Roll Call for Team AKG

[ericj]

I still have the K612 Pro, largest soundstage of my cans, no bass bump but reaches deep. However, they can sound kinda "hard" so not well suited for longer sessions or certain music and the headband do create ache after a while. I still like it, but I have serveral other cans I like more.

However, my first HiFi can was the famous Sextett, back in 1978 or so. I used them exclusively for almost ten years and had many good memories of their SQ, eventually I started using Sennheisers which sounded better and they got lost in the mists of time. I was surprised when i first saw the sextetts being praised here. I also had the K240 Monitor in the eighties, but I thought the Senns of that time was better, more resolving.

edit. Oh, and the K612 also needs some proper amping, sounds very uninspiring with a too weak amp. I suppose the same goes for K601 as they are said to use the exact same driver.

I've never heard the K612 pro. If i remember right, when the K601 and K701 were released to replace the K401 and K501, the general impression was that like the 401 was to the 501, the 601 was the "fun" cousin of the more refined 701. But the K701 was such a big deal that hardly anyone bought the K601.

I've heard but never owned a K501. I'd still consider buying one but not at the $300+ range some people are asking. I have the K500 and K401 as well - both good cans with their own character. And half a K400. I had the K300 and K301 and they, uh, were not particularly good. Not horrible, but nothing to write home about.

I always thought the original k701 sounded funny. And looked funny. And had bumps on the headband. So i never bought one.

Several months ago i bought an open-box missing-the-pads K702 which, according to the measurements, is almost exactly the late k701 but without the toilet bowl looks. I like it pretty well. It's possible that with some careful eq to flatten out the weirdness in the upper treble of the early k701 it may actually be better than the later version and k702.

The reviews of the k7xx make me pretty sure i don't want one.

Q701 might be interesting but i have never heard one.

I'm still waiting for the K601 pads to air dry so i probably won't get a proper listen until tomorrow.

 

[ericj]

I'm still waiting for the K601 pads to air dry so i probably won't get a proper listen until tomorrow.

Indeed, it's like a k501 with bass, from memory anyway. been a while since i had a k501 on my head.

Needs an amp with a lot of gain.

 

[ericj]

Another addition to the collection. Listing said it had distortion in the left channel with increased volume, but i have a spare driver.

I don't hear the distortion. Maybe just a hair through the pad?

If i sniped this away from you on ebay i am a little sorry.

 

[kid vic]

Another addition to the collection. Listing said it had distortion in the left channel with increased volume, but i have a spare driver.

I don't hear the distortion. Maybe just a hair through the pad?

If i sniped this away from you on ebay i am a little sorry.

Whatever happened to the pair I sent you? Were the well and truly dead?

 

[ericj]

Whatever happened to the pair I sent you? Were the well and truly dead?

Oh yeah, I kept meaning to update you.

That driver that was probably dead? 100% dead. Open circuit in the coil. for sure. it saw some excessive DC and went *fup*. or there was a defect in the voice coil wire, which is rare but can happen.

So i bought this pair thinking that worst-case scenario i would have at least two good drivers.

Still debating what to do with just a K400 frame.

 

[ericj]

Actually, the *right channel on this k400 has an issue, so i guess I will commence exploratory surgery some time this weekend

 

[DeweyCH]

OK, so I've had a pair of late-production Sextetts for a couple of years now, and I really like them. They're not my daily drivers, but there's something there that's pretty special. Great bass, very nice detail, and they play very nice with tubes. Mine have been converted to MMCX connections because I hate the old AKG cords...

Today I received a pair of K240DFs that I got off the 'bay and it's interesting... they're like a bass-light, brighter version of the Sextetts with really forward vocals. I have to say I like them. They like my Crack, although stuff gets pushed back into the background that I like seeing more of (the horns on "I Am The Walrus" for example, and the strings on "All You Need Is Love"). But the vocals are really impressive.

I also have a pair of K240 Studios that I'm not a big fan of. I'm in the process of trying to Sextett-ize them (got a bunch of passive radiators and I'm going to drill out the spaces in the baffles where they'd fit). Who knows if it'll be a positive thing, but you don't learn without experimenting wildly, right?

So, question time... what are the right pads for these (all 3 really), in your experience? Those pancake-flat pads that originally came with them are a big no-go... as it currently stands the Sextetts have a pair of Dekoni hybrid pads (velour ring, solid leather outside and perf leather inside) and I'm playing with a pair of solid lambskin ZMF Auteur pads on the DFs. They seem to work really, really well, but I'm curious what other people's pad-rolling experience is.

Oh, and does anyone by chance have a 3d printing schematic for caps (the discs on either side of these old-school K240s) that will take mini-XLR ports? I tried to design some myself, but my buddy with a 3d printer is unreliable and I'm somewhat loath to just wait until he can be bothered to print my design that may or may not be a huge piece of butt.

Thanks!