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Buying my first pair of AKG K701

post #1 of 6
2/8/12 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 

Hi

I have been following posts on this forum for a while but I did not dare to buy anything. There are too many brand names, prices and recommendations.

Now a friend of mine is offering me his K701 for sale.

I don't have any experience with this kind of headphone.

I tried a couple of sennheisers in a store in SF and they sounded nice. I wonder if the K701 will sound the same. The Sennheisers were around $50-$60.

 

Do you think making the K701 my first purchase of an audiophile headphone is a good idea? I can spend more money later for a good amp and DAC if needed. By the way, I listen mainly to classical chamber music (Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn). Thanks!


Edited by nzippo - 2/8/12 at 3:47pm
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post #2 of 6
2/8/12 at 4:13pm

that is almost the worst idea, because you definetely need a dedicated dac/amp.

 

however for classical music k701 works really good, but you really need a powerful amp to drive it

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post #3 of 6
2/8/12 at 4:30pm

I wouldn't suggest buying the K701 UNTIL getting at least an amp. You could get a cheap one to get you by. The E9 drives it and so can the portable Airhead. Maybe the E10 I've heard.

 

K701 and Q701 don't sound that good without an amp at all unlike the HD-600 etc.

If it's coming from a laptop, it'll be even worse.

 

BTW to me, Sennheiser and AKG headphones are almost complete opposites in some ways.

 

 

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post #4 of 6
2/8/12 at 7:03pm

Contrary to popular belief if you have a decent PC sound card you should be fine. I have a Xonar DX and it sounds excellent with the q701 which are very similar headphones.

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post #5 of 6
2/8/12 at 7:28pm

Since you are buying it off a friend, are you able to audition them first? In the end, trust your ears. If you think there is enough of an increase in sound quality compared to whatever you've heard/own, then go for it.

 

In saying that, the K701 really does need something to drive them in order to get them to their full potential. I have also heard that the burn-in time is quite long.


Edited by prayer86 - 2/8/12 at 7:31pm
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post #6 of 6
2/8/12 at 8:29pm

The K701 will better any $50-$60 MSRP headphones you're likely to find. The original SRP when it came out a few years back was over $500; to give you some perspective (they regularly sell for around $275 though, so don't get taken to the cleaners buying these used). 

 

Anyways, regarding the "they need an amp" - they're inefficient, but they're not *that* inefficient. AKG's data suggest around 93 dB/mW, while InnerFidelity's data suggest around 90 dB/1.5mW. Either way, that's much worse than many other headphones. However, getting a few mW out of a device isn't asking for a world-shattering event. Any sort of head-amp soundcard, and a number of fairly robust but non-head-amp soundcards (like the X-Fi Prelude) can easily drive them. As can any decent hi-fi system, or basic headphone amp. The Fiio E9 is an inexpensive and very good choice, it costs around $100. Depending on what the K701 cost, you might be able to come out ahead. 

 

Driving them straight from your PC is unlikely to produce "bad" results; they'll sound like K701s, but they probably won't get exceptionally loud and may have some FR deviations. 

 

For the genres you've mentioned, I can't think of many other headphones I'd pick over the K701 - especially if you're getting a very good price.

 

 

 

 

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