[AudioArby]

I purchased a AKG-240S 2weeks ago. The studio I worked for in the 80's and 90's used these. I just pick up a Fiio E11 for this headphone and they sound great together.

 

[Suisou]

I own a pair of EP sextetts and absolutely adore them. They might not sound as good or balanced as other cans I own, but the mids are 'magical' for the lack of a better word.
 

 

 
I'm considering re-cabling them with solid silver core cables. I tried dampening the driver with organic cotton, but did not notice any differences other than reducing the noise leakage. Are there any other mods that I can attempt to improve the sonic quality?

 

[Punnisher]

  I own a pair of EP sextetts and absolutely adore them. They might not sound as good or balanced as other cans I own, but the mids are 'magical' for the lack of a better word.
 

 

 
I'm considering re-cabling them with solid silver core cables. I tried dampening the driver with organic cotton, but did not notice any differences other than reducing the noise leakage. Are there any other mods that I can attempt to improve the sonic quality?

There a couple things you can do.
 
First I would rebuild the inside with a new piece of foam. The original is probably rotted out and flaking everywhere. I've rebuilt 3 Sextetts and 2 K240 Monitors with good success. I used .5" thick open-cell foam sheets. This also helps the cups to not wobble around so much.
 
Next, the absolute best pad for the Sextett, in my opinion, is the Shure SRH940 pad with the foam backing removed. They are a nice quality velour pad with good construction and are extremely comfortable. The best part is the sound. As you probably know, the treble is very rolled-off with the vintage AKG driver. The Shure pads even out the frequency response, bringing out the upper midrange and treble to become even with the mids and bass. They are open and very natural sounding.
 
Lastly, use an amplifier that's suited for high impedance headphones. Tube amps work great, especially all-tube OTL amps. Tube Hybrid OTL amps also do nicely. Though any amplifier that can put a decently high voltage into 600ohms will work. Stay away from portables in general.

 

[KlarkKentThe3rd]

So... when will AKG release anything new? Will they wait a couple of years before doing that?

 

[Creato938]

  I own a pair of EP sextetts and absolutely adore them. They might not sound as good or balanced as other cans I own, but the mids are 'magical' for the lack of a better word.
 

 

 
I'm considering re-cabling them with solid silver core cables. I tried dampening the driver with organic cotton, but did not notice any differences other than reducing the noise leakage. Are there any other mods that I can attempt to improve the sonic quality?

The Sextetts are really amazing headphones for it's time, wish i had  one, but it's funny they they really look like a transition technology if you think.

 

[Suisou]

  There a couple things you can do.
 
First I would rebuild the inside with a new piece of foam. The original is probably rotted out and flaking everywhere. I've rebuilt 3 Sextetts and 2 K240 Monitors with good success. I used .5" thick open-cell foam sheets. This also helps the cups to not wobble around so much.
 
Next, the absolute best pad for the Sextett, in my opinion, is the Shure SRH940 pad with the foam backing removed. They are a nice quality velour pad with good construction and are extremely comfortable. The best part is the sound. As you probably know, the treble is very rolled-off with the vintage AKG driver. The Shure pads even out the frequency response, bringing out the upper midrange and treble to become even with the mids and bass. They are open and very natural sounding.
 
Lastly, use an amplifier that's suited for high impedance headphones. Tube amps work great, especially all-tube OTL amps. Tube Hybrid OTL amps also do nicely. Though any amplifier that can put a decently high voltage into 600ohms will work. Stay away from portables in general.

 
Sorry, I should have clarified what I've already done to them. I couldn't stand the rotting foam....they would flake off and leave traces everywhere. I was finding bits of foam around up to a week after I had changed out the foam. I originally wanted to remove the foam completely and not replace them, but couldn't bare the sound the cups made when they wobbled. So I picked up some Beyerdynamic DT-990 pads and cut them to size. They haven't reduced the sonic quality (TBH, they sound the same with and without the pads installed).

 
.....and it was worse than I could imagine. The foam disintegrated on contact.
 

 
And they already have velour pads installed. I've since attempted to dampen them a bit by adding some organic cotton on top of the foam behind the driver, but surprisingly enough, that didn't make a difference either, other than reducing the amount of noise leakage. 
 
So I suppose the only thing left on the list is a proper amp to drive them. I've been on the keen watch for a Burson HA-160D, but have been unsuccessful so far in my search. 

 

[Suisou]

The Sextetts are really amazing headphones for it's time, wish i had  one, but it's funny they they really look like a transition technology if you think.

 
Not sure if I fully understand what you mean, but if it's what I think you mean, I still get odd looks when I tell people how old they really are. 
 
I would recommend a pair if you could find one, but can't speak for the MPs and LPs. I've heard goober-george's LPs and can't say I liked them as much. 

 

[Punnisher]

I'd still recommend picking up the Shure velour pads. It would probably be a noticeable upgrade.

 

[Creato938]

   
Not sure if I fully understand what you mean, but if it's what I think you mean, I still get odd looks when I tell people how old they really are. 
 
I would recommend a pair if you could find one, but can't speak for the MPs and LPs. I've heard goober-george's LPs and can't say I liked them as much. 

What i meant by saying the Sextett were a transition technology is because the materials for higher end headphones that we use today, were still in development, so AKG had to come up with something different to further improve the sound, the Sextett used almost the same materials but in a different way and the worked for AKG for quite some time, interesting engineering, they had guts back in the day.

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

What i meant by saying the Sextett were a transition technology is because the materials for higher end headphones that we use today, were still in development, so AKG had to come up with something different to further improve the sound, the Sextett used almost the same materials but in a different way and the worked for AKG for quite some time, interesting engineering, they had guts back in the day.

they made the first open back headphones in history, used passive radiators in the sextett's, then used acoustic filters for the monitors and modern studio's, created the legend that is the K1000, experimented with multiple drivers in the k280 parabolic and k290 surround sound headphones... So yes. I'd say the most inventive headphone company from the 50's-70's. Paved the way for modern cans.

 

[vid]

The Sennheiser HD 414 may have been the first open headphone - quite a while before AKG could be bothered. I think Sennheiser also claimed the world's first fully open headphone with the Unipolar 2000 - long before AKG went to town with the K 1000. The acoustic filters pioneered by AKG were in use about six years before the Monitors, too, on the K 241 in the late '70s.

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

"The K50 model, introduced in 1959 were the world's first supra-aural and open-back headphones." Wait... First Supra aural open back lol.

 

[DisCHORDDubstep]

"With the creation of the D12 microphone in 1953, AKG achieved international fame, setting the standard for voice transmissions. Being the world's first dynamic cardioid microphone, it possessed excellent sonic qualities for that time, making its way into radio stations and recording studios from across the world.[3] The product was improved through subsequent upgrades, spanning the famous C414 and C12 microphones." Also that.

 

[vid]

Looking at pictures of the K 50, I'm skeptical of them being open-backed.

 

[Suisou]

  I'd still recommend picking up the Shure velour pads. It would probably be a noticeable upgrade.

Looked up those Shure pads and they look great!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Shure-HPAEC940-Replacement-Velour-Headphones/dp/B005OM06RG
 
There's also what looks to be pleather pads:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ear-Cushion-Pads-for-SHURE-HPAEC840-SRH840-SRH440-SRH940-BLACK-/151369243279?pt=UK_AudioVisualElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Headphones&hash=item233e4f5a8f
 
What do you think?