AKG K1000s with Crack?

[adamct]

I have a pair of AKG K1000s on their way to me. I'm just curious...I know that the Crack is really only recommended with headphones whose impedance is 200 Ohm or greater, but has anyone tried K1000s with a Crack? Is there any risk to the amp from trying that combo out? Could the Crack overheat, for example?

FYI, the impedance of the K1000s is 120 Ohms.

Best regards,
Adam

[Jim R.]

Hey Adam,]]Impedance issues aside, the s.e.x. amp is the best choice for the K1000s -- Crack just won't have near enough power.  You can and should try it anyway, but the s.e.x. is the better choice -- or the Paramounts :-).

-- Jim

[adamct]

I would love the Paramounts, and I can see myself building a pair at some point in the future. And I know the S.E.X. would be the best option, I just wanted to know if there are any risks to trying it with the Crack. I have a Crack + Speedball and I just bought a Smack (unfortunately already built, not in kit form). I don't think either the S.E.X. or the Paramounts are in my immediate future, especially considering the fact that I currently have 14 different headphone amps... (I wish I were kidding, but I'm serious.) I have several amps with enough power for the K1000s, so it's not that I'm lacking in options - I was just trying to figure out if there are any combos that I shouldn't even try...

Best,
Adam

[Paul Joppa]

Give it a try, it won't hurt anything. Let us know - conventional wisdom says it's way underpowered, but that story shows up often in audio and is sometimes not nearly as bad as you thought.

[caffeinator]

I had some K1000's a few years back and tried them on my SEX amp.  They sounded good, though it seemed to me they drove the amp to distortion at higher volume levels (I can't recall now, but seemed like it was at less than 50% of the rotation on the volume pot...maybe at about 12 or 1 o'clock with zero volume down near 7 o'clock).  Depending on one's desire for volume, the SEX was adequate, but only just.  For me, there was enough volume below the distortion level.

In other words, even the Crack might have enough power, depending on what level of volume you like.  For me, I just never quite took to the K1000's like I did to the Sennheiser 600's and sold them.

[adamct]

Thanks to both of you for your replies. One more quick question, which isn't Bottlehead-related, but I'm curious nonetheless and would be interested in your views:

Is there any risk in running headphones that are wired for balanced use off a speaker amp, specifically a Tripath-based amp? I'm not talking about running headphones off a tube-based speaker amp (which I understand can sometimes be a problem), nor am I talking about trying to run single-ended headphones off of speaker taps. And I am putting aside for the moment the risk that you will blow your headphones with an amp that is too powerful. I'm just trying to figure out whether there is any sort of fundamental risk here. I've heard people say that it is important that the speaker taps share a common ground, but I have to believe that is only relevant with headphones that aren't wired for balanced use.

[Paul Birkeland]

Some solid state amps will have a common negative speaker connection (black speaker posts are internally connected, and maybe grounded) while some are not.

If your headphones are wired for balanced operation, they will operate on an amp with common negative speaker leads, but this will be electrically unbalanced. 

[adamct]

Thanks, Paul. That's what I figured.