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How does the Burson HA-160 do with AKG K702 phones?

post #1 of 12
10/1/11 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 
Right now, I am powering my well-broken-in K702s with a Headroom MicroAmp. I'm pretty satisfied with the sound (but the bass extension seems limited) and the comfort of the headphones, which I use only for classical music. I've read some good reviews of the Burson amp. If you have heard the K702 or K701 with the Burson, how did you feel about the sound quality? And if you have by any chance used the 701/702 phones with the Headroom MicroAmp in addition to the Burson, how would you describe the difference in the results you heard?
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post #2 of 12
10/1/11 at 4:02pm

I used it over a period of about two weeks. But Im so bad at discerning audio quality that it was like casting pearls before swine. I was comparing it to my little dot mk2 and WA6, the only difference I could tell was that the Burson was a bit louder than the WA6.

 

I kept the WA6 simply because of the looks, but if It was a pure audio quality decision, the Burson was better, but I couldn't describe why I felt that way.

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post #3 of 12
10/1/11 at 4:04pm

This  6 moons review inluded 702s, and suggested that it handled the deep end of the 702s very well. 

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/burson3/burson_3.html

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post #4 of 12
10/1/11 at 11:20pm
It would do just fine, but you need new headphones badly if your going to spend $700 on a headphone amp, and have some $200 cans with it.
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post #5 of 12
10/1/11 at 11:22pm

It's fine, we're not talking about a mid-fi headphone here.

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post #6 of 12
10/1/11 at 11:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad Max View Post

It's fine, we're not talking about a mid-fi headphone here.


X2

 

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post #7 of 12
10/5/11 at 2:10pm

X3... I have the Burson HA-160 and the AKG K702.  Its a nice paring at least to my tastes gobs of detail, fairly neutral, good pace, wide soundstage.

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post #8 of 12
10/10/11 at 8:51am
Thread Starter 

I ordered a Burson HA160 from Hi-Fi Heaven (authorized retailer); should arrive early next week. Report to follow...

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post #9 of 12
10/10/11 at 11:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pbarach View Post

I ordered a Burson HA160 from Hi-Fi Heaven (authorized retailer); should arrive early next week. Report to follow...



I auditioned it with the Quincy Jones (Q701') and it made a good job. 

Let us know once you get it, happy listening! 

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post #10 of 12
10/15/11 at 5:41pm
Thread Starter 

Burson arrived yesterday. I'm listening to it right now with AKG K702s.

 

Right out of the box I noticed significant improvements compared with the ca. 2006 Headroom MicroAmp which I traded in for the Burson from an obliging dealer. So far I hear much less congestion in the midrange, more spaciousness around instruments in well-recorded classical music, much greater detail in such recordings as Miles Davis's "So What." On some early digital recordings, the graininess in the violins is much less evident. Overall, it's less fatiguing to listen to. It's not parched, dry, or analytical, but I am hearing plenty of layers in the music.

 

I'm not certain of this, but I have the impression that the bass extension is deeper--but I am quite certain of the other improvements. 

 

BTW I find the 702s to be a good, comfortable fit for me, in contrast to the Senn 600 and 650, both of which put my TM joint into a painful vise grip. 

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post #11 of 12
10/15/11 at 10:51pm

Welcome to the real fun.  =p

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post #12 of 12
11/30/11 at 4:42pm

Reply about the burson amp with akg 701 phones.I have a burson ha-160 amp and it does drive the 701s fairly well.If you do get a burson amp I suggest that you replace the stock fuse(easily done from the back panel) with a hifi tuning fuse of the same value.I might also suggest a hifi tuning silver star fuse.I tried a hifi tuning gold fuse also but imho i thought the silver star fuse brought out the best from the burson amp the bass being tighter and it improved the the imaging more than the gold fuse.I would also suggest you upgrade the stock power cord.I replaced mine with a pangea ac-14 power cord from audio advisor and got a substantial improvement in the bursons sound quality.This is a no brainer the pangea power cord is only about thirty dollars.     

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