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Garage sale score - AKG 240

drabina

drabina

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Driving back from geocaching with my son, I have stopped at one of the garage sales in my area. Saw dusty AKG 240 headphones and bought it for a $1. They cleaned up very nicely and play 100%. Not the best headphones I have used but still not bad for a dollar. Now my wife will stop complaining that my wireless headphones kill internet connection when I am watching movie and she wants to browse the web.
 
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How can you go wrong for a buck?! Nice find!

I know the 240 MK II are supposed to be pretty nice (and I love my 702's) and I might even get them for a closed can.
 
Are they the Sextetts?

Silver trim? Six quarter sized circles inside the cups?

It was a special model of the K240, and sell for a much higher price- if listed correctly, they bring typically $125 and up.
 
I think those are the early version based on the cord (only 1/4" jack that looks old) and the fact, that there is no "Mark II" anywhere on the headphones. The only silver trim is the label circle on the outside (one is missing). I could post pictures when I get back home from work.
 
See those six white things in the left earcup? Those are passive radiators, ergo the name Sextett. The driver sits in the middle and the cans are semi-ported to let the six radiators do their thang.

Ya got the good 'uns, and they look to be in great shape! Yours are the late-production model, with a solid headband. These 'phones have quite the following!


akg3.jpg
 
Shine a light in the ear cup- there's a good chance these are Sextetts.

If you see six pads circling the inner cup, either white or white/orange, the discs about the size of a mentos (or perhaps a tad bigger), buy yourself a lottery ticket, as you are a lucky fella!
 
Frag' beat me to it- I couldn't see the discs, as I'm viewing this on an iPhone, but looks to be you scored royally!
 
I did take another look at the headphones and yes, there are six white(ish) round pads around the inner cup. I will make sure I get the lottery ticket today :-)

On the other hand, if they are kinda special, why they do not sound good? They sound like the music is behind a curtain or something.
 
drabina said:
I did take another look at the headphones and yes, there are six white(ish) round pads around the inner cup. I will make sure I get the lottery ticket today :-)

On the other hand, if they are kinda special, why they do not sound good? They sound like the music is behind a curtain or something.
Click to expand...

Could be the amp that you're using doesn't have a good headphone section, or that the cable needs to be replaced.
 
I had them connected to Marantz 2216 receiver. Not very powerful but I do not listen to music very laud. I have to try it on Pioneer receiver that I also have. This one has something like 60W/channel vs 16W/channel the Marantz has.
 
drabina said:
I had them connected to Marantz 2216 receiver. Not very powerful but I do not listen to music very laud. I have to try it on Pioneer receiver that I also have. This one has something like 60W/channel vs 16W/channel the Marantz has.
Click to expand...

I believe the headphone amp is different than the main amp, a separate secton within the unit.:yes:
 
drabina said:
I did take another look at the headphones and yes, there are six white(ish) round pads around the inner cup. I will make sure I get the lottery ticket today :-)

On the other hand, if they are kinda special, why they do not sound good? They sound like the music is behind a curtain or something.
Click to expand...

If they are old, the inner foam may be dry-rotted. Standard AKG K240 lining can be ordered new- it's the same for the body style of all of the K240s- the difference is in the silver trim, the six inner pads, and occasionally the headband.

The headband on these came two ways- one, a black band with white silkscreening on them, the other, a black band with large circles cut out of it.



Also, some of these have degraded cables from age. Some models, though I cannot figure out which run, had iffy cables, that deteriorate or outright break and transfer poor signal.
 
Thanks for replies. I will try to hook the up to Pioneer to see if there is a difference in sound. Replacing cable shouldn't be that hard so that may come next.
 
Imo headphones are very amp sensitive. I have tried and compared all my cans (AKG 702, Grado 225i, Senn HD 595, and Sony MDR V600) with the headphone outs of several vintage receivers and my Cambridge Audio 640a integrated amp out to external headphone amps (first the AV123 X-Head, then the Head Direct EF-1 and now the Matrix M-Stage) and the external amps beat all of the outs on my headphone amps, even the just decent X-Head.

AKG's seem to be hard to drive, and I actually just today received a M-Stage amp in the mail that is driving my 702's much better than my EF-1 or X-Head (which both, again, powered any can of mine better than any amp headphone out I have tried). Also, there was a bit of a veil with my 702's when used with my EF-1 that has seemed to disappear with the more powerful (and all solid state, not hybrid solid state/tube) M-Stage. It sounds better and powers my 702's better than my other 2 headphone amps which themselves sounded and powered my 702's (and all my headphones) better than any headphone out on any receiver/amp I have.

Iow: You probably need to invest in an headphone amp to really make your AKG's reach their full potential, and even then the right kind of amp. If you don't listen to cans much don't worry about it though. Also, I don't listen to cans loud much either which is part of the reason I'm concerned with powering them well, so they sound good at low to high mid volumes, not only at high volumes.
 
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