Stefan AudioArt Hardwired K1000 cable

[Patrick82]

It appears that this was the biggest improvement I made to my system, but I have no way to confirm it.

I broke my first pair installing it (should not have made K1000 my first soldering job

). Jan Meier installed this cable into my next K1000 (for a small fee).

After a week I get my new K1000 that are not burned in yet and OMG, where has the harshness gone (did my ears change?), these sound better than K1000 with stock cable that were burned in 200+ hours!! After burn-in the harshness and brightness is going away, further away, and GONE. No problem with brightness whatsoever anymore!

K1000 sound good even without power conditioning now, amazing. That stock cable must have been really bad.

Can anyone else confirm this? Kind of hard to do A/B-ing with 1 pair.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

I've heard Hirsch's pair (hardwired with something -- not sure if it's Stefan AudioArt, but pretty sure it is), and there is definitely an improvement.

[size=xx-small]PS Nice avatar.[/size]

 

[Jon L]

The actual stock cable soldered to K1000 is not so bad. It's just your average stranded copper microphone-type cable with rubber jacket, NOT the cause of famous K1000 brightness.

The stock "extension" cable, on the other hand, appears to be not-so-high-quality silver-plated stranded copper in solid teflon, and definitely adds a "chromed edge" to sound as well as etchy yet hazy peakiness that actually obscures the purity K1000 is cable of.

 

[Ferbose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L The actual stock cable soldered to K1000 is not so bad. It's just your average stranded copper microphone-type cable with rubber jacket, NOT the cause of famous K1000 brightness. The stock "extension" cable, on the other hand, appears to be not-so-high-quality silver-plated stranded copper in solid teflon, and definitely adds a "chromed edge" to sound as well as etchy yet hazy peakiness that actually obscures the purity K1000 is cable of.

Jon L, how did you come to the conclusion that stock cable is not bad?

 

[Xanadu777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L The actual stock cable soldered to K1000 is not so bad. It's just your average stranded copper microphone-type cable with rubber jacket, NOT the cause of famous K1000 brightness. The stock "extension" cable, on the other hand, appears to be not-so-high-quality silver-plated stranded copper in solid teflon, and definitely adds a "chromed edge" to sound as well as etchy yet hazy peakiness that actually obscures the purity K1000 is cable of.

Really it is nothing like a mic cable, unless we're talking $5 mics. It is average quality stranded copper with PVC dielectric and rubber shell.

The extension is not silver plated copper but rather OFC stranded in PVC dielectric also. The ends are tinned, probably why you thought it was silver plated. There is no Teflon in either cable. The outside tube is poly or similar, definitely not Teflon.

The total length of both cables is too long for a headphone IMO. Couple that with the quality and the notch filter inside the cans and there is room for improvement without a doubt.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanadu777 Really it is nothing like a mic cable, unless we're talking $5 mics. It is average quality stranded copper with PVC dielectric and rubber shell. The extension is not silver plated copper but rather OFC stranded in PVC dielectric also. The ends are tinned, probably why you thought it was silver plated. There is no Teflon in either cable. The outside tube is poly or similar, definitely not Teflon. The total length of both cables is too long for a headphone IMO. Couple that with the quality and the notch filter inside the cans and there is room for improvement without a doubt.

Hmm. I seemed to have read that silver-plated teflon info couple of times somewhere. Then again, I haven't actually touched my stock cable for ages or given it the fire teflon test.

I'm a bit surprised that OFC stranded copper in non-teflon (could be polyethylene maybe?) adds that much edginess and peakiness b/c usually IME these types of wires tend to commit sins of ommission. Perhaps there's an oxidation problem under the cover..

 

[Xanadu777]

Now that you mention it, I think I remember I was blown away by how much oxidation there was on the stock cable. I can't remember if it was just the extension or the headphone cable too. I'm pretty sure the extension is PVC, don't remember the main cable. I also remember that the worse soldering I've ever seen from a manufacturer was in an AKG 4 pin XLR

Get rid of all that and the notch filter too and the cans sound pretty darn good. Add a sub and it's a fine headphone

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick82 After a week I get my new K1000 that are not burned in yet and OMG, where has the harshness gone (did my ears change?), these sound better than K1000 with stock cable that were burned in 200+ hours!! After burn-in the harshness and brightness is going away, further away, and GONE. No problem with brightness whatsoever anymore! Can anyone else confirm this? Kind of hard to do A/B-ing with 1 pair.

My K-1000 is hardwired with the Stephan Audio Arts cable, and I did have the opportunity to A/B with stock before selling that one. I heard what you did. The Stephan Audio Arts cable is definitely smoother, with less harshness and brightness. Very nice improvement on the headphone.

 

[Bostonears]

Anyone using the Stefan AudioArts cable with K1000s: How is it for microphonics and physical stiffness? The stock hardwired cable is pretty good in these respects. Is the Stefan cable as good or better?

 

[tmarshl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanadu777 Now that you mention it, I think I remember I was blown away by how much oxidation there was on the stock cable. I can't remember if it was just the extension or the headphone cable too. I'm pretty sure the extension is PVC, don't remember the main cable. I also remember that the worse soldering I've ever seen from a manufacturer was in an AKG 4 pin XLR Get rid of all that and the notch filter too and the cans sound pretty darn good. Add a sub and it's a fine headphone

My stock extension cable was so oxidized, and the color in the plastic coating so faded that I couldn't tell the channels apart. No longer a problem with the Sefan AudioArts Equinox.

 

[tmarshl]

When I sent my K1000s off for the installation of the hardwired Stefan AudioArts Equinox cable, somehow the drivers got damaged in transit. So I recently received them back from AKG with new drivers installed. I now have about 100 hours on them, and I can say that the combination is everything I had hoped it would be. The over-brightness is totally gone, and the result is very satisfying. The reproduction is so revealing that flaws in some of my original recordings become apparent, but the great recordings are astounding.

Now I have a delicioius new project: to listen to my entire collection again. For many recordings, it is as if I had never truly heard them before!

 

[PATB]

I love to try the Equinox cable on my K1000 (I love the Equinox on the HD650, so why not!), but have no DIY skills whatsoever. Where do you send the K1000 to have the Equinox hardwired cable installed?

 

[tmarshl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PATB I love to try the Equinox cable on my K1000 (I love the Equinox on the HD650, so why not!), but have no DIY skills whatsoever. Where do you send the K1000 to have the Equinox hardwired cable installed?

I sent mine to Vinnie Rossi at RedWine audio. This is not a DIY project for any but the most skilled.

Here is his link:
http://www.redwineaudio.com

 

[spacemanspliff]

doobooloo hardwired mine with some military grade silver cable. I'm getting them back this week but he says they hit a lot harder than before evn with a wallwort. he's also building a psu for me.

 

[utep10]

I'm currently waiting the painful 6-7week leadtime on the Stefan AudioArts cable. Then it will be off the Vinnie.