[mypasswordis]

Yeah, I think the resonances are happening in a frequency range below that which the lack-of-crossover affects, so I'm still blaming it on the housings.

 

[smeggy]

It'll certainly be interesting hearing and examining these first hand to see how they are.

 

[mypasswordis]

I'm very interested in your take on them. I think a bit of thought put into modding will achieve good results.

 

[facelvega]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've always felt that my K340 lacks the clarity of tone of, well, any of my other headphones but especially of orthos and 'stats. So I've mostly ignored my K340. But I've never really been completely clear on what the right amount of damping in a K340 should be. Probably because I haven't cared enough to experiment with it.

Fiddling with the damping is an easy mod, just a few screws and picking at some wadding. The effect can range between bloated bass that slightly congests the rest of the range and slightly narrows the soundstage (thickly-packed damping) to lighter bass, wide soundstage, and a nasty echo-like resonance (no damping). I found that a relatively small amount of damping, a wispy cloud of wadding, gave a pleasing balance between these extremes.

ps, I've always been surprised when I hear people say they prefer no damping at all, because I don't understand how any driver version differences could make up for the inherent weakness of the housing in this regard. But hey, I've only had three pair of K340 myself, maybe others sound completely different-- but I'd need to hear it before I can believe it.

 

[smeggy]

Well I hope to get a good handle on them soon. After everything I've read, I'm intrigued to say the least.

 

[musicman59]

I agree with mypasswordis. I did placed in some vibration and dapming material (self-adhesive) to the inside of the cups. The result was pretty good.
IMO my K340 (bass-light version) sound clear and defined with a nice size soundstage and good amount of bass.

Obviously they sound different to my Edition 9 and D5000 but I enjoy them specially with acoustic music and vocals.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif And which amp would this be?

SOHA with gray plate GE 5963 and lm4562 output stage. the lm4562 is running off of a 24v supply but is fairly anemic - unable to drive loads that are less than about 400 ohms.

 

[mypasswordis]

I've been meaning to try my hand at amp-building for a long time. Maybe the SOHA v2.0 will build up enough interest to overcome my laziness.

Meanwhile, I tried felt in the backs of the housings, and it did indeed reduce resonance and helped tone become more natural. However, the treble is decreased, at least compared to the bass, which I think increased. Any ideas how to bring it up and possibly quicken it? Quicken possibly isn't the best word, since it is indeed faster than a dynamic, but it sometimes sustains unnaturally long, for some reason.

 

[smeggy]

Joe should be at my place shortly for a (very) mini meet and I can finally see if they're to my liking or not. It's gonna be fun

 

[mypasswordis]

Great; I can't wait.

Also, off topic but did you happen to get my PM?

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great; I can't wait. Also, off topic but did you happen to get my PM?

I did, and I just replied... damn my senility!!

So we just had a couple of hours playing and yacking and it seems like the K340 may not be the real problem, they sounded very nice out of my little makeshift setup and we're suspecting Joe's old Technics amp may not be working fully to spec. Dunno, he says it sounds much better on my little amp so I'm thinking that's the culprit.

As to my thoughts, I like the 340 quite a bit, it's not a full electrostat but I can forgive it that. It sounds like a wee bit of felt to cut down housing resonance and reflections may balance them out a little better. They don't fit me properly for some reason and I have gaps at the bottom of the pads. The pads are also non standard velour and the phones have been modified quite a bit. Still, nice all the same. I think they could grow n me

 

[mypasswordis]

I think I'm kind just kind of a treble and detail freak, so I still want to eek out more treble, especially after I added the felt. There's no easy way to reflect treble back from the dynamic driver with a reflex dot, and I'm not sure I would want that anyway. The K340 is a good 'phone; it just needs a bit of work. I'll have to keep trying things out. The felt I put in is normal craft felt; maybe I'll try superfelt later on. Oh, and I need to try damping the dynamic driver directly. I wish I'd thought of that sooner.

 

[Tomikans]

hopefully i get to audition these headphones since i found a local best and sell ad. Are these still worth 250 dollars? Also will i have to invest in a really powerful amp? (gah, i just bought my d2 boa, I'm trying to find some nice headphones to pair it up with other than my sr80's. I don't think the boa as enough juice to power these things too)

 

[mypasswordis]

They're worth whatever you're willing to pay. Audition the K340 first, and see how they compare to new cans of similar cost. You will probably need something more powerful than a portable amp, but see how it does. Also, it helps if you are willing to put in a bit of time and effort into modding (probably just tweaking damping).

 

[wualta]

Part of the problem with the K340, maybe the whole problem, is, as someone said, its complexity. It has a woof/mid with a tweeter, the two parts have differing lifetimes, the passive diaphragms affect the frequency response (by design) and the damping over the diaphragms affect that effect. Previous owners rip the damping out or put more in. AKG keeps changing things on top of everything else. It's Headphone Madness.

If your tweeter needs to tweet more louder, see if your "crossover" has resistors on it. If it does, jumper them and see if the electret gets louder.

I have to admit that I've been surprised at the behavior of my beloved electrets (I wrote a paper on them for physics class in 1968). Though none of mine have exhibited the "wakeup" effect, I don't dispute it. Still, since the crossover point (which is acoustic and mechanical, not electronic, and that's yet another bunch of variables) is spec'd by AKG at 4 kHz, the level of the electret driver will only add or subtract brightness and sparkle but even if it was out of the circuit, the bass wouldn't appear to tilt up.

Which just means that the thing is so complex that if you change one thing, a couple other things are likely to change in a sneaky manner.

I do agree that the midrange of the K340 reminds me of a plum that's not quite overripe. This can be fun and enjoyable. Still, I don't find my underpowered K340 to be synergetic enough with my dismissible sources to satisfy my drooling basshead tastes. I'm just so.. wrong! So I'm not going to bother fooling with it. Which I guess proves something.

By the way, it's overall about as flat as any good late-'70s 'phone, much less colored than the late-production Sextett I have. It's not a bad 'phone at all and I call no K340 owner a naughty name. It's just that I have better 'phones that respond more predictably to my amateur tinkerage.