[tmarshl]

My experience with the K1000s and the First Watt F1 has been close to perfect reproduction.   But, I would highly recommend replacing the stock cable with something like Stefan Audio Arts cabling.

 

[Don Quichotte]

Anyone tried the K1000 with the Firstwatt F1 with an unbalanced source? I remember reading that running the F1 unbalanced results in not canceling some even harmonics off anymore, which in turn makes it sound closer to the Firstwatt F2. I'm asking because I've built and F2 and apart for a weird buzz problem I haven't been able to explain and solve, I'm not quite happy with the sound and, to a small degree, even with the headroom. Might be because of my built (wires, connectors and so on) or might be because of the significant second order harmonic distorsion of the (unbalanced by nature) Firstwatt F2 - perhaps it's not for me. I've considered turning it into an F1, but I have an unbalanced source and no prospect for a balanced one in the near future. And unfortunately I don't have neither the time, nor the (admittedly small amount of) money needed for the F2 --> F1conversion, so I'd only do it if I had a tiny little reassurance that it would be a big enough difference. 
 
On short: how's the unbalanced F1 compared with the F2? Especially for a K1000 user? If I'm not asking too much...

 

[zzffnn]

To Don Q, I used to hear some zzzz noise using a well-built stock F2 with LCD-2s. We killed the noise by adding a ground loop breaker (GLB) to F2. You can confirm the GL problem by using two prong power plugs for all your audio components.
 
Adding a volume pot or a high quality pre-amp to attenuate input signal for F2 also reduced the noise. It is also likely that your pre-amp or dac produce noise that is only audible through F2. The tube buffer I used to use never produce any noise from Beta22 or M3, but produced noise from F2. Keep in mind that F2 was not designed for headphones. I guess stock F2 is too much of an amp for headphones like LCD-2s. But after the modifications, F2 is now sounding fantastic with LCD-2s, easily as good as Beta22.
 
My Presonus Central Station (CS) works nicely as a dac and pre-amp to feed F2 and LCD-2s. I hear no noise at all, with CS's volume set to 9-10 o'clock and alps 27 (added to stock F2 for headphone) set to ~85% on F2.   A used CS costs only around USD $350 in USA, and I heard it is no less compared to Benchmark Dac-1 and Lavry DA10 as a dac/pre-amp.
 
Sorry I do not have K1000s. Will be happy to borrow a set if anyone lends me a set though

 

[Don Quichotte]

Oh my! I posted a long reply, or at least I thought so, but now I see it's missing. I don't know how did I manage to write almost half an hour and then throw away the message. I don't have the patience now to write all of the stuff once again.
 
On short: thanks for your reply. I'm not considering another source atm. The buzz problem is a bit weird and is described here.
Pictures inside the amp are here
 
I have also a problem in that everybody likes their F2 and especially their enhanced F2J amps, while I got not only that buzz but also a sound that I didn't like as much as I expected. Compared to the ultra-cheap SI T-amp (stock, SLA battery driven, with resistors on the outputs in parallel with the K1000), the F2 definitely sounds warmer, with more bass (a good thing with my bass light K1000) and probably more colorful than the somewhat bleached t-amp sound; on the other hand, it's less clean, somewhat fuzzy and congested, more rounded transients, with less control in the bass and less headroom. I bit disappointing. And the main problem is that I don't know if it's because of the quite high (mainly second order) harmonic distortion inherent of this design, which may simply be not for me (this would be my guess, but still...), if it's because I did something wrong when building it, or one / several components are the culprit (I used mid range to good components, but I know also wires, connectors and stuff like that can make a significant difference). I don't know what to believe, so I don't know what to do next (I don't have the time nor the admittedly little money necessary for further experimentation with various other Firstwatt designs).

 

[jbee]

Two pairs of k1k
 
AKG Audiosphere BAP 1000 running directly #01016
Fisher X-202-B running #01111
 

 

[HamidGal]

http://www.ebay.de/itm/AKG-K1000-K-1000-K-1000-HighEnd-Profi-Kopfhorer-/230682750778?pt=Kopfh%C3%B6rer&hash=item35b5c36f3a#ht_1266wt_1344
 
 
Just in case someone is interested 

 

[tmarshl]

Looks like it is using the standard K1000 cable.

 
Quote:

http://www.ebay.de/itm/AKG-K1000-K-1000-K-1000-HighEnd-Profi-Kopfhorer-/230682750778?pt=Kopfh%C3%B6rer&hash=item35b5c36f3a#ht_1266wt_1344
 
 
Just in case someone is interested 

 

 

[HamidGal]

Yep,and so are mine,i never really understood what is the point of recabling  

 

[applebook]

Quote:

To me, its tonal balance is significantly tilted towards the midrange. So it takes a lot of time and research to find an amplifier and source that are capable of minimizing its downsides and make you fully appreciate what it does well.

Untrue. Your ears will hear sounds differently, but the fact remains that scientific measurements indicate that the K1000 is not only neutral, but it is the most balanced high-end headphones that I've ever seen/heard.

If anything, there are slight emphases of mid-bass and lower-treble.
 
This is an example of a colored and mid-range "tilted" headphone:
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=863
 

 

[Leonardo Drummond]

Quote:

Untrue. Your ears will hear sounds differently, but the fact remains that scientific measurements indicate that the K1000 is not only neutral, but it is the most balanced high-end headphones that I've ever seen/heard.

If anything, there are slight emphases of mid-bass and lower-treble.
 
This is an example of a colored and mid-range "tilted" headphone:
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=863
 

 
Well, to me, apart from the Shure SE530's, they are the most mid-centric cans I've ever heard, and I have some experience with other good cans (SR-007 MKI, Orpheus, HD800, T1, JH13, GS1000i, HD650, K701, SR-303, DT880...).
 
The K1000s, with every amp I've used (Marantz PM-11S2 and PM-7004, Little Dot MKVI w/ stock and better tubes, Cambridge 340A SE, JVC A-S5), seemed to have the most forward midrange of the lot. That includes the HD800, which didn't sound midrange tilted at all. This leads me to believe that the AKGs are naturally mid-centric, since it's difficult to accept that they are the neutral ones and all those other headphones have a recessed midrange. It's also unlikely that all those amps are mid-centric and make the headphones sound accordingly, because I've heard them with other headphones and speakers and didn't have this impression.
 
That, or my ears are seriously messed-up

 
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[Shahrose]

I don't think they are too mid-centric. Seem pretty balanced to me with a rolloff on the lower end and a small midbass hump.
 
I've got the bass-heavy version BTW.

 

[grokit]

Comparing the K1000 to the HE-6 out of the same rig, I can see how the K1000 (regular version) could be considered mid-centric in comparison. The HE-6 is capable of more extension at either end of the spectrum.
 

 

[Don Quichotte]

Quote:

Comparing the K1000 to the HE-6 out of the same rig, I can see how the K1000 (regular version) could be considered mid-centric in comparison. The HE-6 is capable of more extension at either end of the spectrum.
 
 

 



What do you mean by "regular version", bass heavy or bass light? I suppose it's the later, but I find it surprising as I have a presumably bass light pair of K1000 (#7714) and they are very extended in the highs to my ears, definitely not less extended than my Stax 303s. Stock cable, very short (a couple of inches) diy extension.

 

[grokit]

That's right, by regular version I meant "bass light".

 

[robm321]

The K-1000s are not mid-centric at all. Extremely neutral until the bass roll off.