[pataburd]

The K501 offer an expansive and well-delineated soundstage that is incredibly cohesive, too. I haven't yet heard the K1000, but the K501 are to me the best-staging and most musically involving open set of headphones I've owned to date.

Tubes definitely do the K501 justice, BTW! : )

 

[Wilashort]

Denons with open Beyer (DT880/990) velour earpads [and with some foams/cloths = INMENSE soundstage and out of the head sounds (Headstage) width and depth].
Yeah, these are mods (which can be unfair....), but similar at these stock headphones [DT990 (huge soundstage width) and DX1000 (huge soundstage depth, and they are closed, now on a open enclosure, umm....)]

 

[davidhunternyc]

I guess I am being a bit crazy here, but I wish someone would do a comparison review of the K501 and K702 emphasizing the quality of headstage.

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidhunternyc /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess I am being a bit crazy here, but I wish someone would do a comparison review of the K501/K601 and K702 emphasizing the quality of headstage.

X2

 

[Rednamalas1]

ASR did a review between K501 K601 and K701, you might want to look into that.

 

[davidhunternyc]

And yet again, thank you Red Master Plus for pointing the way. I just read ASR's review about the K501/601/701 headphones. Basically he said that the K701 is by far the better headphone in all areas but this is what he said specifically about the soundstage:

The K501 had the largest soundstage on display in this round-up, around maybe 120% the size of the K701's. You thought the K701 sounded spacious? Wait 'til you hear a K501! It was so large it was like sitting in an ampitheatre with concert-hall acoustics - a large projection of sound coming at you from a good distance away. Very airy too, as it lets sound hang and float even more than the K701.

The K701, as most know, has its own large soundstage, which I prefer to liken to an ampitheatre. Excellent projection, with a large, epic, and truly soaring sound.

And finally the K601 has the smallest soundstage, but even its stage is larger than what you'll find in other headphone brands like Grado and Sennheiser. Very focused, directed, and intent on what it's trying to do. It doesn't really have an epic/soaring quality but it sounds appropriately intimate yet relatively distant at the same time.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/thr...s-k701-213146/

 

[FrankCooter]

Try the JVC DX-1000 if you get a chance.

 

[WittyzTH]

K1000 is the king of headstage for sure.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidhunternyc /img/forum/go_quote.gif The K501 had the largest soundstage on display in this round-up, around maybe 120% the size of the K701's. You thought the K701 sounded spacious? Wait 'til you hear a K501! It was so large it was like sitting in an ampitheatre with concert-hall acoustics - a large projection of sound coming at you from a good distance away. Very airy too, as it lets sound hang and float even more than the K701. The K701, as most know, has its own large soundstage, which I prefer to liken to an ampitheatre. Excellent projection, with a large, epic, and truly soaring sound.

I'd agree with that assessment, except that I haven't heard the K-601. But the K-1000 beats the K-501. It's the difference between headphones and speakers, there's not much else to compare them to. The real wonder of the K-1000 is that it projects like speakers do, but without the problems you get from speaker/room interaction. Speakers depend greatly on the room they're in, but the K-1000 doesn't have that drawback. The K-1000 is like having great speakers in a great listening room. Plus, the K-1000 is a singledriver, so you get that wonderful, cohesive sound you only get when there's no crossover. There's little else like them, speaker or headphone. I really wish AKG would put them back in production.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rednamalas1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ASR did a review between K501 K601 and K701, you might want to look into that.

Keep in mind that ASR prefaces his review by stating a decided bias against the K501. The K501 are effectively dismissed before the review even begins! I therefore take ASR's comparisons between the K501 and the K701 with a grain of salt.

My experience with the K501 v. K701 is that the former are way more--and I mean WAY MORE--cohesive in the critical midrange, especially the upper midrange/lower treble, than are the latter.

Also note that the RAL-recabled K701 were my reference headphones for about a year and a half before I a/b-ed them with the stock K501; so, if anything, I had a lond-standing predelection for and familiarity with the K701 prior to doing the comparison. And at that time--my second time around with the K501--I fully expected the K701 to emerge triumphant, too.

After lots of critical listening, soul-searching and challenging my own biases, I came to the unavoidable and wholly unexpected conclusion that something was missing with the K701.

What was missing was the midrange cohesion that the K501 deliver in spades.

 

[Faust2D]

K1000's soundstage to me is similar to soundstage of nice mini monitors. SR-Sigma has real big speaker like soundstage

The rest have headstage and don't even attempt to have real full-size soundstage.

[[size=xx-small]Runs, hides, mumbles: where is that stupid flame gear.[/size]]

 

[pataburd]

I once had a speaker-like, "out-of-head" experience with a pair of modded K340, too. But it was late, and I was hungry. : )

The way the K1000 are described, it's almost a must-try for those with means. But for those of us populating the Head-Fi middle class, the K501 will have to do for now, should the aristocrats allow! : )

 

[Nikita]

Stax models ?

 

[Rednamalas1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pataburd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Keep in mind that ASR prefaces his review by stating a decided bias against the K501. The K501 are effectively dismissed before the review even begins! I therefore take ASR's comparisons between the K501 and the K701 with a grain of salt. My experience with the K501 v. K701 is that the former are way more--and I mean WAY MORE--cohesive in the critical midrange, especially the upper midrange/lower treble, than are the latter. Also note that the RAL-recabled K701 were my reference headphones for about a year and a half before I a/b-ed them with the stock K501; so, if anything, I had a lond-standing predelection for and familiarity with the K701 prior to doing the comparison. And at that time--my second time around with the K501--I fully expected the K701 to emerge triumphant, too. After lots of critical listening, soul-searching and challenging my own biases, I came to the unavoidable and wholly unexpected conclusion that something was missing with the K701. What was missing was the midrange cohesion that the K501 deliver in spades.

I know. I was just referring to soundstage comparisons

I heart K501 as well.

 

[JadeEast]

I don't have an answer for what the "best" is but I do have an observation about soundstage with headphones. Many of the comments seem to be focused on the largest and not the most accurate presentation of soundstage.

Soundstage is ultimately an illusion created by the recording, source, amplifier and headphone working together. An accurate and transparent system would allow a presentation of soundstage that would vary depending on the content of the recording and not present all recordings as being the same size.

I think of something like the k340 that certainly has impressed me with accuracy of placement and the illusion of depth but places all recordings within a very similar space. This is in my setup and with my ears but it seems that by some measures it has excellent soundstage but fails to show much difference between the soundstage of different recordings.

What are the qualities that would define "best" soundstage for headphones for other listeners?