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AKG K 1000
MSRP $1,260.00
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DISCONTINUED / NO LONGER AVAILABLE / SOLD-OUT!! A truly outstanding headphone providing full and natural sound, the AKG K-1000 easily deserves a historical place amongst the very best headphones ever to grace audiophile headphone-land. WOW -- The openness of the K-1000 soundstage was breathtaking. You seemed to hear the placement of every instrument on the recording soundstage accurately and precisely. Tremendous audio detail resolution throughout the mid-ranges and upper treble was the sonic hallmark of the K-1000. For some listeners, a slightly lean bottom-end bass response was the most commonly noted sonic flaw. Now completely discontinued by the manufacturer and no longer available, the K-1000 may still be found (in various conditions) on the online auction sites from time to time... Good luck bidding and prepare to shell out a serious bit of dough! The fit of these things was certainly unique: The headband and temple pads positioned the large "ear speaker" grills slightly away from your ears; pivot points where the ear speakers attach to the headband allowed for angular 'toe-in' adjustment relative to your ears. The user was also provided with a moderate degree of control over dynamics versus image depth by adjusting the angle of the ear speaker placemant relative to the ear canal. Were they comfortable headphones? Nope, not at all -- but, hey, the incredible sound was worth the pain for many!
All in all, the now-discontinued K-1000 delivered the most transparently organic and expansive headphone listening experience we've had. The biggest downside was that the K-1000 were VERY, VERY, VERY inefficient headphones -— they require a bare minimum of 7 raw watts of headphone amp output power to drive properly; That's an absolutely huge power draw for a headphone so the additional investment in a bad-boy headphone amp like the Grace M-902 was another de-facto expense for the AKG K-1000 owner. These were also completely wide 'open' headphones: there is absolutely no attenuation of outside ambient noise, and those hanging around you will easily hear the sound emanating from them. You won't necessarily wake up the neighbors, but your office-mates will be able to easily identify exactly the music you're enjoying. Since most normal headphone amps just would not work with the AKG K-1000 ear speakers, we investigated a number of standard loudspeaker power amps for use with them. We were very pleased —- no, AMAZED —- at how good the Grace Model 901 or 902 head-amps sounded with the K 1000! We used to have violent all-day paper fights over who got to use this setup here at the HeadRoom offices. This product has been officially discontinued by the manufacturer as of January 2006 ... We are completely SOLD-OUT!
Specifications:
- Cord Type: Straight Y
- Coupler Size: Large
- Manufacturer Warranty: 2 Years
Additional Resources:
- Manufacturer's Website
- AKG
- Product Manuals
- K 1000 Manual
