What tight Bass? The K701/2 provide no Bass to speak of...🙄 Not to mention the plasticky quality of its High frequencies. Better, really? How exactly?

"Normal" version? You mean the Modern version? The Original from the 1980s would actually be the "Normal" version... What problem? The Original Versions were the most Balanced, easily preferable to the Modern ones, which can sound piercingly bright...

What are on about? Competition? I’m merely a Audio Enthusiast with a profound dislike for your pretentious Audiophool ramblings. Peace out…

Where’s that downvote button? Damn!

I own both the RCD-855 - and have owned the RCD-955 as well - and the RCD-975, and I have to say that while the former is indeed very good, the 975 is in a different league altogether, including yes, the Bass Region. It is an overall superior player, and as you say, one of the biggest bargains...

Be(a)rs? 🤔

"The 560 was the predecessor to 500 and didn't hit the mark." You meant it was the Successor?...

"I'm sorry I jumped on the 650 (4.7 out of 5), its a cruddy attempt to cure issues with the 600,..." Yep, but instead of curing those issues, they have made it worse than its predecessor and slapped a higher price Tag onto it. Some (actually a lot) call it progress...:smirk::unamused:

"Although because of the much smaller soundstage, they do sound congested at times." Compared to what? The HD 800? Most seasoned listeners know that the HD 800's soundstage is artificially wide and much too diffuse. Nobody here would describe the HE-5XX as "intimate"...

Or Tape, or a standalone CD player, etc. Yeah, call me a Dinosaur...:smirk:

"The Ananda shares these TRAITS..."

"I have the K701 here and I've never understood why people say they have good staging. They sound rather flat to me, just forward and bright." Exactly how I see it/hear it. And not even the right or nice kind of Brightness, either; a la Hifiman, for example...

"neutralness," There are many possible adjectives one could use to describe the K701 (or K702), but NEUTRALITY would not be one I would ever use. I essentially concur with SilverEars, but let's just say I could add a bit more... :smirk:

"Yeah but err...it’s that DMS fella. It’s like taking nutritional advice from John Candy." Hmmm... what do you mean by this, exactly? I confess I don't even know who this DMS person is...

"Maybe the different headband lends itself to the slight frequency response variations we’ve seen." How so? How could a passive means of Head support have any influence in FR? I just don't see it....

"Here in Toronto, everything is still closed down with no end in sight." Just like in communist China. Then again, Canada has ceased to be a functional Democracy for quite a while. It only pretends that it is...

What's DMS? :thinking:

So why is it a joke? 🤔

A fictional character, apparently. And an equally fictional post, in all certainty..😡 https://search.brave.com/search?q=Kung+Lao&source=android

Deleted

Fixed that sentence for you...:beerchug:

"It's interesting how 4XX shows such treble extension. I know I heard the 4XX sounding dulled, and that measurEment makes no sense to me. I'm wondering how much unit variations there are? Give how low they are priced, could the drivers have very low consitEncies? I usually found Hifimans to be...

Fax section? Huh? :smirk: