[tdogzthmn]

My K400/K500 have been left in the dust.... so sad.

 

[madbull]

Quote:

 
Yes sorry madbull ... i saw your post when i went to post my announcement. Not that i have been following this thread before as i wasn't an owner of a pair of K1000's until now. I thought to myself this person isn't going to be happy. These cans were posted on another Australian audio site. Just right place at the right time i guess. Don't see too many come up for sale i must admit. I trust you are trolling the FS thread?
 

 
Yeah, I'm keeping an eye on the ads, so far only non bass heavy versions popping up...
I'm a bit frustrated cause I have an amp made with them in mind by Donald North, and I can't even find one anywhere. But I'll wait.
Congrats on your new can!

 

[Don Quichotte]

Quote:

Got my F5 clone over the weekend and have been very happy with what I hear.  It's more focused and detailed with an even wider soundstage than my Adcom.  By far the best sounding system I have owned to date.  

How is the bass ( in quantity and extension) and how is the overall tonality (somewhat dry, a bit warm, etc.)? Also please mention if your K1000 is bass light or bass heavy. Thanks!

 

[tdogzthmn]

I have the a later serial version of the K1000 which I'm guessing is the "bass light" version.  Both the headphone and amp are very neutral and natural in presentation.  The sound is phenomenal with most music which was captured through a microphone vs. something purely digital, like electronic music for example.  The headphone and amp both do a good job of walking a middle path and not sounding overly bright or brittle.  The extension of the bass is tight and deep without overstepping its bounds.  I think another headphone such as the LCD-2 would fair better with harder hitting lower notes in certain types of music but it would be hard to match the natural tone and stunning presentation of the K1000.  

 

[Don Quichotte]

Thanks. I also have a bass light pair of K1000 and I've been really interested in the Firstwatt amps, especially given the F1's reputation for strong bass when used with the K1000. Needless to say that I really like my K1000 a lot out of my lowly T-amp, but the bass is definitely (too much) on the light side. I've built an F2 clone a few years ago but I had some technical problems with it (a kind of buzzing that I couldn't explain) and I was somewhat underwhelmed by the sound, at least compared with my expectation. Lack of time and money made me return to the t-amp and postpone the "better K1000 amp" project indefinitely, but some sunny day I'll return to it and then I don't know what to build. F5 is a candidate, but I'm not sure it will give me the bass boost I'd like to have. F1 is not appropriate because I don't have a balanced source + preamp, and the unbalanced F1 might be too similar to the F2 (which I found a bit too warm with not enough resolution and even a little bit underpowered - maybe it was simply my low quality build, I don't know).
 
As a side note, I've heard a vintage Dual receiver (a German company I hadn't heard about before) with my K1000 recently and I was extremely surprised by VERY meaty bass (for K1000 standards), more than enough in term of fullness, and open, warm and very musical mids. However, under precarious listening conditions I had the impression that the resolution in mids and highs is not quite good enough for my taste. But the bass, oh my, never heard such K1000 bass...

 

[tdogzthmn]

It's hard to define exactly the type of bass you are looking for, as it can vary alot between music genres.  I will never expect a great bass performance from the K1000 with most electronic or other musical types with heavily synthesized low end.  However bass with jazz, classical, and acoustic performances are amazing and perfectly satisfactory.  I think the traits which make the K1000 so amazing for certain genres will inevitably hold it back with others.  I am very happy with what I get from the F5 but I know that ultimately I will probably pick up an LCD-2 or similar which will really deliver a better and more pungent low end.  Otherwise I can readily recommend the F5.

 

[grokit]

Try an HE6 as well. It has similar power requirements as the K1000 and will still be a big contrast bass-wise, with a more balanced FR overall.

 

[Don Quichotte]

I mainly listen to classical and jazz, but even for them the bass is too light. In my system, my Stax 303 are great in this respect, perfect for my taste; my AKG K501 are pretty good (they have stronger low end than the K1000), the K1000 / t-amp are kind of lacking. And it's a pity because, apart from the low bass and midbass, I really like the sound of this weird (price-wise) combo. Fast, with plenty of texture, but not too harsh although it is rather light. On the other hand, the Sennheiser HD600 I had many years ago were a bit too bassy for me.

 

[Mr.Sir]

oooh...

 

[grokit]

^ Very nice!
 
Quote:

I mainly listen to classical and jazz, but even for them the bass is too light. In my system, my Stax 303 are great in this respect, perfect for my taste; my AKG K501 are pretty good (they have stronger low end than the K1000), the K1000 / t-amp are kind of lacking. And it's a pity because, apart from the low bass and midbass, I really like the sound of this weird (price-wise) combo. Fast, with plenty of texture, but not too harsh although it is rather light. On the other hand, the Sennheiser HD600 I had many years ago were a bit too bassy for me.

 
Try hooking your K1000 to a conventional speaker amp before you write them off. I tried an HE6 from a T-amp once and it was a total fail. Now I run both HE6 and K1000 from the same speaker amp.

 

[Zsubbo]

Witch one is that ? (just out of curiosity)

 

[grokit]

I don't remember which T-amp I tried, it was a $200 unit I returned to ALO Audio. They don't sell it anymore.
 
The speaker amp I am using now is the Alesis RA150, 45wpc into 8ohms class A/B dual mono configuration with balanced and SE inputs.

 

[Don Quichotte]

@grokit:
No way I'm gonna write them off, don't worry! I really enjoy my K1000 even with my T-amp, but I'd really really like more bass. What is it that you didn't like at the HE6 / T-amp combo? I'm feeding the amp with a 12V SLA battery and the K1000 are run in parallel with some 4 ohm ceramic resistors. I remember reading something along the lines that the t-amp sound is tilted towards the higher frequencies as the impedance of the speakers / phones increases, so maybe the K1000 would sound piercing without the parallel resistors?! Never tried them this way, though, and I'm not gonna do it because it would require some desoldering / soldering and I'm too lazy / busy for that. Maybe this was your experience with the HE6 as well?
 
As I said earlier, I've tried the K1000 with a vintage Dual receiver and got plenty of bass; I've also tried a vintage Marantz receiver and a Sony ES 505 amplifier. The Dual and the Marantz were a bit too unrefined / undetailed for my taste (but quite musical, especially the former), while the Sony was a bit gray and dull, a bit soulless. I'd fear something like the Alesis amp you are mentioning might sound too unrefined as well for me... It's strange, I know, to claim I need more refinement when upgrading from the ultra-cheap t-amp, but for me this little amp is a little marvel and I don't find it lacking too much in this respect. It has a very direct, forthright sound that I missed when trying the at least 50 times more expensive Sony.
 
A bassy acoustic recording such as George Winston's "Night Divides the Day" (piano improvisations on The Doors tunes) sounds SPECTACULAR through the t-amp / K1000 combo, even surpassing my Stax 3030 combo by a comfortable margin! On most other discs, though, I prefer the Stax. 

 

[bobusn]

Quote:

 

Look forward to your next post in 2018.
 

 
Ha!

 

[grokit]

Quote:

@grokit:
No way I'm gonna write them off, don't worry! I really enjoy my K1000 even with my T-amp, but I'd really really like more bass. What is it that you didn't like at the HE6 / T-amp combo? I'm feeding the amp with a 12V SLA battery and the K1000 are run in parallel with some 4 ohm ceramic resistors. I remember reading something along the lines that the t-amp sound is tilted towards the higher frequencies as the impedance of the speakers / phones increases, so maybe the K1000 would sound piercing without the parallel resistors?! Never tried them this way, though, and I'm not gonna do it because it would require some desoldering / soldering and I'm too lazy / busy for that. Maybe this was your experience with the HE6 as well?
 
As I said earlier, I've tried the K1000 with a vintage Dual receiver and got plenty of bass; I've also tried a vintage Marantz receiver and a Sony ES 505 amplifier. The Dual and the Marantz were a bit too unrefined / undetailed for my taste (but quite musical, especially the former), while the Sony was a bit gray and dull, a bit soulless. I'd fear something like the Alesis amp you are mentioning might sound too unrefined as well for me... It's strange, I know, to claim I need more refinement when upgrading from the ultra-cheap t-amp, but for me this little amp is a little marvel and I don't find it lacking too much in this respect. It has a very direct, forthright sound that I missed when trying the at least 50 times more expensive Sony.
 
A bassy acoustic recording such as George Winston's "Night Divides the Day" (piano improvisations on The Doors tunes) sounds SPECTACULAR through the t-amp / K1000 combo, even surpassing my Stax 3030 combo by a comfortable margin! On most other discs, though, I prefer the Stax. 

 
That's a great album. The unique melodies of the Doors with out the rock n' roll if the mood strikes you so.
 
Interesting that you find the T-amp's refinement and detail satisfying, while preferring the bass energy from the receiver taps. For myself I couldn't get past the loose distorted bass and complete lack of dynamics but your T-amp may be better than mine was. I did not try it with resistors.
 
The Alesis may sound different with headphones than a typical integrated amp/receiver, mainly because it's a unique kind of speaker amp. The RA150 is a proven design that has remained unchanged for decades (which holds the manufacturing cost down), and is made specifically to drive near-field monitors in a pro audio environment. So that may lend it more to driving headphones, or in the case of the HE6/KK, "earspeakers". I use 10 ohm resistors across each channel so it's tuned more for the HE6.