• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Finally....AKG 240 Sextetts

Harvey/ Ga

Harvey/ Ga

Super Member
I finally found a pair of 240 Sextetts from E-bay at a decent price :banana::banana:
Been thinking about getting a better set then my 5 yr old AKG 240S, but other priorities kept the biggies ($300+) on the far back burner. So I decided to wait for a pair of Sextetts to come at a decent price...$65+shipping!!
No real Scroe, but a fair price for a working set.

The headband was too big, so I had to adjust it, then played it against my "old" set for a few days. They sounded about the same, then when I put on a CD of Amadeus, the old set sounded a tad muddy(?) compared to the more alive sound of the Sextetts. Needless to say, I'm a happy camper....for the time being:D
 
Register to hide this ad
The headband is probably too big due to deteriorated elastics, the foam inside the cans is almost certainly rotten as well, and the ear pads flat?

Fear not, the parts from your K240s are cross compatible, so you can restore the Sextett's to good as new condition, if the drivers and passive radiators are good.

Yes K240 Studio/mkII and K242HD do sound muddy, and boomy too I think.
 
Adda said:
The headband is probably too big due to deteriorated elastics, the foam inside the cans is almost certainly rotten as well, and the ear pads flat?

Fear not, the parts from your K240s are cross compatible, so you can restore the Sextett's to good as new condition, if the drivers and passive radiators are good.

Yes K240 Studio/mkII and K242HD do sound muddy, and boomy too I think.
Click to expand...

The pads are as good as those on my 5 yr old 240S', I bent headband wires to get a tighter fit (more to go). No foam in the cans like in the 240S, just a grill. Same in the other one of E-bay. The two plastic sliding "buttons" don't have the spring of the 240S, and the 7 hole plastic headband doesn't have a spring....but the sound is great!!:banana:
 
Harvey/ Ga said:
The pads are as good as those on my 5 yr old 240S', I bent headband wires to get a tighter fit (more to go). No foam in the cans like in the 240S, just a grill. Same in the other one of E-bay. The two plastic sliding "buttons" don't have the spring of the 240S, and the 7 hole plastic headband doesn't have a spring....but the sound is great!!:banana:
Click to expand...

There is a foam ring inside the cans, it helps stabilize the ear cups and can deteriorate so badly that it turns in to sticky dust.

Here is the service document:
http://www.akg.com/media/media/download/8883

These are the parts I'm talking about:
Foam ring - 17 - 2073Z1502 (turns to sticky dust with age, making the ear cups dangle).
Rubber loop - 7 - 2040M0303 (rubber band looses elasticity, or breaks off completely, causing poor fit).

Those parts are common for all K240's, unless it has been modded with parts from other AKG models.
 
Adda said:
There is a foam ring inside the cans, it helps stabilize the ear cups and can deteriorate so badly that it turns in to sticky dust.

Here is the service document:
http://www.akg.com/media/media/download/8883

These are the parts I'm talking about:
Foam ring - 17 - 2073Z1502 (turns to sticky dust with age, making the ear cups dangle).
Rubber loop - 7 - 2040M0303 (rubber band looses elasticity, or breaks off completely, causing poor fit).

Those parts are common for all K240's, unless it has been modded with parts from other AKG models.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for the service manual! Looks like both item 7's are missing, dunno about the item 17..not sure that I want to disassemble them just yet!
 
Maybe the "7's" have just lost the rubber loops and are reduced to being plastic discs?
But they could also have been replaced with parts from other old AKG headphones, some of them sport different headband parts that that are not "self adjusting", but are still compatible with K240's.

You can check the condition of the internal foam rings but holding the headphone by the headband, and shaking it a little, are the earcups firm or do the dangle around loosely?
If they are not firm, the foam in the cups is worn out and could be rotting, it is more then likely over 30 years old.

Most parts can still be ordered brand new from your local AKG distributor, so if something needs fixing, you can most likely get the parts you need, in case you don't want to cannibalize the K240 Studio.

The worst part of taking K240's apart is removing the badges to get to the screws, and soldering wires to the drivers, but you don't have to do any soldering on the drivers unless you want to rewire them.
If you decide to rewire them, I highly recommend wiring them for dual entry rather then single sided, using a nice sleeved wirebraid.
 
I am a fan of the K240 series and I looked up what the K240 "Sextet" was and found this entry at Wikiphonia http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/index.php?title=AKG_about the K240 series a great read. It is interesting to find out the Realistic Pro 50, and the Philips N6330 used AKG supplied "Sextet" drivers.

After reading this I am going to look for an older 600 ohm K240's model people say they sound better then the modern 55 Ohm models.
 
Last edited:
I'll give you a quick description of the older AKG's to help you decide:

Sextett: probably the most popular vintage headphone around!
Musical, lush liquid, they come in three variations, called early, medium and late, production (EP, MP, LP).
The EP version is bassy, the LP is more flat, the MP sits somewhere in between.

K240DF: Neutral, natural, flat and fast, maybe a bit polite.
They come in several versions, but are not well documented, but it seems early versions have good mids, but lack a bit of extension at both ends, while later versions sacrifice a bit of mids magic for bass and highs.
I wouldn't worry about witch version of DF I got, as long as it is in good condition.
AKG still has brand new drivers and baffles for the DF's! so you can, in theory, buy a brand new K240DF built from spare parts.

Monitor: the least popular of the 600Ohm K240's, it's frequency response is almost identical to the K240DF, except it has significantly more bass (not flat).
The Monitor might use the same drivers as the DF's, and it seems a Monitor can be modded to sound a lot like, if not just like a DF, with just a simple mod.
I'd go for this one if you are not sure which model to get, it's moddability enables you to voice the drivers to your liking.

All the 600Ohm K240's are not very efficient and they like a good amp.
The cheapest solution is a good vintage receiver or integrated, or even a power amp with a headphone output, like a Nikko Alpha II.

Don't forget to search head-fi for more info.
 
A receiver or integrated amp should do the trick.

Though I've been considering nabbing a pair of the 600 ohm K240 monitors and trying them out on my Headroom Micro Amp. My Q701s work fine on the medium gain setting. Would be neat to see how 600 ohm cans do in high gain.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
Adda said:
Maybe the "7's" have just lost the rubber loops and are reduced to being plastic discs?<<<

The rubber band s are gone

>>>But they could also have been replaced with parts from other old AKG headphones, some of them sport different headband parts that that are not "self adjusting", but are still compatible with K240's.<<<

Everything looks the same as on my 240S', except the Sextett's badges are a silver metal disc instead of a semi round plastic blob

>>>You can check the condition of the internal foam rings but holding the headphone by the headband, and shaking it a little, are the earcups firm or do the dangle around loosely?<<<

They dangle..so the foam is likely toast!.

>>>If they are not firm, the foam in the cups is worn out and could be rotting, it is more then likely over 30 years old.<<

The earcups are nice and full, however, the 240S' are firmer. I'll probably try swapping them to see if they make a difference, but I'd prefer to buy new parts 7 and 17 instead of opening 4 sets of ear pieces.

The SM didn't show how to open the cans to replace anything. I imagine that one must pry off the end pieces somehow. Any ideas??

Also, is there a US distributor that sells parts, or must they be ordered from Austria??
Click to expand...
 
Harvey/ Ga said:
The SM didn't show how to open the cans to replace anything. I imagine that one must pry off the end pieces somehow. Any ideas??

Also, is there a US distributor that sells parts, or must they be ordered from Austria??
Click to expand...

To open them, first remove the badges, use a needle or something to wedge them off, be careful not to bend or dent them.

Under the badge, you'll find a screw, unscrew that and you get in to the small chamber holds some of the cabling, and the screws that keeps the headband and earcups together.

Before removing the inner screw, first unsolder the main cable from the drivers and headband.

It's wired so that short wires go from the drivers up in to the small chamber, where they are soldered to the main cable or headband, depending on the side you are working on.
It'll make sense when you see it.

List of AKG distributors:
http://www.akg.com/International+Representatives-1043.html

The spare parts are located in the US, my K240DF's have been as good as completely rebuilt using new spare parts, incl. drivers (one of the old drivers died).
The parts I ordered where sent from the US, prices are very reasonable, only a select few parts are costly, but not the "consumable" parts.
 
Adda said:
Oh forgot about this guide:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/279905/taking-the-k240-sextett-apart-step-by-step
Click to expand...

Finally got my parts from AKG. Very nice person that I dealt with!!
Ordered items 7 and 17 and the earpads (just in case)

I peeled off the silver tab with only minor edge damage, and am able to replace item 7 without any problem or desoldering.
Able to remove the pads and grill, but can't see how to pop out the part with the 6 membranes (white) and replace item 17.

I looked at the head-fi pix, but no help. It looks like the membrane disk should pop out....but how, without really scarring thins up??
 
Harvey/ Ga said:
Finally got my parts from AKG. Very nice person that I dealt with!!
Ordered items 7 and 17 and the earpads (just in case)

I peeled off the silver tab with only minor edge damage, and am able to replace item 7 without any problem or desoldering.
Able to remove the pads and grill, but can't see how to pop out the part with the 6 membranes (white) and replace item 17.

I looked at the head-fi pix, but no help. It looks like the membrane disk should pop out....but how, without really scarring thins up??
Click to expand...

I need a bit of clarification, you are having trouble separating part #16 from part#22 right?

On some Sextetts this part has been glued in place, and you have to try and pull out the old foam, and stuff in the new.
See if you can twist #22 and #16, if you can't, they must be glued and you shouldn't attempt to remove it, unless you have a lot of experience with this sort of thing.

On others it is not glued down, and you can wedge it off with a screwdriver.
Rest the shaft of the screwdriver on the hinge part on #22, and put the screwdriver under #16, and carefully lift it off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom