AKG 701 build quality
Mar 8, 2006 at 7:14 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 26

mchank

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Just received my first pair of AKG's from Todd, 701s. The build quality of these look fantastic but I'm a little worried about the elastic band mechanism for the headband; the small rubber bands look fragile exposed like that. Has anyone had any problems with them snapping and breaking, or becoming frayed?
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 7:17 AM Post #2 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by mchank
Just received my first pair of AKG's from Todd, 701s. The build quality of these look fantastic but I'm a little worried about the elastic band mechanism for the headband; the small rubber bands look fragile exposed like that. Has anyone had any problems with them snapping and breaking, or becoming frayed?


K501 has a similar mechanism, and to my knowledge no one has ever had a problem, even after years of use. It's a tried/true design, so (short of tangling them up in a pair of scissors) no worries...
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 11:29 AM Post #4 of 26
I received mine from todd last year. However, fresh out of the box, there was already a very small scratch(visible) on the silver part of the right side of the cans...Wonder what happened?
confused.gif
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 11:39 AM Post #5 of 26
I was worried about that elastic band mechanism also. I only had my K701 less than a month and had no problem during that time but I had this feeling that "this mechanism can't stand too long".

Well I haven't seen anybody complaining yet so I suppose they're still working fine.

The overall build quality of K701 is too plasticy I think. It feels cheaper than it looks.
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 12:09 PM Post #6 of 26
I have three pairs of AKGs of varying vintage with this mechanism, and all are fine. It's a bit remarkable, for sure. I also don't think it's that difficult to replace them if needed.
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 12:20 PM Post #7 of 26
Actually I snapped mine on the 271S the very first day. Adjusted them on my head a little too roughly and there it went, on the right side. Then I just tied it up with some other elastic band and it was good again. Doesn't look so great but I don't care.
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 12:21 PM Post #8 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by razer
I received mine from todd last year. However, fresh out of the box, there was already a very small scratch(visible) on the silver part of the right side of the cans...Wonder what happened?
confused.gif



I just received my new old style DT880 from TTVJ last week and there was a scratch on one of the metal forks and the aluminum box had a small bend near the hinge point that prevented the lid from staying in place. The scratch doesn't seem to have made the sound scratchy.
biggrin.gif
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 2:48 PM Post #9 of 26
Fit of the plastic parts is less than perfect on my K701, but nothing I'd worry about. Surprising at the price point, however.
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 4:00 PM Post #10 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by mchank
I'm a little worried about the elastic band mechanism for the headband; the small rubber bands look fragile exposed like that.


According to AKG there is actually some thin steel wire in there, assuming thats true I imagine it would be pretty durable.
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 4:59 PM Post #11 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu
The overall build quality of K701 is too plasticy I think. It feels cheaper than it looks.


This is really not very encouraging for a prospective K701 buyer. How does it compare to the HD650 or the DT880? Are there metal parts at all?
 
Mar 8, 2006 at 5:37 PM Post #12 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by razer
I received mine from todd last year. However, fresh out of the box, there was already a very small scratch(visible) on the silver part of the right side of the cans...Wonder what happened?
confused.gif



hmm, same on mine... where exactly is the scratch? may be a factory problem on a batch.
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 12:14 AM Post #13 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder
This is really not very encouraging for a prospective K701 buyer. How does it compare to the HD650 or the DT880? Are there metal parts at all?


If it's no worse than the K501 (and I'm sure it's not), the headphones will probably last 20 years if well taken care of. Dunno why everyone's so concerned about this, most headphones are cheaply built in one way or another (except for the Grado HP1000
tongue.gif
).
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 12:23 AM Post #14 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by mchank
Just received my first pair of AKG's from Todd, 701s. The build quality of these look fantastic but I'm a little worried about the elastic band mechanism for the headband; the small rubber bands look fragile exposed like that. Has anyone had any problems with them snapping and breaking, or becoming frayed?


I have K340's with similar elastic bands. And yes they did stretch on me. Of coarse i had them for almost 20 years before that happened and it is an easy fix. So don't sweat it. Enjoy your 701's!
 
Mar 9, 2006 at 7:43 AM Post #15 of 26
Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder
This is really not very encouraging for a prospective K701 buyer. How does it compare to the HD650 or the DT880? Are there metal parts at all?


What can I say? Maybe it's that white plastic or something. It reminds me of some bathroom accessories or something like that.
biggrin.gif


When I first got them I was disappointed about the build quality. I thought that even those aluminium looking pieces on both sides of the headphones would really be aluminium but no no... plastic all the way. Even when I knew that they would mainly be built of plastic, they still fealt too cheap. Only part which gave me a feeling of a high end headphone was the leather headband.

And about that rubber band. That joint where it disappears into the headphone, does anyone else have this joint looking like it would crack any time? The hole where the rubber band goes was somehow "widening" in my K701. Sorry this is hard to explain with my English but maybe you know what I mean.
 

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