I just bought a pair of the k141 mk2. I got this particular 141 since i felt they were the better value vs the k142 HD seeing that they are still Austrian made and come with more accessories in the box. They come with two pairs of pads(velour and leather) and a coiled and straight cable plus they are less expensive than the k142 HD.
Soundwise, these are ridiculously good, especially for the price I paid! I didn't expect this kind of sound from an AKG since I didn't like the K701 at all and found the k240S to sound just okay like many of the other AKG models that I've owned. These are way better than the k240 Studio to me. These have a more coherent sound and have no annoying brightness in the 10khz area like in the 240S. These cans almost sound like Grados with TTVJ Flats in tonality and immediacy but are even more coherent and lack that harshness in the upper mids and mid treble that is present in most Grados. Although not quite as detailed and sweet sounding as my Sennheiser HD600s, these have the slam that those senns sometimes lack when listening to some of my favorite 80s new wave or most other rock music for that matter.
When people think of reference supraaurals, one can that most likely gets mentioned in the $200 and under range is the Sennheiser HD25-1. I really don't get all the fuss about the hd25-1s though. I think they are a little nasty sounding due to their cuppy colorations and I find them to sound a little too aggressive yet lacking top end air. These K141s just sound more natural than the HD25-1 II for me, hands down. They might not have the airiness that HD600s have for example but they don't feel like they have such an abrupt rolloff above the mid treble range like the hd25s.
If one wants a slightly more laidback sound, one can switch to the fabric pads that come in the box. The velour/cloth pads make the sound a tad warmer and more relaxed than the leather ones. The midbass punch gets a little more accurate with the cloth pads and the soundstage gets a little wider but the leathers have that extra oomph, that extra high contrast sound that one finds in headphones like Grados/Alessandros. For the $125 including free worldwide shipping that I paid for them, they are pure awesomeness!
