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Author Topic: KEF M500: Booty or shit?  (Read 1547 times)

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takato14

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KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« on: April 26, 2015, 05:58:18 AM »
/title

it measures pretty well on tyll's rig and head-fags seem to like it
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Claritas

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2015, 06:45:18 AM »
I heard it last year a meet: it's bright and thin / no body. :spank: I couldn't listen to it but I didn't want to insult the owner so I turned the volume down all the way, stood there for two minutes listening to ambient noise with mock attention, thanked him, and quickly excused myself. Mikros 90 is much better if you ever want a closed Grado.
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AustinValentine

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2015, 12:51:13 PM »
Quote from: Claritas on April 26, 2015, 06:45:18 AM
I heard it last year a meet: it's bright and thin / no body. :spank: I couldn't listen to it but I didn't want to insult the owner so I turned the volume down all the way, stood there for two minutes listening to ambient noise with mock attention, thanked him, and quickly excused myself. Mikros 90 is much better if you ever want a closed Grado.

That mirrors my impressions of the KEF M500 too.

The Mikros is so much cheaper now too. I've considered rebuying them a few times just because you can get them for ~$50 and their build quality & aesthetics are crazy nice at their price point. Wonder what a bit of modding could do for them.
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Bill-p

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2015, 02:08:35 PM »
I'll be the devil's advocate and say... these didn't sound bright or thin to me.

They actually are quite decent for slow acoustic music and jazz.

There is some resonance at high frequencies, I think, that causes a bit of a disconnect/grainy/hashy sound? Not sibilance, but not quite pleasant either, as I think some of it is lodged at upper mid frequencies.

Bottom end was warm, big, and kinda... "wooly" from my audition. That's a coloration I tend to prefer as I love some good warmth, but it wasn't tight or well-controlled, so jury was out on whether or not I'd have liked it long term.

Overall, I'd say... not bad, but not awesomesauce either. I liked them, but I could see how others may not share the same opinions. They would probably suck with fast-paced music.
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AustinValentine

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2015, 02:11:02 PM »
Quote from: Bill-p on April 26, 2015, 02:08:35 PM
I'll be the devil's advocate and say... these didn't sound bright or thin to me.

Bottom end was warm, big, and kinda... "wooly" from my audition. That's a coloration I tend to prefer as I love some good warmth, but it wasn't tight or well-controlled, so jury was out on whether or not I'd have liked it long term.


This makes me think that I might not have had an adequate seal or a proper fit then. I *hated* their large on-ear form factor.
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Bill-p

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2015, 02:26:34 PM »
Haha, it's been a while since that audition, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

And I remember seeing Tyll's graphs, too, so maybe I was influenced into thinking it had big bottom end? But anyway, Tyll's measurements here:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/KEFM500.pdf

On-ears do have bad fitting issues, though. Admittedly, that's also why the only on-ear I have left is my ES10. I used to be into them a lot when I was younger, but now that I'm a big boy and all... I think my ears have grown, and fit has become even more of an issue.
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takato14

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2015, 03:16:26 PM »
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AustinValentine

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2015, 03:22:57 PM »
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Bill-p

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2015, 03:46:21 PM »
That and I'm thinking mid distortions above 1KHz is kinda bad. Probably attributes to the grain/hash/disconnect I was hearing.

At the time, I'm used to ATH headphones (LOL), so it didn't bother me that much, but I could tell something was shouty/sharp/resonant.
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wnmnkh

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Re: KEF M500: Booty or shit?
« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2015, 06:27:51 AM »
I absolutely loved mine. It is one of far better natural-sounding on-ear headphones I had owned.

http://ko.goldenears.net/board/index.php?mid=GR_Headphones&search_target=title&search_keyword=m500&document_srl=3804145

They were actually the ones I owned. I shipped them to Korea to be measured.
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