[lousymusician]

I'm glad you're happy with them. I just 'won' a pair myself, one of seven pairs the seller put up for auction all at once. They mostly went in the low $50's and another pair brought $67 this morning, so I'd say you got a good price. I'm looking forward to a change after 19 years with a pair of Senn HD540's. A little soft on top and full on the bottom sounds OK to me!

The system - PC > E-MU Tracker Pre USB > Luxman L210 integrated amp (also a $50 auction buy).

Team 600 Ohm!

 

[ourfpshero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lousymusician /img/forum/go_quote.gif Team 600 Ohm!

just a note: when properly driven the k240m 600 ohm really opens up along the entire spectrum.

team 600 ohm ftw!

 

[kool bubba ice]

Sextetts are the most emotional, down to the soul, and musical headphone I ever owned.. And the only headphone where I could just listen to the music without thinking of the headphones strength/weakness. With the Sextetts it's all about the music. Very hard to drive. Mated great with the RS2 and dac1, but pretty medocre with my receiver so I sold them. I no longer owned the HR2 or DAC1.

 

[iPoodz]

Sextett owners: these sound decent out of a Zune30 and a laptop out, but I'm not so naive that I think I'm getting everything that can to be heard.

Now, I suspect that because they are drivable out of a portable source like the Zune, they don't need major amping. Can anyone recommend a decent budget amp or DAC/amp for these cans, assuming the only things I'd be driving are these Sextetts?

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPoodz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sextett owners: these sound decent out of a Zune30 and a laptop out, but I'm not so naive that I think I'm getting everything that can to be heard. Now, I suspect that because they are drivable out of a portable source like the Zune, they don't need major amping. Can anyone recommend a decent budget amp or DAC/amp for these cans, assuming the only things I'd be driving are these Sextetts?

The more voltage the better. I get decent sound from my EMU 0404 USB. I get better sound out of my Starving Student.

I also get decent sound out of my X4 with a wall wart. No so good with batteries.

The more voltage swing the better. The SS uses a 48V wall wart. I'm not sure of any DAC/amp combo will be as good. I'd say you'd be better off with a cheap DAC and a Straving Student or equivalent.

 

[lousymusician]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfpshero /img/forum/go_quote.gif just a note: when properly driven the k240m 600 ohm really opens up along the entire spectrum. team 600 ohm ftw!

What would you call "properly driven"? Is there an optimum output impedance / damping factor for the amp, or is it just a matter of enough volts to wake them up? I'll be using an integrated for now and have no problem with modifying it to suit, but if these work out I may build a dedicated HP amp.

Thanks!

 

[iPoodz]

I believe that it's what scompton is talking about. The voltage swing.

I may be using language that makes me sound ignorant, but there's a really good thread buried in this section (or maybe full sized amps) that addresses what voltage swing means, and the combination between sensitivity and impedance that really determines what's hard to drive.

scompton, thank you very much for the suggestion. I've messed up an amp recently, so the Starving Student seems like a fairly inexpensive amp that I won't feel terrible about, if I mess it up again. Also, there seems to be a lot more information/resources regarding the build.

I was considering a MHM, as it was mentioned by BoilerMakerFan {the person who sold me his Sextetts} as being a great amp, but for the price of the parts alone, I didn't want to risk messing it up.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackzarg /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pretty happy with my purchase! The cabe seems kinda flimsy though - any suggestions for an upgrade? Is a DYI upgrade hard?

Nothing wrong with the factory cable on a K240 of that vintage, as long as it's not broken.

Molded on plug or does the black plastic handle on the plug screw off? A plug upgrade is sometimes warranted, strictly because the old one may be corroded.

If you're dead set on upgrading, no, it's easy but you have to be careful not to overheat the lugs on the driver because the coil wire is soldered to the same lug, it is very thin, and if you hold the soldering iron on there for 30 seconds the voice coil wire will break.

 

[ourfpshero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lousymusician /img/forum/go_quote.gif What would you call "properly driven"? Is there an optimum output impedance / damping factor for the amp, or is it just a matter of enough volts to wake them up? I'll be using an integrated for now and have no problem with modifying it to suit, but if these work out I may build a dedicated HP amp. Thanks!

just enough power really. i have been through several headphone amps and also have an old pioneer receiver i use for stats. the headphone out on the pioneer receiver drives the 240m like nothing else! when given enough power the headphones literally sound larger, and the 600 ohm impedance keeps distortion of the signal low. i gush over the 240m only because i have heard them in this fashion. b4 i got the pioneer receiver i actually was ready to sell my 240m

 

[lousymusician]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ourfpshero /img/forum/go_quote.gif just enough power really. i have been through several headphone amps and also have an old pioneer receiver i use for stats. the headphone out on the pioneer receiver drives the 240m like nothing else! when given enough power the headphones literally sound larger, and the 600 ohm impedance keeps distortion of the signal low. i gush over the 240m only because i have heard them in this fashion. b4 i got the pioneer receiver i actually was ready to sell my 240m

That pretty lines up with what I was thinking when i bid on them - the old 600 Ohm cans were designed to be used with the headphone jacks that were common on domestic gear in the days before ipods or Walkmen. I'm hoping the HP output on this old Luxman integrated will have that kind of synergy with the AKG's. It runs on +/- 46V rails, even through dropping resistors it should provide more than enough power!

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iPoodz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sextett owners: these sound decent out of a Zune30 and a laptop out, but I'm not so naive that I think I'm getting everything that can to be heard. Now, I suspect that because they are drivable out of a portable source like the Zune, they don't need major amping. Can anyone recommend a decent budget amp or DAC/amp for these cans, assuming the only things I'd be driving are these Sextetts?

my PPAS portable amp drives them really well, esspecially for a portable. there were only a few boards made, but it's essentially a portable PPA. Put a WTB in the forums if you're interested. Someone might be able to make one for ya. I paid 90 dollars for mine, and still haven't heard a portable that beats it for power hungry phones