Nice ! I'm a huge fan of the Britten quartets ( along with pretty much everything else he wrote!) I  have the Akg K501 so am obviously interested in the K812s. How does the Britten differ when listened through your HD800s? and which works best with your SPL Phonitor2 (  for classical music...

1} AKG K501.  Preferred these to K702 Annies, Sennheiser HD650 and HD700 . 2) Etymotic ER4S

Ety ER-4S.

Brat have you compared the K701 to the older AKG K501? Might be worth a try.

Maybe this is  finally the AKG  to better my K501's ( for classical music) fingers crossed. ps I know the K1000's were /are better ; )

Hi Nomax , I'm a little confused with regards your posts #107 and  #111. Are you hinting at another ( possible an even higher model) AKG phone coming out soon as well as the K812 already revealed? Sorry if I misunderstood.

I listen mainly to classical music.  I prefered the K702 to both the  HD650 and HD700 when auditioned ( amp was a Sennheiser  HDVD800). And then later prefered the K501s to the K702 Annies. So my vote would be for a used set of K501s.( the lightest and most comfortable as well)

Quote: It says so on their website!

Quote: Sorry guys, I screwed up!. I opened mine up again and lo and behold the foam disk  does have a hole in it as it should. I must have drunk too much Absinthe last night when I first looked! Still might be worth listening  sometime without them just to see what it does to the balance.

Quote: Joe, I found the pic under 'Service documentation K702' under the downloads link on this page: http://www.akg.com/K702-827.html?pid=1209 it shows all the headphones parts for both the K702's and K702s Annies. It believe it shows a ring of foam rather than the disk we've both...

Can anyone confirm (by removing the pads on their Annies) that they have a small round thin sheet of foam ( without a hole in it) that just sits 'loose' in the center  between the  driver and pads. I ask as the  blow up picture in the service manual of all the seperate parts to the...

I'm just returning to the headfi/phone world after a 10+ year gap! would love to come and catch up with whats now available.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, Just wanted to clarify. I'm  ideally looking for a TOTL no compromise full sized amp ( only of course if this, in principle gives a worthwhile improvement over the more popular ( for the Etys at least) portable amps mentioned in this thread. 

Even though I've had and used the ER4S for  at least 15 years! I've still never used them with any sort of dedicated amp.    Without size or cost constants,  within reason : )    Which none portable, full sized  amplifiers , tube or SS,  would  you recommend for me to consider as being the...

Thanks Zardon for the detailed reply. Unfortunately the 009's are out of my price range so the more relevant comparison I'll need to consider is between the TH900 with either the Omega 007 mk II's or the SR-507's. Any thoughts? I've tried the Koss ESP950's and liked them a lot but had...

Zardon, I expect you  rate the Stax's above the Fostex's. But what qualities do you think the Fostex might reveal ( if any) over the Stax's with regards Classical music only, Piano in particular.) thanks Philip.

Quote: Thanks Duke, SR-009s are of course a lot more dosh and out of my budget. The 007mkII or SR507s are within it though. I recently listened to the Koss esp950;s and really liked them. However various reliability and ergonomic issue have made me looking elsewhere. I would have...

Quote: Thanks for the invite. I unfortunately work Saturdays but I'll see if I can get the day off ( I'll PM you for details if so)

Quote: Ha, you do it the right way around( you know why!) I on the other hand live in the Couve but work in Portland. ( I'm really from England. But thats another story)

Quote: Hello AnakChan ,yes I was really into headphone listening big time from the late 80's to early 2000's then  got married  and listened only through speakers. I'm now  back to wanting to listen through mainly though headphones, for various reasons.. (  but Im still happily married!) ...

Quote: I wasn't going to respond to that until next year but what the heck ! :) 

Haven't read though whole thread so sorry if it's been mentioned already. But do any owners  use the TH900 primarily when listening to western Classical music ( all styles/periods) . As this is my preferred type of music. I'd be interested to hear from those who prefer the TH900 (and why) to...

Quote: Thanks Spritzer, I'll be getting my ESP950's later today. I'll look towards getting a SRM-252S sometime.

Quote:   Rather than changing the amp/energiser completely for the esp-950s. Has anyone just tried substituting the external 9V DC wall plug-in transformer/power supply for a larger/better custom designed power supply? This is an often seen upgrade route for conventional amplifiers (...

Rather than changing the amp/energiser completely for the esp-950s. Has anyone just tried substituting the external 9V DC wall plug-in transformer/power supply for a larger/better custom designed power supply? This is an often seen upgrade route for conventional amplifiers ( Naim etc) and...