AKG K701 Amplification

[AP3X]

So I am a pretty much a nub to high end headphones and was origionally looking for something to use without an amp and with the help of you guys and trying out several headphones I landed on the AKG K701. The headphone litterally gave me an adrenaline rush when I listened to it after returning the HD650's.

I have read that these headphones really need a decent amp to get them going and just by reading reviews I made a decision on the Little Dot MKIII. However after returning to the forum I have seen comments that the MKIII can not power the AKG K701 sufficiently. Well the amp is not here yet and there is a 30day return policy.

What are you guys thoughts on this, would the inability to power the 701's be an accurate statement?

What if the gain settings are adjusted?

What amp would you recommend for these headphones? Darkvoice 336SE?

 

[rantamplann]

Undoubtedly Kicas caliente...Had canamp, rusdistor etc, and its the best value amp with 701 for sure.
Just look for references and reviews at purity audio webpage.

 

[AmanGeorge]

^The Caliente is a good bet, especially coming from someone who believes it to easily best the Canamp, which is often recommended around these parts for synergy with the K701.

I just tried my K701 with a tube amp that wasn't powerful enough to drive it and it sounded genuinely bad, so I think you're definitely best off looking for something else with these 'phones.

 

[AP3X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmanGeorge /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^The Caliente is a good bet, especially coming from someone who believes it to easily best the Canamp, which is often recommended around these parts for synergy with the K701. I just tried my K701 with a tube amp that wasn't powerful enough to drive it and it sounded genuinely bad, so I think you're definitely best off looking for something else with these 'phones.

If you don't mind me asking. what tube amp did you use. Any experiance with the LD MK III with the gain set to 5 or 10? (default is 3)

 

[Happy Camper]

Whoever sold you on the K701s without an amp is a natural. The amp that drives the 701s to their capacity needs quality power. SS amps are the best for this but need a warm source to balance the clinical presentation of ss amps and the 701s. Hybrids would be a perfect amp for them but I don't know much about them from an output power standpoint.

An all tube amp will really need a strong power supply because of tubes. They radiate a lot of energy as heat so the power supply has to provide enough to offset this and still provide everything the load needs.

 

[ktsai1283]

IIRC, Little Dot mentions that one of the headphones they use to test their amps is the 701, and lots of people believe that the MK III pairs beautifully with the 701/2.

Play around with it when it arrives, see if you like it; if you do, keep it... Doesn't matter what anyone else says!

Also IIRC, David from Little Dot recommended a gain of 10 for the 701/2.

 

[jawang]

AFAIK, your cheapest decent sounding options are

millet SS (DIY for ~$100, or that $180 prebuilt one from whiplash)
little dot i+ (~$109 + shipping, this is a lower model LD but it should give you more power)
head-direct ef2 ($189, this one has a usb DAC too, so get it if you need one)
x-head amp from av123.com ($99-$199 depending on sale, make sure you get the revised version 2, very powerful SS amp)
shanling ph100 ($250, very good option, strong bass and somewhat warm sound)

 

[AP3X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Camper /img/forum/go_quote.gif Whoever sold you on the K701s without an amp is a natural. The amp that drives the 701s to their capacity needs quality power. SS amps are the best for this but need a warm source to balance the clinical presentation of ss amps and the 701s. Hybrids would be a perfect amp for them but I don't know much about them from an output power standpoint. An all tube amp will really need a strong power supply because of tubes. They radiate a lot of energy as heat so the power supply has to provide enough to offset this and still provide everything the load needs.

I was not sold on a particular headset. I took feedback from everyone then then bought 7 pairs of headphones from Amazon and returned the ones that I did not like. I liked the AKG's the best with the HD600 following second and the DT880's third even unamped. I found them to deliver the sound as closer to the source. The HD595's was dead last.

 

[dcpoor]

I heard the audio-gd c2c is great with k501/601/701's too.

 

[AP3X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktsai1283 /img/forum/go_quote.gif IIRC, Little Dot mentions that one of the headphones they use to test their amps is the 701, and lots of people believe that the MK III pairs beautifully with the 701/2. Play around with it when it arrives, see if you like it; if you do, keep it... Doesn't matter what anyone else says! Also IIRC, David from Little Dot recommended a gain of 10 for the 701/2.

Correct, and David did recommended a gain of 10. I would just like to get some thoughts from the community as well.

 

[carledwards]

Love it with the CanAmp.

 

[rds]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AP3X /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are you guys thoughts on this, would the inability to power the 701's be an accurate statement?

Yes. You need an amp that can delivery lots of current fast. That amp is definitely not it.
Also like others mentioned, a quality PS is important. The question is 'what's you budget?'.

 

[AP3X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rds /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. You need an amp that can delivery lots of current fast. That amp is definitely not it. Also like others mentioned, a quality PS is important. The question is 'what's you budget?'.

$400 or less. Anything else i will have to wait

 

[MacedonianHero]

I just picked up a set of K701s to go with my home setup. I've tried them before at HiFi stores and was pretty impressed.

So I saw them up for sale on the For Sale Forum with a local seller. So I picked them up.

The soundstage is just phenomenal. I thought my HD650s had a great sound stage, but these are clearly better in that area. The previous owner has burned them in for about 20 hours so I imagine they will only get better over time.

Now to the amplification...

I tried them directly out of my iPhone 3g and like my HD650s I had to crank it up to almost max volume. This is surprising as they are listed at 63 ohms while the HD650s are 300 ohms. I thought they would be closer to my RS1s in that regards. I could totally see how some could accuse them of being bass light.

So onto my desktop setup: Cambridge Audio DacMagic - Mapletree Ear+HD Amp and the bass was considerably better when I plugged them into the low gain headphone plug. And then just for fun, I tried the high gain headphone plug and wow...the bass is beautiful on these things. Certainly not lacking in anyway. The highs seem to extend further than the HD650s (more like my RS1s) and the bass is a little more controlled but not as full bodied as the HD650s.

They are more forward and neutral compared to the HD650s (which are silky and laid back) and not as coloured as the RS1s.

So far I am a happy camper...but boy do these things need juice to really hit their full potential. Methinks that all critics have not heard these babies in the proper setup.

 

[AP3X]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacedonianHero /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just picked up a set of K701s to go with my home setup. I've tried them before at HiFi stores and was pretty impressed. So I saw them up for sale on the For Sale Forum with a local seller. So I picked them up. The soundstage is just phenomenal. I thought my HD650s had a great sound stage, but these are clearly better in that area. The previous owner has burned them in for about 20 hours so I imagine they will only get better over time. Now to the amplification... I tried them directly out of my iPhone 3g and like my HD650s I had to crank it up to almost max volume. This is surprising as they are listed at 63 ohms while the HD650s are 300 ohms. I thought they would be closer to my RS1s in that regards. I could totally see how some could accuse them of being bass light. So onto my desktop setup: Cambridge Audio DacMagic - Mapletree Ear+HD Amp and the bass was considerably better when I plugged them into the low gain headphone plug. And then just for fun, I tried the high gain headphone plug and wow...the bass is beautiful on these things. Certainly not lacking in anyway. The highs seem to extend further than the HD650s (more like my RS1s) and the bass is a little more controlled but not as full bodied as the HD650s. They are more forward and neutral compared to the HD650s (which are silky and laid back) and not as coloured as the RS1s. So far I am a happy camper...but boy do these things need juice to really hit their full potential. Methinks that all critics have not heard these babies in the proper setup.

Yea, I am not seeing where the bass is lacking that much at all. They seem to present the music the way it was recorded as opposed to coloring everthing, which was something I simply could not stand with the HD650's.