[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by russedelic I thought the 701 cable was supposed to be some revolutionary "flat wire technology." In what way are people not happy with the cable, and how would recabling help. Or, is this flat wire tech stuff bogus?

That's flat voice coil wire. Not cable.

And BTW what glaring deficiency are we trying to correct here to recable the 701? Further, if you're going to go to all that trouble, to stop there and not directly connect BOTH drivers, rather than relying on the headband to carry the signal, well, IMHO, that's just silly. If I were going to go balanced, I would consider it, but only then. They sound fine the way they are.

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth That's flat voice coil wire. Not cable. And BTW what glaring deficiency are we trying to correct here to recable the 701? Further, if you're going to go to all that trouble, to stop there and not directly connect BOTH drivers, rather than relying on the headband to carry the signal, well, IMHO, that's just silly. If I were going to go balanced, I would consider it, but only then. They sound fine the way they are.

I was just academically curious. So you can roll your eyes from here to eternity and it just doesn't matter.

I think you're right. In the 701's case, the only way it would be worthwhile is if one wants to go balanced all the way.

I'm very highly skeptical of paying about the same price of the headphones themselves just for new cables. At that rate, I may as well return the 701's and spend upwards of $600 on a pair of headphones instead. It just seems utterly ludicrous to me to spend at least 100 percent of the value of the phones themselves on cables. I just can't see myself doing it unless I want to go all balanced.

The law of diminishing returns has to kick in at the drop of a hat on this scene.


I think the stock cable on the 701 is just fine as well. There doesn't seem to be anything "cheap" about it like one forumer posted earlier.

 

[milkpowder]

Who bought the reterminated/balanced K701 that Enigma Audio made from the FS forum? I would like to know how it sounds! I was so close to getting those, but someone pounced on them before I did...

 

[PFKMan23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkpowder Who bought the reterminated/balanced K701 that Enigma Audio made from the FS forum? I would like to know how it sounds! I was so close to getting those, but someone pounced on them before I did...

GE has retermed atleast 2 pairs of k701s. The one you are referring to was purchased by xand1x and there was another pair (that was also sold a few weeks ago) for tkam.

 

[cantsleep]

so did anyone in the national meet audition the recabled k701s?

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cantsleep so did anyone in the national meet audition the recabled k701s?

Anyone?

I am just curious to see if balanced 701's are really worth that much over "stock" 701's.

 

[edisonwu]

Yes 34 32.69%
No 36 34.62%
Not sure 34 32.69%

results are very close.

I will recable it if I get the chance. The stock one is just not enough and it is cheap.

 

[Jam_Master_J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 if I had 701s Id recable them. in a heartbeat.

Me too. Not even for the sonics, I just plain find it fun to re-cable stuff.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

I wonder what would happen if after you recabled it, you noticed something else was wrong with the K701...would AKG take it back and fix it, or stare at the cable, steal it, then repair them?

 

[Samgotit]

$250 of worth of cabling on a $300 head phone, without any kind of quantifiable measurements, is quite possible the dumbest thing I've seen here yet.

 

[A.Thorsen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samgotit $250 of worth of cabling on a $300 head phone, without any kind of quantifiable measurements, is quite possible the dumbest thing I've seen here yet.

That's definitely where my skepticism kicks in, but here's a question for you: Can I get an appreciably better headphone than the AKG 701's for about $600 or so? (The cost of the 701's plus the recabling?

)

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.Thorsen That's definitely where my skepticism kicks in, but here's a question for you: Can I get an appreciably better headphone than the AKG 701's for about $600 or so? (The cost of the 701's plus the recabling? )

Nope. I don't think many people would claim that the AT woodies are technically better performers - that has nothing to do with peoples preference for them, but on a slightly more objective scale it would be hard to argue they are better. Same for Grado's - you can get one for $1k, but it isn't technically a 'better' performer; it's different, and people will love it, but people will also hate it.

I think the question is whether your investment will bring appreciable results over and above the K701 you know and love. That's hard to call. I've been from the bottom of the pile, up to the top, and then back down a little, starting with HD-580's and a Total Bithead (old version), getting up to a Maxed out Balanced Home with HD-650/Balanced Equinox cable, and now I'm down to the 'convertible' with Desktop DAC, '06 Max Modules and HD-650 w/stock cable. Having been through all of the upgrade paths of cables etc. I did appreciate the differences, and I did find the Equinox to be a worthy upgrade at that point. However, I'm not sure I'd do it all over again, and find that I enjoy the stock cable in my current system to the degree that I would rather keep my money. Of course, if I didn't have to pay for it I'd take another Equinox any day.

For the K701's, I'm considering recabling because I do have some issues with the sound, particularly the upper midrange which I find a little 'gritty' in classical music. Though everyone hears differently, I basically hear this headphone exactly the way the HeadRoom graph shows it. Will a cable upgrade change that? I don't really know, and would probably be better off just calling it quits, but there's always that nagging feeling that the perfect sound might just be a re-cable away...

Regarding the post about the ludicrous proportion of cable price:headphone price, at the NY meet last November Tyll had a pair of Sennheiser 201's recabled with Cardas Cable (yes, a $150 recable job on a $20 pair of headphones). It was ridiculous, and of course it will never be sold as an option, however the improvement was quite obvious to my ears. No, it didn't sonically make the 201's into a $170 pair of headphones, but it was clearly an improvement. Once you are near the $400 or so price point, you are getting to the top of the currently available headphone tree, unless you have very particular tastes in frequency response, presentation, and looks, so the ONLY option left for improving your headphones themselves is to look to a recable. At such a point, if you have the money, any price is justifiable in the face of lack of other choices...

 

[Samgotit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.Thorsen That's definitely where my skepticism kicks in, but here's a question for you: Can I get an appreciably better headphone than the AKG 701's for about $600 or so? (The cost of the 701's plus the recabling? )

Nope, but I could get 41 cds at yourmusic.com.

39 cds if I get an equal length of comparable cable, 1 wire gauge larger, and do it myself.

31 cds if I paid someone $50 to do it for me.

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samgotit 39 cds if I get an equal length of comparable cable, 1 wire gauge larger, and do it myself.

Why is your time so worthless?

I understand the DIY ethos, but that doesn't make the major amp or cable maker's products pointless.

 

[edisonwu]

What if AKG sold the new flagship headphone K701 for 500USD? It is not about whether worth or not recabling a $300 headphone with a $200 cable, it is about whether this is necessary. A headphone is only as good as a system driving it. One should not discriminate headphones with their prices.