AKG K1000 Impressions, Comparative Reviews
Written: May 03 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent dynamics, vast soundstage
Cons: Slightly aggressive upper mid-range
The Bottom Line: It's requires a beefy amp, and may be a touch strident. But if you want air and power and a vast soundstage, it can't be beat.
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| shivohum's Full Review: AKG K 1000 Professional Headphones |
The first section of this review were my initial impressions upon the acquisition of this headphone.
The second section of this review is a comparison of the K1000 to the Alessandro-Grado Music Series Pro, another respected dynamic headphone that can be found at http://www.alessandro-products.com/headphones.html
The third section is a comparison to the Stax Lambda Pro. The Stax Lambda Pro is a well-respected electrostatic headphone from about 10 years ago. The comparison between its sound and the sound of the K1000 can give you an idea of what the general differences are between dynamic and electrostatic headphones.
The fourth part of this review is an addendum including some other interesting information on the K1000.
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Part I: Initial Impressions
Well, I received my AKG K1000s today. Since I bought them used, they are nicely broken in for me. I'm going to compare them briefly (JUST initial impressions...) to the Alessandro-Grado Music Series Pro, my headphone for the last several months.
The K1000s are $1200 retail in the U.S., but can be gotten for ~$550 if you're willing to import them from Germany. The MSP is $695 retail.
Build quality:
The K1000's headphone cord is actually two cords. The first cord streams from the headphone. The second is an attachment that connects to the first and is terminated with speaker binding posts to attach to a power amp. According to Headroom, an amp of at least 7W is needed.
Compared to the MSP, the cords are all thin and rubberized and have a tough, durable feel to them. They give the impression you could step on them and nothing would happen. Not as much the MSPs, whose cord is more plasticky. The connection from the cord to the earpiece is sturdier on the K1000s.
The K1000's earpiece is a metal grille--certainly more durable than the rough clothy earpads of the MSP. The earband of the MSP is soft leather and does not have the same feeling of beef jerky toughness as does the thin strip of leather that constitutes the K1000's headphone.
Looks: MSP looks much more elegant. K1000s look like industrial machinery: sturdy, tough, but nothing pretty to gaze at. The MSPs are more a work of art, with mahogany earpieces and leather headband.
Comfort:
With the K1000s, the earpads don't touch your ears. Rather, you can adjust how far the earpads are away from your ears, and at what angle they point at your ear. The MSPs you put on like normal headphones.
Considering that the earpads never touch your ears, and that the MSP's earpads can get scratchy after a while, the K1000s are certainly more comfortable than the MSPs.
A caveat: since each K1000 earpads adjusts independently, it is a royal pain to get them to be equidistant from your ear (I've only got a rough approximation even now).
Sound:
System: Denon DCM-370 cd changer, radio shack interconnects, Cambridge Audio A300 integrated amplifier
Well this is the important category. A couple of things struck me when I put the K1000s on.
First of all, they do *not* provide an out of head image. They are not like speakers in this regard; they do not compete with binaural.
Second, they have a vast, spacious soundstage. Instrument separation is unmatched, far above every other headphone I've heard. They have superb depth. As you can guess, in soundstaging and imaging the K1000s far outdo the Grados. However, a note: the MSP and the K1000 share an attribute with regards to soundstaging that stands in contrast with the Sennheiser HD-600.
With the 600, with every recording there is a sense that you are going to see the performance -- that you have been enclosed in the performance space. This I'm guessing is due to the circumaural nature of the 600's earpads.
The MSP and the K1000, on the other hand, make it sound as if the musicians are floating in front of you -- in the room with you, as opposed to you going to their performance.
Personally I prefer the MSP/K1000 interpretation.
Now, as to other characteristics:
Highs: The K1000 has slightly sweet highs, not quite as extended as the MSP. It's a bit more rounded off. Not as dark as the Senn 600s, though. The K1000 is less merciless on bad recordings than the MSP, but I don't feel the treble is as accurate - a well-recorded flute sounds duller on the K1000s than on the MSP. A harp doesn't have the same pluck.
Mids: The K1000 is considerably warmer than the MSP--but this doesn't mean it sounds realer; it doesn't. Vocals come out a touch chalky and have a sheen of electronicness in comparison to the MSP. Violins have a sort of smoothness and sheen on the MSPs that is a little lacking on the K1000.
Actually the tonal balance is not terribly different in the mids between these two headphones, but the win goes to the MSP nevertheless.
Bass:
Remarkably similar. Neither headphone seems to go extremely deep, but both have a rich mid-bass and what bass is there is tight and quick. However, the K1000s seem to have a slight edge with a touch more tunefulness in the lower depths of the bass; the airiness of the headphone also really helps spread the vibrations of the bass -- there is more resonance and you can feel the richness and warmth of cellos better, for instance.
Dynamics:
Here there is a split between macro- and micro-dynamics. At overall big dynamics I think the K1000 is better. There is a sort of rush of air and power that the K1000 is able to summon more effectively than the MSPs. This is particularly useful for orchestral recordings.
I think this may be at least partly because the K1000s have a 50W amp and my poor MSPs are running off a CD player headphone jack (albeit a pretty good one).
As for micro-dynamics, though--hearing the tiny changes of volume in the inflections and vibrations of instruments and voices--the MSP definitely lands on top. As a result, there is an *organic* quality about music from the MSP that the K1000 does not quite match. That is, the musicians on the MSP sound like they are performing as you listen -- there is a sort of energy that is communicated through the MSP that the K1000 does not quite express; music through the K1000 sounds more like a recording and less like a live performance.
An example: I was listening to Oistrakh play the Tchaikovksy violin concerto. On a certain emotional passage, with the MSP I could hear Oistrakh's passion thrummed savagely into every squeak of the violin bowstring; with the K1000 it's a little calmer, a little flatter, alas, a little less emotionally enthralling.
Detail: Along with micro-dynamics, the MSPs also win with detail. I think this is a function of the fact that the K1000 earpads are farther from your ear. I think a little detail literally gets lost in the air. I think this micro-dynamics contributes to the MSP's greater liveliness.
Note: do not confuse the MSP's liveliness with the very sparkly treble you will find on the Grado SR-60, SR-125, and other Grado headphones on the lower end of the line. The MSP is incomparably more neutral than the SR-60 and if its extraordinary organic quality is due to peaky highs (which I don't think is the case personally), those peaks are still considerably flatter than with the SR-60 and family.
Anyway, it's getting late and I'm getting tired. I just wanted to post this initial set of impressions for those of you curious out there.
The K1000s are a spacious, airy expansive friend: an all-around winner. The MSPs have a character of intense concentration and ferocious energy.
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Part II: K1000 vs. Alessandro-Grado Music Pro
OK, I decided I had enough free time for me to waste tonight to write a full review of the AKG K1000s and to do a detailed comparison with the other reference-quality headphones that I'm privileged to possess--the Alessandro-Grado Music Series Pro.
Warning: this is going to be long, winding, and self-indulgent. Enjoy (or suffer) as you will :-).
Things have changed some since I last wrote of the K1000s.
Comfort:
In my initial impressions, I wrote "the K1000s are certainly more comfortable than the MSPs..." While this seemed true initially, it is certainly not true in long-term listening. The problem is that while the K1000's earpads do not touch your ears, the headband locks in a visegrip around your skull, and after listening for a while it tends to give you a headache. Loosening the headband is not particularly easy, since its rigidity is ensured by the two bright orange plastic bands above it, and they are rigid. Still, after consistent loosening it is slowly growing more tolerable.
I now consider the MSPs to be the more comfortable of the two headphones (a first for Grados?).
Sound quality:
I'd like to characterize the differences between the K1000 and the MSP along two axes: darkness/brightness and woodiness/metallicness (if there isn't such a word, I just invented it :-). Each extreme on these two axes represents coloration. I feel that each headphone is just about equally neutral (or equally non-neutral), but that each departs from neutrality in different ways.
With the AKGs, one can visualize the sound as water with a touch of grey -- the kind of grey you would find on an overcast day. That is to say, the AKGs tend to be a little on the dull side. Furthermore, as Harald correctly assessed in the initial impressions thread, the K1000s do have this kind of metallic edge to them that makes them sound precise but a little rough.
The MSPs, on the other hand, have the kind of sound you might find at a concert hall - lively and smooth - a bright, warm orange. It is characterized, perhaps paradoxically, both by treble extension and by imperturbable smoothness--likely given it by its wooden housing. It errs by being perhaps a little too forward. While the AKGs can be a touch dull, the MSPs can be a little fatiguing.
Note these are all relative terms, though. Both headphones make amazing music, no doubt about that.
There's another effect I want to talk about with regards to the AKG. I was getting a little annoyed with its slightly electronic character when I decided I wanted to know how much power the headphones could take. So I put the digital volume control on my CD changer to full power, and increased the volume on my 50W/channel integrated amp to about 4:00. The AKGs handled it without a hitch. And interestingly enough, when I turned the volume back down, the headphones had improved! They had gotten warmer, and more coherent. The electronic character was still there, but it was less evident. Is this just my imagination? Who knows...
Anyway, I'm going to analyze a few CDs and compare the sounds I get on each to give you an idea of how the headphones stack up to each other.
My System:
Source: Denon DCM-370 5-CD Changer
Interconnects: Radio Shack Gold
Integrated Amplifier: Cambridge Audio A300 V.2
Note 1: I set the volume on the DCM-370 to 7 for these comparisons because otherwise the MSP which I ran off its headphone jack became too loud. Unfortunately, that meant losing some resolution (it's a flaw of digital volume controls). I didn't set the volume to 0 for the K1000s because that would mean giving them an unfair advantage. Instead, I increased the volume on the Cambidge to make the K1000s sound as loud as the MSPs.
Note 2: As you might know, the earpads of the K1000 can be adjusted to as close to your ears as a normal headphone or to be nearly parallel to your face. As Headroom and Jan Meier's reviews of the K1000 both note, the farther the earpads are from your ears the less bass and dynamics, but the deeper and more externalized the sound image. I chose a position somewhat closer to my ears than away from them.
CD #1 - Chesky Ultimate Demonstration Disc
Track #1 - The voice of the narrator comes out clean and very forward with the MSPs. You can hear every syllable and every muscle in the narrator's mouth form the words. This sounds perhaps a little TOO detailed to be realistic.
The AKGs make the narrator's voice sound bassier, deeper. There is less vocal detail.
Although both phones are flawed, I think the MSP reproduces the narrator's voice more realistically. With the AKGs I feel like the narrator has lost some of the higher notes in his voice. But perhaps this is just because I am conditioned by the Grado sound...
Track #3 - Rebecca Pidgeon, "Spanish Harlem"
* The initial bass that starts the song is more tuneful with the AKG than the MSP; MSP's bass is more blurred and indistinct.
* Violins a little glary on the AKGs.
* Rebecca's voice sweet on both headphones, but livelier, sweeter, *liver*, more seductive on the MSPs.
* AKGs are more atmospheric - it feels like the entire venue is reproduced with them, while the MSPs seem to be too forward and have little image depth.
Track #5 - Sara K., "If I Could Sing Your Blues"
* Trumpet that starts track should be far right. It is far right with both phones, but with AKGs it sounds wholer, and moreover the space around it is recreated properly. It sounds like there really is *space* between you and the trumpets, and not that it is just an auditory illusion.
* Sara's voice whispier, thinner, less forward on AKGs. A mixed blessing. Pros: more relaxed. Cons: more relaxed.
Track #9: Livingston Taylor, "Grandma's Hands"
* With the AKGs it is easier to switch attention to background sounds--they feel more independent and detached from the foreground than w/MSP.
* Snap of fingers definitely more flesh-and-bone on MSP than with AKGs.
* Livingston's voice chalkier and thinner on the AKG than MSP; MSP really recreates Livingston's character and vital force.
Track #11 - Ana Caram, "Correnteza"
* Wow! The AKGs are really able to produce an atmosphere. The instruments and effects sound grainier than the MSP, but the separation and air between these instruments and the image depth is fabulous. There is a much stronger "virtual reality" with the K1000s than with the MSPs.
* Ana's voice is soft, multi-layered, and more nuanced with MSP. Altogether more seductive and real both.
Track #15 - McCoy Tyner, "Ask Me Now"
* An instrumental timbre upset for the MSP! The AKGs are able to bring an immense palpability to the sax here. It's the MSP's turn to sound thin and a little dry.
Track #19 - Johnny Frigo, "I Love Paris"
* With the AKG, the plucked strings at the beginning of the song do not change in volume as much or as quickly as the MSPs. The MSPs give the impression that the string-plucker had more passion and put more verve into his playing.
* Violin is not as refined on the AKGs as with MSP; it sounds chalky.
* Again, the AKGs amaze with their beautiful image width and depth that create a wonderful illusion of performance. Comparatively, the MSPs are less convincing; performers seem squashed together and shoved in your face ;-).
* MSPs make these drums sound absolutely real - the transparency is enough such that if you focus on the drums, it's as if you're listening to them play in the studio.
* The AKGs allow you to more easily hone in any one instrument and listen to it exclusively. The MSPs have a tendency to allow the lead instruments to meld the background instruments into it.
Track #21 - Vivaldi, "Flute Concerto in D"
* Flute is shocking on MSP. Again the realism is effect. Close your eyes, listen to the flute, and you could swear it wasn't a recording.
* Flute is almost (but not quite) as real on AKGs. The overall timbre of instruments is coarser.
* Since each instrument has more room to itself on the AKGs than on the MSPs, it is no surprise that each instrument is also more focused in position -- each is more solid and locatable in space.
Track #23 - Benjamin Britten, "Festival Te Deum"
* AKGs reproduce more accurately the vastness of the cathedral.
* Can hear the choir more as individual voices on the AKGs; on the MSPs it is more a solid mass.
* The organ is also reproduced more strongly on the AKGs.
* Voices in this case are difficult to judge. Individual voices on the AKG are beautiful, but distinctly less beautiful than on the MSP. Nevertheless, the nobility of the voices of *whole* choir comes out in greater strength on the AKGs.
* This song is just gorgeous. It sounds thrilling on both headphones, but more thrilling on the AKGs.
Track #25 - Stravinsky, "The Royal March" from "The Soldier's Tale"
* Horn at beginning of track is more confident and biting (which is good) on MSP.
* MSP gives enormous coherence to the orchestra; these guys really sound like they're working together.
* But the AKGs make it sound as large and as deep and as numerous as an orchestra *should* be.
* Again, AKGs are a little less shrill, a little more relaxing than the MSPs. The instruments also sound a little less "there."
CD #2 - Beethoven Complete Concertos, Vol. II by Philips
* In the Beethoven violin concerto on this CD, I noted that the AKG K1000s were able to summon enormous an enormous spaciousness and majesty to the orchestra that the MSP was unable to match (no surprise there). The MSP had a smoother, more focused presentation but instruments in the orchestra were less separated; the violins, for instance, were less individually distinct and sounded more like one loud violin.
* As for the main violin, though, the MSP has an uncanny way of making it sound as if it's being played *right now*. There is a CERTAINTY to the music -- you can hear the virtuousity, the mastery of the instrument come through quite clearly.
The AKG muffles the violin in comparison; it sounds a little more cottony, especially as it reaches for the higher notes.
CD #3 - Shostakovich Completely String Quartets by the Manhattan String Quartet, Vol. 3
String Quartet #8 - Tracks 8 - 12:
* The AKGs lay out a quite intricate picture before you; it's very easy to picture the players in front of you.
* However, its instrumental textures are another thing. I wrote that cellos are better reproduced by the AKGs in my initial impressions. My initial impressions are apparently not so correct; on this recording , Grados are able to portray the bass depth and resonance of the cello better.
* The group sounds more strange and mystical on the Grados. The AKGs' big, bold signature is more apparent here, and while its soundstaging is without equal, the expansiveness combined with the metallicness makes this group sound a little more ordinary, a little less dark and magical.
* At the beginning of track #9, the allegro molto movement, there is some surprisingly savage playing at the start. On the MSP it slams you. It damn near gave me a heart attack. The AKGs reproduced it well, but there wasn't the same level of intensity.
* On the AKGs, again, you can really hear each instrument play in its own space. It makes it easier to hear the artistic contribution of each individual musician.
* The MSP's super transparency comes through here again. Suspend your disbelief for a moment and hear the musicians playing live in front of you. Chamber music is one of the MSP's greatest strengths.
* I've noticed that here and on certain other CDs at times the violin can sound recessed.
CD #4 - Billy Joel, "River of Dreams"
Track #1 - "No Man's Land"
* Oof! Sibilance on the MSP, bigtime. The AKGs handily avoid this.
* The MSP sounds more liquid; the notes flow like honey.
* But the AKG as always reproduces a fantastic image... and sounds considerably less fatiguing than the MSP (but damn that headband!).
* Billy's voice sounds better on the AKGs on this song -- probably because of the sibilance the MSP produces.
CD #5 - Bruno Walter conducting Brahms' Tragic Overture & Symphony #4 (CBS Masterworks)
Track #1 - Tragic Overture
* MSP: Orchestra plays with joy and flow; this is a really inspiring tune. Unfortunately, things get jumbled when the music goes fast. I find it hard to differentiate among the instruments. The orchestra is too "in your face" to be realistic.
* The first notes aren't as shocking on the AKG as on the MSP.
* But the vast grandeur of the orchestra rears up at the AKG's command. So much power and space...
* The musicians seem to play with more fervor, more passion with the MSPs. Musical accents seem to be hit harder...
At this point I'm repeating myself, so I think I'll end this.
What can be concluded? The AKGs are a big, bold, spacious headphone with dynamics and power at its command. The Grados are an intent, concentrated, and focused. Not much different from what I decided with initial impressions.
And so too I am finding the difficult question of which headphone is "better" -- even given my own personal preferences -- very difficult indeed.
On the one hand, I prefer the MSP's sound for vocals and chamber music. On the other hand, the AKGs dominate with orchestral -- the MSP makes symphony orchestras sound like big chamber orchestras -- and are better for the little pop that I tried, too.
On the one hand, the MSPs are more comfortable physically. On the other hand, the AKGs have a less fatiguing *sound* than the MSPs.
And then throw other wildcards into the mix -- such as the facts that the sources, amplification, and interconnects in this system are not ideal. I probably will be upgrading these areas soon. But how will that affect the sound of these two headphones? Impossible to say.
And of course the Grados have on their side the fact that they can be used with portables and sound pretty good. Not so the AKGs.
I wish I could keep both these headphones. Too bad I can't. Hrmmmm.... advice or comments, anyone?
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Part III: K1000 vs. Stax Lambda Pro
I just got the Mistral Integrated amplifier from Audio Advisor today, so I decided to do a review between my Stax and AKG headphones. The AKG K1000 model that I have is probably five or six years old, and the Stax more around the realm of 14 years old.
For those of you that don't know, the AKG K1000 is a headphone that keeps its earpads away from your head in an attempt to sound more like "mini-speakers" and less like headphones. Here's a picture of it:
http://www.axemusic.com/vendors/akg/headphones/k1000.gif
Well, without further adieu, let's get on to the listening tests. My conclusions and thoughts are at the bottom. Trivial considerations like comfort can be tackled later. My notes are long and ramble. I hope you can forgive me :-)
System:
Source: Stan Warren modified Pioneer DV-333
Amplifiers:
Mistral SE 75-watt integrated amp (not broken in, so take this review with a grain of salt)
Stax SRM-1
Headphones:
AKG K1000
Stax Lambda Pro
1. Chesky's Ultimate Demonstration Disc
* Narrator's Voice:
AKG:
dry, balanced
Stax:
Narrow
Voice sounds a little thin
* Spanish Harlem:
AKG:
Depth in the image
Instruments sound as if they are working together
Can hear the seeds in the rattle clearly
Stax:
Bassy notes at the beginning hollower than AKG
Rebecca's voice is cooler, more intimate
Better timing to the strummings of the guitar
Can hear the seeds in the rattle clearly and can hear the sliding them into each other too
Doesn't image as bad as I thought initially... things are pretty well laid out but the image is totally in-head and lacks the AKG's depth
* If I could Sing your Blues:
Stax:
Trumpet has good distance from singer
Can hear the very edge of of "like angels and gooood thingS"
But somehow Sara's voice lacks the BODY that would make you think it was live
Very melodious though
Similarly guitar is not as warm and intimate as the narrator says it should be :-)
Sara's voice sounds almost like an instrument
AKG:
Voice and trumpet are much more solid
guitar thrums are more reverberant
can also hear the very edge of "like angels and goood things" but not as clearly as stax
Sara's voice not as pure tonally as Stax
* Livingston Taylor performs Grandma's Hands:
AKG:
Snap at the beginning has good attack
Taylor and his Trio are produced with speaker-like presence
Very clear and easy to distinguish and listen to "ooh" while the main lines are going
Stax:
Snap is more detailed and realistic
Flat cardboard compared to the 3D landscape of the AKG
The voices are all extremely pure and sweet and flowing, though, moreso than the AKG
More "artificial" -- not as good an illusion for live. But incredible melodic power
* Correnteza:
Stax:
Guitar sounds good but can hear it as a little bit plasticky
AKG:
There's air in this place! Suddenly the tropical paradise is a lot more believable
Sounds fall into their place
Guitar, really, everything sounds more natural
* Ask Me Now:
AKG:
Sax is THERE! Warm, burnished tone, intimate.
Notes have proper bite
Can hear the reverberation to the back wall
Stax:
Sax's presence, immediacy, warmth are all less
Notes don't have as much bite as with AKG.
On the other hand, the air of the subtle notes, the back wall reflection, the intonation are all reproduced perfectly.
Very smooth
* I Love Paris:
Stax:
Everything is reproduced fast and with impeccable timing
Foot-tapping
AKG:
Instruments more solid
I can *feel* the lower notes on the guitar more
* Festival Te Deum:
AKG:
Some sibilance in the voices
Sense of space and the majesty of the cathedral
Sense of power just waiting for store.. tension in the atmosphere
Some sibilance
Stax:
Some sibilance in the voices
Voices more delicate, more ethereal
Not as much of a sense of the cathedral
Individual voices, when they come out for solos, are clearer
Words are clearer and more understandable
Less sense of extraordinary power
* The Soldier's March:
Stax:
Horn has excellent bite
Drums are very tight
All the instruments very obviously are very precisely and clearly heard
AKG:
Horns bite and drums tight
But instruments just a little fuzzier around the edges
2. Billy Joel's River of Dreams:
* Blonde over Blue
AKG:
Sibilance
Good, solid Bass
Stax:
Unsatisfying, unvisceral bass
* Lullaby
AKG:
Piano has great presence
Vocal is very clear and has a sense of "live"
Vocal very intimate
Stax:
Piano warmer, better decay
Less vocal sibilance!
Everything is fluid and smooth
* River of Dreams
Stax on River of Dreams:
Presentation is so liquid, everything floats in your head
AKGs on River of Dreams:
Convincing illusion of real concert
3. Rafael Kubelik conducting Dvorak's 9th symphony:
Stax:
Gorgeous sheen to the orchestra
Power and refinement
Beauty in breadth and texture
Horns gorgeous
Carries tune better than AKGs
Gentler, sweeter
Istrumental timbre truer
AKG:
The sound of the horn first heard doesn't end as smoothly as with the Stax
Real depth in soundstage; can "visualize" orchestral pit
Drums have force and impact
Darker than Staxes
AKGs can summon much more impact and punch than the Stax
But not as refined; sound is coarser.
Richer, more full-bodied.
3-d orchestra
Strings a touch metallic.
Conclusions and Thoughts:
These are two very different-sounding headphones. On the one hand you have the thunderous AKG K1000s. They have a strength in dynamics that the Staxes cannot live up to. They also have a fabulous soundstage, the most natural and speaker-like of any headphone I've ever heard. It is very 3-D, very holographic. Images have great solidity and presence.
On the other hand you have the Stax, which seem sleeker, more like a gazelle than a lion. They are understated, yet fast and always in tune, always in rhythm. Yes, they lack bass. Yes, they lack force. But they always seem to extract that last luxurious bit of resolution.
One way you can characterize the differences between the Stax and the AKGs is to examine how much of a premium each places on creating the illusion of a *live* concert. What I mean by this is the sense that the singers are *there*, and that you might be hearing them perform right now. That sense of presence and immediacy is something the AKGs do better than the Staxes.
The Staxes have wonderful detail and melody, and music sounds very gorgeous through them, but somehow there is this [i]electrostaticness[/i], for lack of a better word, that comes out in every piece of music. It's a certain kind of give-away texture to the sound.
I think the drawback to the AKG's mode of doing things is that it imposes coloration on the sound them in doing so. The AKGs are clearly less detailed than the Staxes, and also have a bit of unwelcome steeliness in their tone.
So basically this comes down to a matter of preference, and probably also to what kinds of music you listen. I enjoy classical and I think that the Stax suits my tastes better (not that all classical lovers would necessarily feel the same way). If you require that your music has more *impactful* and felt bass (see Tim D's enlightening [url=http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2366&highlight=acoustic bass]distinction between "acoustic" and "felt" bass[/url]), then the AKGs should be your thing.
Of course, I am keeping both headphones for a few days yet and so my decision may change (for instance, as a result of the amp breaking in). If it does, I'll be sure to report that there.
I should emphasize, however, that these are both world-class headphones. Their drawbacks are *relative to each other*, and I think both easily beat out most entry-level headphones in every musical category. I could be easily satisfied with the sound of either one.
Comfort:
The Staxes have a very comfortable circumaural fit, but then again, they got hot in there. The AKGs are not as tight around the head as they once were, so they're more pleasant to wear now than they once were. Nevertheless, I think Stax wins this category overall. Depends on how much you dislike heat vs. how much you dislike something gripping your head :-)
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For the original review at Head-Fi, go to http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2590
--
Part IV: Other Interesting Info on the K1000
You can actually buy the K1000 itself at Headroom (http://www.headphone.com/) for $550 or Meier Audio (http://www.meier-audio.com/) or used at Head-Fi's forums (http://www.head-fi.org/forums/) or Headwize's forums (http://www.headwize.com/forums/) or Audiogon (http://www.audiogon.com/) etc.
Many people on Head-Fi's Forums (www.head-fi.org/forums) claim that tube amps work better with the K1000; they smooth out its harshness. One perennial favorite seems to be the Norh SE-9 (http://www.norh.com/). A review that agrees that this a great combo, for instance, can be found at http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/akg/follow-up.html -- it's by Srajan Ebaen.
Another favorite amp seems to be the AudioValve RKV for around $800 or $900 -- you can buy it at http://www.meier-audio.com/
Finally, many people like an after-market cable, claiming it gives the headphone a more coherent sound, perhaps again smoothing out those slightly harsher highs. The only one available as of May 2003 is at http://stefanaudioart.com/K1000Cable.html
Have fun!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
shivohum
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Member: Akilesh Ayyar
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 11 members
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