Ok. I dived in and bought the ALO K702's.
In the box received from ALO Audio were the K702's with the stock cable attached and the ALO cable in a separate and sealed plastic bag.
I've been using the K702's with the ALO cable exclusively since I got them. I've been really enjoying the K702's. Very good sound indeed.
Today, I switched to the stock cable as an experiment when someone "in the know", and with dazzling technobabble to back up his skepticism claimed that cables didn't make a difference.
To tell you the truth, I genuinely didn't expect such a marked difference. The first thing I noted was the marked reduction in volume. I now understood why I could listen to these cans with relatively low volume settings compared to the usual testimonies. There was loss of dynamic range in the sound with less bass punch, mid-range fullness, and high end sparkle. Of course, this could have been secondary to the volume reduction, but I knew it couldn't be only that since I'm quite familiar with how the sound of the ALO K702's as I reduce volume. Anyway, to give benefit to doubt, I turned the volume up to the levels that I was previously listening and sure enough, the reduction in dynamics was pretty much there. It's as if a significant amount of 'liveliness' was sucked out of the general sound. The bass was less, with a reduction in general fullness of sound.
Though I'm sure that I'd psychoacoustically adjust to the new sound to the point where it didn't sound as different, I knew I'd never enjoy the K702's as much without the ALO cable.
I'd so love to pit this ALO K702's against the HD800's. Should make for a very interesting comparison. Already, tonally, the Ed8's and and ALO K702's have a lot in common with the details reproduction and energy being very similar. The Ed8's just have less sound stage with quite a heavier bass response.
As you should realize by now, I wouldn't hesitate recommending the ALO cable as an upgrade to the K702's. It's great synergy considering that I did do a Cardas cable upgrade with my now sold HD650's and didn't enjoy such significant sonic improvements. Though they were there, they weren't anywhere near as marked.
PS// Considering that there are supposed to be sonic improvements as a result of direct wiring of each driver in the ALO K701's, I'd personally take very seriously the claim that with the ALO mod, the K701's are propelled to the top of the heap among open dynamic headphones.