A Blast from the Past: The AKG K340

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Oct 13, 2015.

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  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    A Blast from the Past: The AKG K340

    OK. So what the heck is an AKG K340 and why I am talking about it? Simple: the Enigmacoustics Dharma headphone (which we plan on getting our hands on this year - someone remind me when it's available).

    Before the Dharma, there was the AKG K340. The K340 was AKG's top of the line headphone toward the end of the 70s and maybe early 80s. The AKG of this era was innovative, willing to take risks, and do cool stuff - much different from the AKG of today, thanks to Harmon which has turned AKG into a semi-clueless company with quality control issues (K550, cough, cough) and one which needs the likes of Massdrop to help them sell more than two headphones per day through their usual retail channels. I bet the AKG today still has a lot of awesome engineers, but with bean-counters and lame marketing people are keeping them in the idiot rooms. (@AKG: if you a reading this; yes, I am baiting you guys to make something awesome so I can eat my words!)

    As I understand it, the K340 was the first dynamic-electrostatic hybrid headphone. From memory, it weighed quite a bit because of internal transformers required for the electrostatic drivers. It was also extremely inefficient. The high frequency driver is technically a electret (fixed-charged diaphragm). I also believe passive radiators were used with the dynamic driver, much like the Sextett.

    Why is the K340 important? Because the new Dharma headphone carries forth the same design concept. (Note that we will not discuss the Dharma here.) I think it's fun to go back in time to see what AKG did 40 years ago. This is not a strike against Enigmacoustics, but rather a statement of appreciation for bringing back something unique from the past.

    K340.gif

    As we can see in the specs, the crossover is at 4000Hz first order.

    Whitney / Rhythmdevils (from Changstar's early years) sent me two K340s to measure. It's my understanding that there were slightly different versions of the headphone, so that probably explains the measurement differences. Matching between the drivers is actually not bad given the primitiveness of my V1 setup and the age of the headphones. Keep in mind that these measurements were performed on my V1 measurement rig with the foam coupler, therefore the bass measurement, particularly the low bass may be under-emphasized. The frequency response was almost sort of agreeable. A little tizz, a little shout. These flaws were masked somewhat by a mid/upper bass warmth. The biggest issue to me and a few others who heard the K340 was the lack of coherence between the two driver types: the Martin Logan-esque "treble too fast for woofer" problem. Still, I think it was a great effort from AKG and the K340 did a lot of things right.

    Here at the measurements for the first pair:
    k340fr.txt.jpg

    k340l.txt.jpg

    k340r.txt.jpg

    Second pair:
    k340.2 fr.txt.jpg

    k340.2l.txt.jpg

    k340.2r.txt.jpg
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2015
  2. The Alchemist

    The Alchemist MOT: Schiit - Here to help!

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    Great post purrin!
     
  3. Claritas

    Claritas Friend

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    K340 (bass light) needs a warmish tube amp to make it sound reasonably coherent. That might be why Enigmacoustics produced the Athena hybrid amp.
     
  4. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I had two K340's early on in my headfi days (supposedly both the bass heavy and bass light versions). I wasn't really able to wrap my head around the sound of them. I couldn't describe it at the time, but looking back at it now with unreliable memory I would say my issue was with the coherence. It wasn't awful, but something was amiss in there. I did find them a bit pushy/shouty, but that wasn't what bugged me. It was more... I dunno, maybe like a phase error at the crossover point. You know how if you've got one speaker/driver on reversed polarity and you get this funny head tilt effect? It felt a bit like that but less pronounced.
     
  5. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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    Vintage AKG for the win!
     
  6. sepinho

    sepinho Friend

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    Seconded! I actually still have a K340. Haven't used it in a while, so thank you for the inspiration.
     
  7. Tuco1965

    Tuco1965 Suffring from early onset Alzheimer's - Friend

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    I never had a chance to hear those back in the day. I still have my Sextetts that I bought in the 70s though.
     
  8. Deep Funk

    Deep Funk Deep thoughts - Friend

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  9. Tuco1965

    Tuco1965 Suffring from early onset Alzheimer's - Friend

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    I love listening to the Sextetts on my psychedelic/ flashback Sundays. :cool:

    Music that is... :D
     
  10. munch

    munch Friend

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    i heard these on a speaker amp. hafler brand, not sure model, but they sounded terrible to me :p how much better, if at all, are they on a headphone amp? they had really uneven midrange and sounded sorta congested to me.
     
  11. slankoe

    slankoe Tongue tastes of LH butthole

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    They sound good out of the S.E.X. 3.0 !

    Dynamic, extended but not fatiguing treble, nice detailed bass, mid-range funkyness like some people say, decent stage size.

    In regards to frequency response, some frequency bands a bit muddled, no major offenders like treble spikes, bit of a lift somewhere in the upper midband following a valley or otherwise quieter range below it. The charts posted by OP seem accurate to the model I have. I think that may be responsible for a slightly "hollow" character on first listen. Not a tonality I'd have much trouble with.

    That's all I can say, since they've only been on my head about an hour. These sound pretty darn good! Punchy.

    At louder volume out of the S.E.X. (with C4S), I'm at about 2 O'clock, which is enough to drive the HD650 very very loud, but the AKG are merely at my upper limit of comfortably loud for long term listening.
    At this volume, you notice the mid bump and the treble lift more, with a valley in between. It's more offensive if you listen to high volumes constantly. Again, the measurements are reflected here.

    Update 1: Imaging and stage is very good with new recordings. The bass is GOOD. And what strikes me the most right now is how punchy these headphones are, they've got the foot tapping going on. Macrodynamics.

    Update 2: Now less than 2 hours in, but I can tell that some full-bodies epic orchestral pieces will get fatiguing, but the detail is there for critical listening. Those little midrange valleys make me want to crank it to compensate for hidden midrange detail. The upper octaves sound incredible in comparison. Imaging capabilities are still impressive. If you want to notice new details in certain parts of your music collection, this headphone can do it.

    Update 3: Proper FR is dependent upon a good seal. The pads are not plush enough, nor is the clamping force enough. You have to coax it a bit if you're getting anemic basslines.

    Update 4: Day two and I'm finding this K340 to be very addictive, it's spent the most time on my head for over 12 hours. At low volumes, plenty detailed out of the S.E.X. amp.

    You can hear the inconsistencies in the multi-driver design. Subtle at first, but gives the headphone a special character. The e-stat tweeter is lighting fast and gives the illusion of overall speed and accuracy. The dynamic driver is not the fastest, so if you listen too closely, you'll notice the difference in detail and speed. Doesn't make this piece of gear any less pleasant to listen to, it's nuanced but not in your face. I want to buy my own set now...

    Update 5: Switching between this, the HD650, HD600, and Focal Clear really make these AKGs sound super fuckin' weird. :) Tonality is definitely not your usual cup of tea.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2018
  12. Claritas

    Claritas Friend

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    IMG_4249.jpeg
     

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