AKG K3003 High End 3 Way System Headphone

[tumburu]

Had them for over a year now and the cable is fine. However, I'm really careful with it.

 

[Audiowood]

Agree with akg3003 sounding really good, I still listen to it every night even after owning it for about a year. It's my reference IEM and I alternate between 1p2 and akg3003. No problem with cable so far and sometimes I slept with it. Pop in and out much easier than 1p2.

X2 ..sparrow is really spot on this one.. (I know his spirit lives on here) ..

 

[woodcans]

Agree with akg3003 sounding really good, I still listen to it every night even after owning it for about a year. It's my reference IEM and I alternate between 1p2 and akg3003. No problem with cable so far and sometimes I slept with it. Pop in and out much easier than 1p2.

X2 ..sparrow is really spot on this one.. (I know his spirit lives on here) ..

I use mine daily as well. Paired with hifi m8, they have been taken to new heights.

 

[Audiowood]

Ha! That's exactly what I have been using .. m8+akg3003= joy

 

[up late]

still rockin' 'em with the lowly iphone.

 

[woodcans]

still rockin' 'em with the lowly iphone.

They still rock quite well straight outta the iphone. Especially with ios 7.

 

[SoundFreaq]

Most of the time I listen straight from the iPod. The gains in quality when I tote out the -dB and RSA amps just isn't worth it sometimes. 
 
1p2 and 3003 are my go to phones right now. They cover all my genres. 

 

[woodcans]

  Most of the time I listen straight from the iPod. The gains in quality when I tote out the -dB and RSA amps just isn't worth it sometimes. 
 
1p2 and 3003 are my go to phones right now. They cover all my genres. 

 
 
Using the microStreamer adds some refinement for me with the iphone. Straight out of the iphone is relatively similar, only slightly less 'good'. I just received my m8 last week. This device takes the 3003's to another level. Not night and day, but instantly noticable, which makes it hard to go back to the iphone direct and/or uS. For instance, cymbals sound (more) like cymbals. Bass is just that much deeper and just that much tighter. Would love to hear the 1p2, but overall the 3003s are keeping me happy atm.

 

[up late]

only ever heard mine out of an iphone so don't know what i'm missing i guess. it's my portable rig so like to keep it simple and light.

 

[SoundFreaq]

I wonder how the M8 stacks up to the -dB + P-51, other than footprint size : )
 
That would be pretty cool to have iDevice compatibility and knock off a whole component. Have to do some more research. If better sound than iPod is to be had for slightly more effort, I'm in. Though, I happen to know about something in the works, that if it comes to fruition, may stomp on this all over the place : )

 

[up late]

just realised that you got the k3003. you like?

 

[Dr No]

I listened to the AKG 3003, comparing it to the Sennheiser IE 800, HD800, and HD700. Driven by HDVD800 with DAC input.
 
Sound:
AKG3003: Bass ok, not as deep and powerful as IE800 but ok. Mids are more pronounced (like HD800), on some recordings a bit too much resulting in a shouty sound, not as natural and smooth as IE800. Treble: BIG BIG trouble. Awful sibilance and not good at all. General impressions: a bit incoherent, probably due to 3-way drivers and phase incoherence. Mids/treble sound a bit "hard" and compressed. Bass more dynamic.
 
IE800: bass is really deep, but not bloated in the mid bass. Impressive depth brings sound to a new level. More impressive than the Stax 007 in bass department. On some recordings such as pop/electronica, bass might be too much, but this is very recording dependent. Mids: perfect classical sennheiser sound, compared to 3003 or Stax lambda series, the mids are a bit recessed, but to my ears sound more realistic and does not result in listening fatigue. Treble: initially a bit sibilant, however after 200 hrs of burn in the treble is really nice. Also like the bass, the amount of treble is very recording dependent. Tried tea bags but it flattened the sound across the whole freq range.
 
HD800: Weak bass, nice mids, too much treble. Result. Anemic sound, not very exciting to listen to. 
HD700: A bit more V-shaped than HD800, more fun, but not up to the level of IE800.
 
Winner: IE800 by a wide margin. IMO.To my ears that is!
 
The AKG3003 is heavily over-priced.

 

[Gilles De Rais]

Just a question Dr No. What model was the K3003 - with the volume control or without? If it was the model with the volume control, did you use the additional 3.5mm converter plug into a 6.5mm jack? Plugging the 3.5mm jack into a 6.5mm plug without the converter will lead to impedance imbalances - pretty much sounding as you described, ie extreme treble and poor bass.

I suspect you may need to retest to get a better appreciation of the k3003s.

Regards,

Giles

 

[Dr No]

Just a question Dr No. What model was the K3003 - with the volume control or without? If it was the model with the volume control, did you use the additional 3.5mm converter plug into a 6.5mm jack? Plugging the 3.5mm jack into a 6.5mm plug without the converter will lead to impedance imbalances - pretty much sounding as you described, ie extreme treble and poor bass.

I suspect you may need to retest to get a better appreciation of the k3003s.

Regards,

Giles

Hello
K3003 was with a volume control, and the converter plug was used. Neutral filter.
The IE800 was straight into a 6.5mm jack, no converter.

 

[Dr No]

Oh, and I also tried the K3003 and IE800 straight out of a Iphone 5 with ALAC streaming files. Did not sound very different from the HDVD800 output actually.
Iphone 5 > Wimp Hifi> Sennheiser IE800 = as good as it gets! (Even compared to my previous Stax SR007 and Sennheiser Orpheus which both have their downsides)
 
As a newbie to IEMs, I did expect the soundstage to differ a lot between IEMs and over-the-ear, open headphones, but the difference is not huge, even compared to the praised HD800-soundstage. Both in-your head type of presentation, but IEM is more focused.