Originally Posted by Don Quichotte /img/forum/go_quote.gif I remember reading about this issue in another clone Firstwatt F1 or F2, not sure. The power supply section is the same, anyway, if I'm not mistaken. The guy who built the amp got some hum from the transformer too and, apart from rotating the trafo, he also mounted some metal plates around it to ensure some screening. Problem solved (in his case).
I thought of shielding it as well, so I'll give that a shot. Rotating it yielded significantly positive results, so I imagine true shielding will do so even more. Thanks for the tip!
Is there a significant sonic difference between units of earlier and units of later production? I have read a lot about such differences in other headphones but never came accross such comment concerning K1000.
There is. Fitz has even plotted the different (and distinct) drivers. Earlier units have more lower and midbass. Subjectively, most folks also feel they sound better. As far as I know, no one has a set line where the change happens, but it's safe to say tha most black boxes are bass heavy and most light boxes are bass light.
Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif I thought of shielding it as well, so I'll give that a shot. Rotating it yielded significantly positive results, so I imagine true shielding will do so even more. Thanks for the tip!
You're welcome. Good luck!
Quote:
There is. Fitz has even plotted the different (and distinct) drivers. Earlier units have more lower and midbass. Subjectively, most folks also feel they sound better. As far as I know, no one has a set line where the change happens, but it's safe to say tha most black boxes are bass heavy and most light boxes are bass light.
Any way to tell by visual inspection of the drivers - preferably without disassembling the headphone? I have serial number 7714 - well, not me, my K1000's have it
Thanks Sherwood. Mine is #8*** and light box. I assume it should be basslight. It is interesting, though, since with other headphones the earlier production seems to be basslight. Say, R10. I will look more thoroughly for the rlevant review or discussion.
Originally Posted by Don Quichotte /img/forum/go_quote.gif Any way to tell by visual inspection of the drivers - preferably without disassembling the headphone? I have serial number 7714 - well, not me, my K1000's have it
- with a black box and I'm curious...
As far as I know, there's no way to tell other than directly comparing the sound. The drivers are visually identical.
I'm not sure where the divide occurs, or even if it's tied to a specific serial number. You may both have bass-light or bass-heavy versions. We do know that the change to a light box happened somewhere between #7xxx and 9xxx though, now
Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif We do know that the change to a light box happened somewhere between #7xxx and 9xxx though, now
Indeed
Subjectively I would characterize mine as basslight. However, I have never heard another pair, so hypothetcially mine could well be bassheavy as well, although if this is the case I could not imagine how basslight would the basslight version be.
Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is. Fitz has even plotted the different (and distinct) drivers. Earlier units have more lower and midbass. Subjectively, most folks also feel they sound better. As far as I know, no one has a set line where the change happens, but it's safe to say tha most black boxes are bass heavy and most light boxes are bass light.
I'm not sure about the box/bass. I have a black box with a high serial number (the phones are currently in my car, awaiting transport to a meet), and I would also have a hard time calling them bass heavy... I recall something about the black boxes being from European sales and light boxes from American.
I have two pair of K1000s, one serial 3xxx and one 11xxx. Both in light colored boxes.
I would definitely say that the low serial one have a more powerful bass performance than the high serial one. It seems to extend a bit further down and have more punch, but there are no major difference.
Well I've heard the newer, bass light ones have more seductive highs and are much more involving and dynamic; active than the low numberers like mine. Needless to say, I want to buy another pair in the 10,000s in the future
I've owned two pair, one 4xxx black box and one 11xxx tan box. I prefer the lower s/n model and thus kept that one. The main difference was that the high s/n sounded like a great dynamic, where as the low s/n has Stax-like fluidity. I attribute this to a bassier, warmer, perhaps less aggressive character of the low s/n model. Furthermore the low s/n sounded more effortless. Something to note, the low s/n has a stock cable where as the high s/n was recabled with an APS v2.
As for the physical differences, I opened both up to examine what was going on. The following parts were different:
-The resistor (impedance related I think)
-The cylindrical unit which houses the thin copper wire (on the low s/n it's black, the higher s/n was clear/copper colored)
-On the later edition there was an extra copper wire, wrapped around some cotton yarn, which actually threaded through a corner the latex membrane and terminated in some conductive gel (like a ground of some sort)
-Finally on the older model there is some dampening foam on the back of the driver. On the newer model this foam was absent (possibly removed)
Lastly there are two types of black boxes. The early black boxes have a shiny chrome latch and a chain. The later black boxes have a matte latch and an attached hinge.
That's all I know. Hopefully we can get some pictures up.
Member of the Trade: Donald North Audio and Riva Audio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by milezone /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've owned two pair, one 4xxx black box and one 11xxx tan box. I prefer the lower s/n model and thus kept that one. The main difference was that the high s/n sounded like a great dynamic, where as the low s/n has Stax-like fluidity. I attribute this to a bassier, warmer, perhaps less aggressive character of the low s/n model. Furthermore the low s/n sounded more effortless.
This is interesting to me. I have a mid serial number set (need to look it up) with a black box. I power them with an AN Kit 1 and hear a very clear, immediate sound presentation - nothing warm about it to me.
Needless to say, I need to buy another set in the high s/n range for my own comparisions
Until then: I will arrange a LA K1000 listening with mike1127 and moonboy403 and compare our 3 units with the same amplifier. I believe our s/ns are fairly far apart.
Originally Posted by milezone /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've owned two pair, one 4xxx black box and one 11xxx tan box. I prefer the lower s/n model and thus kept that one. The main difference was that the high s/n sounded like a great dynamic, where as the low s/n has Stax-like fluidity. I attribute this to a bassier, warmer, perhaps less aggressive character of the low s/n model. Furthermore the low s/n sounded more effortless. Something to note, the low s/n has a stock cable where as the high s/n was recabled with an APS v2.
As for the physical differences, I opened both up to examine what was going on. The following parts were different:
-The resistor (impedance related I think)
-The cylindrical unit which houses the thin copper wire (on the low s/n it's black, the higher s/n was clear/copper colored)
-On the later edition there was an extra copper wire, wrapped around some cotton yarn, which actually threaded through a corner the latex membrane and terminated in some conductive gel (like a ground of some sort)
-Finally on the older model there is some dampening foam on the back of the driver. On the newer model this foam was absent (possibly removed)
Lastly there are two types of black boxes. The early black boxes have a shiny chrome latch and a chain. The later black boxes have a matte latch and an attached hinge.
That's all I know. Hopefully we can get some pictures up.
Great lineup! Thanks, milezone.
With the "extra copper wire through a corner of the latex membrane" do you mean the loose thin wire which can be clearly seen through the grill (and which wasn't there on my former exemplar with mid serial no., IIRC)?
I've been wondering all the time what this may be for...?
If I had to guess, what you're talking about is what I saw, though I don't have the later s/n pair anymore so I can't confirm. If you open the phones up, which you may not want to do as its a bit sketchy, you'll see two wires on the driver side of the system which hook up the hardwired connection to the driver. The strange wire I saw is this same type of copper wire only its on the other side of the driver, I forget what it hooked up to. Hopefully someone can expand on this.
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