is not overloaded the drivers will last for decades. [/size]
[size=small]Karl. AKG[/size]

Is there a way to repair a pair of headphones at home when it rattles? Or maybe a way to avoid it?

 

[hrklg01]

About "bass heavy" and "bass light" versions:
I remember back that the original ~ 5000 pcs was shipped with a black bright box. This version - I'm sure - was produced with the target 25Hz f0.
There was no additional changes at least during the first 5kpcs...
Later I do not know clearly because of my leave from AKG.
 
To repair of a K1000:
As Karl wrote, a K1000 driver last for long time. However, the foam placed inside the center of the driver migh age... It did not on my very old prototype, but I did never place it on the sunlight... Foams are typically aging on light....
If small foam particles get into the air gap of the transducer, I guess it will cause some rubb & buss when driving strong.
To repair this I suggest first:
1) to check with AKG's service about their possibilities and not at least about guarantee
2) to open the basket carefully - may be there is already know hoe in this formum for this?. Then to ged rid of the inside foam carefully by any sharp plastic device like a plastic knife. (Careful! Do not skratch the very thin coil wire!!!!) Then to blow very strong to the air gap while fixing by hand the membrane. (do not worry - no danger at all)
3) Place a new 80ppi PU foam quite loose inside the center hole and fix it with just a bit of white glue.
This repair instructions are without any guarantee of my side of course!
To check the driver again, apply 25Hz AC slowly till the maximum dispalcement. If you do not hear any distortion in the far field before the hard contact of the membrane, th driver will be ok.
 
Best regards,
heinz

 

[dleblanc343]

This is unbelievable Heinz, simply out of nowhere! And all this technical talk.. I can't keep up 

 
Do you mind if I ask, but why did you leave AKG? I also think you should try and continue the legacy of the k1000... maybe you can start a project through contacts and referrals...

 

[Dyaems]

i have that driver rattle as well with low frequencies on my pair. i cleaned everything inside, replaced the deteriorating foam in the drivers and still no good. i was thinking it was the grills that made one channel rattle so i removed the grill completely and it still rattles...
 
i ended up selling it =(

 

[Ic3M0nk3y]

Kinda wanted to just throw this out there, anyone ever seen this version of the K1000? (Skip to 33 seconds to see what i mean)
 

 
Looks like a bronze/black colored K1000 with a different headband.
It would be awesome if you know anything about this Heinz.

 

[lpan]

Quote:

Kinda wanted to just throw this out there, anyone ever seen this version of the K1000? (Skip to 33 seconds to see what i mean)
 
 

 
I suspect that might just be the color tint of the video.

 

[elwappo99]

That video has a ton of marketing, production, and visual effects. Just like most of AKGs current products. Those earphones are just not at the quality they should be in that price range. 

 

[Blackmore]

I must say, if you follow the prices lately, AKG are cheaper than many out there, but their performance, when paired with quality equipment, are very hard to beat, unless you like something else to hear when you listen to music.
The video is great, nice done and nothing they say is a lie, AKG was and still is  one of the best companies out there. They managed to produce reference class studio headphones, that still made in Austria, for that kind of money and thats nothing but a very impressive achievement, imo.
 
Never tried K3003, but I know many of their products, include current line, and I still recognise their home sound with ease, which to me also one of the best at the moment.
 
THX
Quote:

That video has a ton of marketing, production, and visual effects. Just like most of AKGs current products. Those earphones are just not at the quality they should be in that price range. 

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

I must say, if you follow the prices lately, AKG are cheaper than many out there, but their performance, when paired with quality equipment, are very hard to beat, unless you like something else to hear when you listen to music.
The video is great, nice done and nothing they say is a lie, AKG was and still is  one of the best companies out there. They managed to produce reference class studio headphones, that still made in Austria, for that kind of money and thats nothing but a very impressive achievement, imo.
 
Never tried K3003, but I know many of their products, include current line, and I still recognise their home sound with ease, which to me also one of the best at the moment.
 
THX

 
I'm actually wearing a pair of Q701. I can't disagree with you. They do make some quality products, however I think you can see a clear change when harmon bought them. It's a changing company, and they aren't putting the research and money into a K1000 type headphone. They're working on making their current headphones more physically appealing and better marketed. 

 

[Blackmore]

Fair enough, cos I agree with you, they sure do.
 
 
Quote:

 
I'm actually wearing a pair of Q701. I can't disagree with you. They do make some quality products, however I think you can see a clear change when harmon bought them. It's a changing company, and they aren't putting the research and money into a K1000 type headphone. They're working on making their current headphones more physically appealing and better marketed. 

 

[hrklg01]

Hello,
 
Just to comment about my leave from AKG: It was due to management style which did not align with my believes.... So in this respect a personal reason...
 
To start with improved K1000 followers on my own, would be possible by technology know how. But I'm personally not willing to invest so much R&D and prodution money just on risk. This is based on my estimate, that there might be potential 30.000 High End guys as possible customers like you out there....
 
To the K3003: It's a typical inear headset and it seams to me that the midrange driver may be a special Knowles type. However, in my understanding it's a 2 way system in order to boost the high frequency range. The filters in front for different acoustic setup are clever made to my understanding because of the well defined mechancis...
So at least you should listen to it and rate...
 
BR

 

[ruinevil]

What kind of music do you listen to, hrklg01? What did the other designers listen to when they were designing the K1000?

 

[hrklg01]

Good question - about the music we / I listen to:
 
I personally like the most Pink Floyd - all the titles from the beginning of the band till the end.
 
We designers listen systematically to a set of direct cut LP's at that time from:
Speech (dont't remember the specific label), Sara Simon, Gandalf, new years concerts, Pink Floyd - wish you where here, Andrea Vollenweider, Dire Straits, Peter Gabriel, Yello, Rare Earth, Suzan Vega, Deodato, Tracy Chapman, and last but not least: Sacred Ceremonies a Tibetan Buddhism music and especially the "song" Monks of the Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery". which I recomend strongly for speaker and headphone comparisons.
 
By the way - amplifiers was used from Linn, Denon, Yamaha and Luxman depending on the speakers which we compared to the headphones.

 

[trentino]

This is really cool info, thanks for sharing!