• 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

Sextetts on my mind- any AKG Sextett K-240 owners?

thedelihaus

thedelihaus

Nocturnal transmissions
Any fans of the AKG K240 Sextetts?

For those unaware, this is a K240 edition that has six passive radiators incorporated into the design.

The sound is a hybrid of a Grado and an AKG- and the best of each.


Musicality, incredible midrange and a unique richness to the bass are where these shine. Complaints? Not as resolving or detailed in the upper registers as the later AKG K701/702 series- but certainly not lacking in these areas. Some folk favor the softer, richer sound and claim never a hint of fatigue even after hours upon hours of use.

Models are referred to as EP, MP and LP- early production, mid production and late production. Earliest considered the most bass, the late production the least but with a more monitor-like sound, the mid production somewhere in the middle of the best of both.

How do you tell if your AKG K240s are Sextetts?

FIRST- most, if equipped with the original headband, will feature a series of seven circular cutouts- much like a '70s musclecar steering wheel (think Pontiac's Trans Am and Formula). NOTE- Late model runs used a solid band with a silver printed logo on top. AND replacement headbands no longer have this hole cutout pattern and will be solid, with a logo printed on top. Some K240 Sextetts have had these replaced already.

SECOND- Sextetts feature silver trim rings and end badges. Typical K240s feature gold trim rings and end badges, and other special editions will feature black trim rings and end badges.

THIRD- look inside- see six pads? Orange indicates the EP (early) models. White, with a very slight orange outside ring ( pale and barely noticeable) are MP (mid production) models. Stark white are LP (late production) models.


Unused, fresh NOS, in-box Sextetts can take in $380-$510 in auction. Boxed models in used condition, $140-$180+. even un-boxed models sell from $110-$180, unless not correctly listed, then you can sometimes get them for a few dollars below the lowest typical price.



How do I like them?


I own three pair.
 
Register to hide this ad
Yup - I have a pair of MP Sextetts - unique sound signature.. WELL worth the price paid - grab a pair while they're still sleepers
 
Last edited:
I have owned a pair since 1978, and still listen to them with great pleasure. There has been discussion about the poorly designed attachment for the cord. I can atest that this is the single issue that I have been able to find with these cans. I replaced the original cord in the mid 80's, and it looks like I need to perform the surgery once again
 
I believe I have such a set. In original box since 1978 and the brochure as well. I found it on eBay in England and I had them up and running nearly a year with fair use 1-2 hrs a couple nights a week. I like them so much I decided they should spend a long time in the box again, when I saw the amount of dust they had on them. I continued to use a set of AKG K340 but ended up with one of my Technics RP-F880 at my bed, but that is just because the smaller connector fit the 6GB Creative JukeBox, my minidisc and my WM-D6C Walkman(tm) in addition to just listening to the CD player with the large 1/4'' connector on the AKGs. Today the AKGs are both in storage.
I have several other headphones to keep my ears happy, but sadly not enough space to keep the K240 and K340 at hands reach every time the mood to listen with headphones come over me.
 
Picked up a close to mint pair (LP) at the local thrift awhile ago for $3. :banana:
While I find them enjoyable,I still prefer the K340 and K1000 in the AKG line-up. I've heard the newer K-701, but am not a fan of its somewhat analytical sound.
 
Hey Joe,

tough to compete with AKG K1000s! :) only complaints I've heard of the 1000s (besides price and difficulty finding a pair for those who can afford them) is some folk feel they are difficult positioning them on one's head thus throwing off the proper sound effect (as stated, some folk complain about this, not all).

Never did hear the AKG 340s.


As for the 701, that analytical sound tames itself (reduced harshness/brightness) after a looooong break-in period (at least 40hrs, some claim 100+ hours).

I heard a broken in pair paired with a tube pre and it was a delight.

Congrats on your 240 score for $3!
 
Paul,

The old K240 Sextetts are some of my all time favorite headphones in the studio whether on air or recording. I have 6 pairs in the recording studio. I have heard many pairs of headphones through the years, these oldies are what I go for most any time when I really need to hear what's going on in a recording. My other working headphones I love are old Sennheiser HD 14 SL. I have had that pair since 1974 and have really put some hours on them.
 
thedelihaus said:
Hey fellas- looks like K340s are electrostats, correct?
Click to expand...
Not fully, as they are a hybrid of electrostatic and dynamic drivers. The K340 uses an electret driver for the high frequencies, a dynamic driver for the lower frequencies, and has six passive radiators like in the K240 Sextett.
As I understand it, the difference between an electret and electrostatic headphone is that an electrostatic requires a charge from an external source. Hence, a special amp or some kind of device hooked up to an amp is needed. An Electret is already charged and can be driven by a regular amp. That's why the K340s can be used directly from the headphone jack of an amp or receiver. But I discovered that, in comparison to most of my other 'phones, they are quite inefficient and a dedicated headphone amp really makes them sing. :music:
 
Dang, I never even knew that there was a "sextet" version of this headphone. I always thought that my regular k-240s were the best Dynamic headphone I've ever owned. I'd love to hear an improved version of these classics! My only headphones that I ever owned that sound better are my Stax's.
 
Goldear, the Sextett is long out of production now, but they pop up on sale here and there.

My opinion is the standard K240 are but a mere shadow of the Sextett version.
 
I don't like the Sextett I have, but in the past AKG has been infamous for, shall we say, nontight quality control. The next Sextett (or K501, or K340, or..) might sound very different.

One slight niggle re: joelongwood's otherwise excellent description of electrostat vs. electret headphones: Both types are electrostatic-- there's no difference in operating principle, just materials used. One uses electret material to supply the high fixed operating voltage, the other gets it from an external power supply.

Electret headphones do need stepup transformers, but often these are built into the earpieces (as with the K340, K4 and K145), or an inline pod (as with the Philips electrets), or a fat 1/4" plug (some of the Toshibas). These are the models that plug directly into a headphone jack.

Then there are models with the transformers in a separate box (Sony and Stax) that connect to speaker terminals or special high-voltage direct-drive amps (Stax).
 
wualta said:
I don't like the Sextett I have, but in the past AKG has been infamous for, shall we say, nontight quality control. The next Sextett (or K501, or K340, or..) might sound very different.

One slight niggle re: joelongwood's otherwise excellent description of electrostat vs. electret headphones: Both types are electrostatic-- there's no difference in operating principle, just materials used. One uses electret material to supply the high fixed operating voltage, the other gets it from an external power supply.

Electret headphones do need stepup transformers, but often these are built into the earpieces (as with the K340, K4 and K145), or an inline pod (as with the Philips electrets), or a fat 1/4" plug (some of the Toshibas). These are the models that plug directly into a headphone jack.

Then there are models with the transformers in a separate box (Sony and Stax) that connect to speaker terminals or special high-voltage direct-drive amps (Stax).
Click to expand...

Well, I prefaced my remarks with "As I understand it....." Your excellent explanation of the differences just made me understand them better. I'm always open to learning more........one of the reasons this audio hobby is so rewarding. Thanks. :D
 
thedelihaus said:
Goldear, the Sextett is long out of production now, but they pop up on sale here and there.

My opinion is the standard K240 are but a mere shadow of the Sextett version.
Click to expand...
Dang. I wish that I had known this years ago. I'd certainly have purchased a set if I'd known about these.
 
joelongwood said:
Well, I prefaced my remarks with "As I understand it....."
Click to expand...
Hee hee. I know. What happened is that you walked into one of the more persistent misnomers on the Intarnetz. Nearly everyone talks about 'trets and 'stats as if they were entirely different, and this gets repeated and repeated until there's no way you could possibly learn what the difference really is because it's buried in all this noise.

But back to AKG. The K340 uses an electret tweeter and it's worth noting that it really is a tweeter: it starts making noise at about 4 kHz. Most of the sound of the K340 is courtesy of the dynamic driver. The top two octaves are given some extra shine via 'stat magic. There is a little stepup transformer that looks like a coil in each earpiece. Since it only has to handle frequencies above 4 kHz, it can be tiny.

The rest of the K340 is basically a Sextett, or Quintett, with one less passive diaphragm. You can custom-tune the headphone by changing the damping (cotton in the K340), and thus the Q, of the diaphragms-- endless tweaky fun. Lots (and I mean lots) of threads about both the Sextett and the K340 over at that other forum with all the headphones.
 
As I understand it (:tongue:), it's not a dedicated tweeter since there is no crossover so the electret does produce some sound below 4kHz and the dynamic driver produces sound above 4kHz (probably more than with a 1st order crossover). The PCB with stepup transformer and resistors replaces one of the slots otherwise used for a passive diaphragm.
 
Last edited:
I won't argue the point, as mypasswordis obviously knows much more about electronics than I do, but by his line of reasoning, the dynamic driver is contributing strongly from the deepest bass all the way up to 16KHz and beyond. So which is the dominant driver? Regardless, it's a very interesting headphone and worth hearing. A lot of imaginative engineering went into the K340, which doesn't guarantee you'll like it, but you will find it interesting.
 
Considering my dislike of the Sextetts, I'm willing to bet the same exact dynamic drivers are used in the Sextetts as the K340. So I like to think of Sextetts as K340s without treble, or the K340 as Sextetts with treble. How they overlap in the midrange and still manage to sound cohesive is still a mystery to me. I don't know if there are versions of the passive diaphragms so clearly delineated as with the Sextetts (EP, MP, LP), though. The current consensus just seems to be each K340 different sounding from the next, based on a variety of factors including the passive diaphragms and possibly aging of the electrets. A good way to test just how much sound the dynamic driver is contributing is to unsolder the electret drivers and take a listen, which I may eventually get to. I was recently fiddling with soldering mine (I did the typical mod of bypassing the stepup transformer PCB for the dynamic driver) and didn't think to try.
 
Last edited:
I have the original Sextetts, bought new. At the time, they were great. But since then, I think technology has come a long way. There are cans that have much more detail and openness. There is some back foam deteriorating on the outside of the headphones. I see it when I lay them down on a white towel. There was some in the original box the last time I took them out too. Well, they ARE 35 years old!

"Someday" I will replace mine, but I have no idea which direction I will go. I'm not a fan of headphones in the first place...to date. They are only serving a monitor purpose at this time; to monitor from my CD recorder as I copy LPs. Nothing critical about that.

All of the ones I've heard sounded like the sound was IN your head, instead of a soundstage in front of you like good speakers present.

I have hearing loss over 10Khz anyway. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom