Upgrade from K701's.

How about the He500?

Its darker and sweeter, more natural sounding. K701 has wider soundstage but the HE500's have better imaging and definition. I like the bass on the K70x's but the he500's have more and it is better balanced. The treble on the HE500's is very good, no peaks and is very smooth

 

Maybe you should consider a good future amp and DAC for your K701.

Shiori,

It really depends what aspects of your listening experience that you are interested in upgrading?

I have the K702s which are similar to the K701s and I have also been looking to "upgrade". Different headphones excel at different things. The K70x excel at a very neutral and flat presentation between 100-10,000 Hz. They have a large, somewhat amorphous yet airy soundstage. They start to roll off at 100 Hz and do not present much below 40 Hz. This bothers some listeners. I recently auditioned some high end loaners, both of which were "better" than he AKGs @ 3x to 5x their price. You are really at a point in the cost/return curve where improvement will be quite costly. That being said, some headphones to consider are:

Audez'e LCD-2 (3x price)
Beyerdynamic Tesla T1 (4x price)
HiFiMAN HE-500 (2x price)
Sennheiser HD800 (5x price)

What are you looking to improve in a headphone?

- deeper bass
- more resolving musical detail
- more precise instrument placement
- more comfortable to wear
- more efficient

It really comes down to your definition of "upgrade" is. All of these headphones excel at different aspects. To really "upgrade" you will be likely laying out 2-5x the price of the AKGs. They really are remarkably good headphones when properly amped. There are many threads that discuss these headphones and others on this site.

Good Luck,

Bob

The HE-5LE are closer to, and more of an improvement upon, the K701 than are the 500.  The latter are rolled off in the treble, and will not give you the HF extension that you may have gotten used to with the AKG.  I think the 5LE also offer a larger, more 3-dimensional soundstage, too.

We are in the same boat my friend. I am very fond of my K701s. However, I am looking to upgrade to HE-500 (most likely). Like someone said above, it really depends what are you looking in a new headphone.

 

Personally I believe that an HE-500 (twice the price), would be the best upgrade for me from what I am looking to get as a desired sound. A very important thing is to have a good amp and dac once you have already decided to go for cans like these.

A lyr and bifrost should be an excellent choice I suppose, that is why i decided to get them in the first place.

The K701 is an excellent headphone. I doubt there is much in the way of "upgraded" sound available, mostly just differences in sound signature- more bass, less highs, more mids, etc. You have to find the sound signature you prefer most, this is why so many here have several headphones.