Three-way Review: K501 vs K601 vs K701 - Page 5

What, in your opinion, would have such a bass?

good reading, thanks

vvanrij than for your welcome, and to all the participants by its aid

k501 needs the amplifier! (it is tired and painful to listen to direct the Marantz sa-7001)
I am very happy with my three amplifiers (whith good coupled impedances), in sequence of construction, Soha, Bijou and MH MAX fets
each with its gift for the ear, and its moment and type of music, soha is very portable, usb PC, nights even followed of listening without fatigue!
whith Bijou the warm, the brightness, pleasant long listening, enamors ..... very linear,
......... that have changed membranes to me of k501?
MH MAX FET,it removes more qualities to discover, very linear, generous in power and reliefs, warm, at euphoric moments, tests with electronic music, (although I do not recommend it for those types of extreme-bass-punch music) it surprises the arrival until there, without the lost one of details.

Now fodder more in the improvements of these amplifiers and media center, that in a change of earphones whith a usb DDDAC 1543mkII non-os two towers of tda1543!!! my world has changed! (I am not how long stopped the Marantz)

but everything will arrive the change, whith my portable pc
(also wave and flac) and dac for listen!

thanks, and escusas for my inglish babelfish translator
pleasing greetings from Spain

The more I listen to both of these headphones the more I am convinced that the K501 >>>>>>K701 and it isn't even that close.

The K701 is a awesome can but the K501 does everything the K701 does with a great deal more smoothness and refinement. I really find it hard to believe that AKG engineers felt that the K701 was a upgrade from the K501.

That said, I won't be selling my K701s anytime soon

x2 to ciphercomplete statement...

my balanced recabled 501 is worlds better than the 701 i used to own. but, it does require a lot of oomph to get it just right. though i own a gs-x, i prefer driving my 501 from a pair of monoblocks that i use to drive my k1000.

After critical listening--which ASR glibly dismissed as not even needed between the K701 and K501(!)--I gleefully kept the K501.

Actually, IMHE, the stock K501 bettered my long time reference RAL-recabled K701. The K501 are way more--and I mean WAY more--coherent than the K701. The K701, for all the things they do admirably well, have a fatal discontinuity in the upper midrange/lower treble that absolutely cripples the critical midrange. Once your ears pinpoint this glitch in the K701's upper midrange, it becomes increasingly difficult to put them on and enjoy the music anymore.

With an UP-OCC recable planned (silver to signal and copper to ground), the K501 should sound perhaps another magnitude better! : )

I'm glad I gave the K501 a serious listen. They've since proven to be the best open headphones I've experienced to date. Paired with the Bada PH-12, the K501 provide a near-transcendent, eminently musical and ultra-satisfying listen.

K501 indeed a wonderful cans.... and now i want K1000

ahahahaaa, be patience buddy... once it ready i believe you might enjoy much more than having it in normal way at the store...

All three are great. It comes down to personal preference.

Totally in agreement

-to SA 7001 - it listens unbearable (origin of the problem and exposition of change)
-to psp wave one bit better, nonuse AAC, MP3.......
-to amps-- great change

-USB PC (wave or flac) + DDDAC 24DACs non-os + MH and/or Bijou (each with its personality), is pure gold with both models and the certain impedances

in Spain K501-200€ and K701- 499€.... it is a madness, perceiving small shades only having both

"I do not look for hearing or concert that I was not", I look for the emotions of pleasant listening

struggled if it were worth the trouble to change of K501 to K701, the answer has given it here to me, and is no
I have certainty of to have invested that money in other improvements thanks to its opinions

It comes down to personal preference and the association of amplifiers, sources and formats of reproduction.

thanks to all, they enjoy its Kxx1 happy listening

Pleasing gretings and escusas by my inglish, translator babelfish
Fernan

The Doctor win again...

It's strange that a person would do an exhaustive review of three top AKG cans and not even bother to plug them into a headamp specifically designed for the best AKG cans....the AKG HEARO 999 wired headamp in the transmitter base. I have a HEARO 999 system with the dual wireless headphone package. Once the wireless cans are properly broken in, a long process due for the need for about 50 recharges per headphone, they truly are the reference in wireless headphones. Most hardwired cans will fall short by comparison.

 

Once I got my new K601 cans, the recessed bass and honkiness was easily apparent. A couple hundred hours smoothed things out quite a bit. There was still that prominent and lush midrange....sort of the classic high end AKG sound that a longtime user of the top pro AKG cans would expect. Enter the HEARO 999. I spent most of the first few months listening to the wireless cans. They are reference class once fully burned in. A German audio engineer who uses 999 cans every day in his mastering studio yurned me on to the HEARO 999. Glad I listened to him and read his review.....something that almost no audiophile seemed to have ever done. He was surprised when I contacted him by email, as he had done a 999 review when the system was still rather new, and it got almost zero attention.

 

Every set of cans I plugged into the 999 changed significantly from what you hear from a CD player, preamp headphone jack, or computer jack. The bass and treble are boosted, but especially the bass. This will tend to equalize the classic AKG house sound that the K601 possesses. It's a match made in heaven with the K601, but my DT880/250 cans turn into a bit of a bass monster with recessed midrange. Takes the life out of the DT880, and it has less liveliness to begin with than the K601. The DT880 is best suited to wide range instrumental music devoid of vocals. In that role it truly shines. The K601 truly shines with vocal music with driving beat based instrumental accompaniment. In other words, pop/rock and anything in a similar camp. The K601 does not fall on its face with anything else you throw at it, however. It is a good all-around set of cans with a side specialty in beat based vocal music. It is a PRaT set of cans, or as I prefer to call it, a Monkey Bone Reference.

 

At least that is what the K601 is like when driven by the HEARO 999 headamp. When I hear something that really gets my monkey bone to grooving on the wireless cans, I will run and plug in the K601 cans, and the monkey bone factor is increased a couple of notches.

 

WARNING: I find myself listening to music too loud for too long very often with the K601/HEARO 999 combo. The 999 headamp is very strong as AKG cans have been notoriously inefficient. Even with the K601, the 999 volume pot turned halfway to max can be painfully loud. The wireless cans are max loudness limited by their low battery voltage. Not likely to ruin your hearing with them.

 

FWIW, my 999 settings are IVA-Phones on, Surround off most of the time (depends on recording), Ears on normal, and Sound on Music in the mid position. With the DT880 cans, you have to engage the Surround to Club, Hall, or Stadium to bring the midrange forward. Usually that is overkill with the K601. Surround mode with the K601 is best reserved when using them with video sources.

The Lyr is awesome for the 701's.

I'm glad someone bumped this review again. More people should read it.

Most people seem to automatically jump to the K701, but I've always preferred the K601.

 

The K601 vs K701 part is especially interesting. I agree with most of it. I do think there are small variations between different pairs of the K601.

My first pair had very boosted lower treble and it was very bothersome with super bright (badly recording IMO!) and harsh sounding music. My pairing with the Asgard (bad synergy) didn't help.

 

My second (with a very high number) sounded much better. My first was a very low numbered pair and amped with something else.

 

I don't know if it was mentioned but I find the K702/K701 very slightly more clear sounding. The K601 isn't a huge step down at all. I compared both for many many hours and at first I think the K701 had more detail, but I don't think this is now the case.

I have doubts if anyone could find a detail that's lost on the K601, but there on the K702. I rarely even get recording hiss on the K702. I don't think the K702 is that detailed.

 

With the K701/K702 it often felt as if the soundstage made some details so distant they were impossible to hear. The K701 may have forward upper mids, but due to the soundstage sometimes it feels like there is a recession in the mids somewhere.

I'm not the only one who has heard this.

 

I think for me the K601 isn't too colored at all. It actually sounds more natural to me than the K702. The K702 has so much treble that it makes some music sounds a bit un-natural. I do think the K601 is slightly warm, but it seems to have the more engaging mids.

The K601 is better for my music than the K702 and is especially good for female vocals. Despite the forward upper mids, vocals on the K702 always sounded a bit more distant at times.

 

Check out this graph, it's pretty interesting. It seems that on paper the K601 has better bass extension than the K701, but is a bit darker than the K701. The K601's mids seem a tad more forward than the graphs make them seem.

 

With the K601 or K702 you just need to figure out which one would be best based on your music preferences. For me, the K601 is a better match. That thing is a STEAL at under $200. I got mine for $188 and it's build quality makes the $175 HD-598 look like a joke!