[blessingx]

I'm afraid for most sources an amp it probably necessary to get your moneys worth.

Man, I've only got about 10 hours on these (so early warning) and already I can tell it's going to be a tough choice between them and the HD650. It's personal at this level, but with the Senns moved forward with a Zu, each inches ahead and reverse depending on the track. Even detail win switches depending on the instrument. A lot comes down to either wanting that Senn warmth over everything or desiring it lifted. Keep running back and forth between Ryan Adams, Wilco, Diana Krall and Kate Rusby. Dare I say I already prefer the AKG to Senn stock? Curious how these will burn in.

And to counteract some of the other comments, I find the AKGs extremely comfortable. More so than the Senns.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blumenco has anyone tried the701 ith a really nice tube amp? I just broke down and preordered a pair in order to get the intro pricing (i am pretty poor so that extra money off makes a difference. don't ask who i bought them from publically please. I use a sexamp,which is a little more special than most sexamps. I spent alot of time tuning it sonically after it was built and during the building process I "creatively" interpreted some of the circuit topology. seeming as the 701s seem to enjoy current, this seems great. the sex amp will throw out a whopping 2 watts clean to headphones. the sound from the amp is very very holographic as is, driving the sennheisers to levels of holographicness that i have never heard from any other amp, even that 15000 dollar monster from single power (though obviously, the 15000 dollar thingy does do a few things better). (sometimes simplicity has its virtues). being a spud amp and all...channel matching has always been acceptable with 650s but it looks like i will be buying rca tubes in large quantity now to match them by ear to more near perfection to get the 701s projecting. looks like too that i will either get some really hardcore caps for every spot in the sex amp now or at least upgrade from the xicon dohickies in the choke and PS. it aint in the signal path, but there is more resolution in that amp i know... being a speaker amp as well, I tried to get it to be fairly low qts inherently to drive my Back loaded horns. I don't use a sub and get a very expansive and non locatable 25-30 hz out of 4.5 inch cones. it is not easy to do though, took months to get sounding right in my room but damn is it worth it... I get more bass proportionally out of speakers than i do out of the sennheisers, by virtue of the tonal balance of the horns, and the bass is on the punchier side definitely. hope that won't cause problems with the 701s. I love headphone bass but i feel that alot of HP amps out there sacrifice forwardness and overall detail in order to unnaturally boost the bass of headphones. the sex amp is so forward that it turns sennheisers into grados and grados into direct injection musical syringes. kinda reminds me of the orpheus amp,minus a litledetail naturally (course, i have always felt that the sex amp was far outpacing the 650s for detail resolution IMO). not many amps i hear do this and it is addicting to me. not for everyone, but keep in mind that it can also sound very distant. i like the holographic contrast morethan some weird compressed soundstage i guess. seeing as the 701s are on the bassier side a tad then this might be a good match (??) also i honestly do not like too much high frequency information as my ears are very sensitive to the digital "rash" present on most recordings, no matter what the cdplayer. (i prefer analogue, but have no turntable setup currently). hearing that these cans are more forward in this respect kinda worries me... i have never had to concentrate on high frequencies in my system as the sennheisers are very forgiving. sounds like i am going to have to bust out the soldering iron and parts catalogue soon. damn. luckily parts rolling is relatively cheap. anyone have much experience with jensen caps? are they ridiculous? anyways, enough about me... how about you... do tube amps and 701s make babies? thanks and sorry to blab on. Clark

I received my K701 last night, so I have had them for +/-26 hours. Currently I am listening to Al Di Meola The Infinite Pleasure CD. I am using a NAD C542 cd player, a Mapletree Ear Purist + HD100, and my K701. I would classify the sound as deep, detailed, and mellow. It will probably change over the next 100 hours.

I definitively enjoy them more than the Senn HD600, although I prefer the Grado RS-1 or RS-2 to the K701 since they tend to get me more involved with the music.

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild I also have a feeling that I'm going to have to try rolling opamps in my M^3 again...

Seems I was right, I brought the cans home and hooked them up to my M^3 with OPA627s, and the sounds was very warm and bloated in the midbass. I know I should wait till they burn in but I can't keep from fiddling... I plopped in the AD843s I also happen to have, and the sound is much more balanced and lively. The same opamps with the SA5000 sounded harsh.

Now for burn-in. Burn baby burn!

fiddle, fiddle, fiddle.... my wallet hates that word

 

[bahamot]

Hmmm it seems the highs are tamed/softer a bit now after ~25 hours of burned-in. Boy, the more I listen to them the more I like them.

PS: I think we need a new smiley here.

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaZZ Despite the same membrane technology the K 601 undoubtedly plays in a different league than the K 701. Therefore it unfortunately lacks the absolutely convincing quality in all criteria. But don't get me wrong: With its price category it should by all means be shortlisted or auditioned, resp. For instance it trounces its popular predecessor K 501 in every respect, IMO.[/i]

I want to ask to chamix how the K601 behaves in terms of soundstage and cleaness (?!? damn my english!) of the mids. I love these aspects in the K501, and if you say me that the K601 are like the K501 with more rounded/complete bass and more dynamic, retaining the K501's magical aspects, well... I run to buy it.

bye
Andrea

 

[mysticaldodo]

Looking good so far. The AKG 701 looks to be the contender, I would pick it over the 601 just on the basis that it is easier to drive.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gerG Aw crap! I thought that I had developed an immunity to new can fever. My interest in the K701 had dropped to mild curiosity. Then Tyll had to go and mention dynamics and even gave a relevant example. Now I am anxious to give them a listen again. gerG

ah..crap...I am in the same boat! Does headroom have BF sales?

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysticaldodo Looking good so far. The AKG 701 looks to be the contender, I would pick it over the 601 just on the basis that it is easier to drive.

It seems from the first impressions (and those of headroom too), that the K601 can't reach the refined sound of a DT880 or HD650, while the K701 can be a real contender for these "top" cans (not considering uber-high-end cans like some ATH etc...). But maybe the K601 can conquest the listener with some magic like the K501, which is preferred by someone above all the other dynamic cans, and I can understand why (I had the K501 for a while).

Attention: reading the brief comments of Meier, it seems that the K601 are not so easy to drive.

bye
Andrea

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amartignano Attention: reading the brief comments of Meier, it seems that the K601 are not so easy to drive.

All of the comments I have seen imply that the 601s are, in fact, harder to drive than the K701. Though, that may have been based on brief attempts based on volume and such, not potential detail and fluidity, because that seems to be where the 701s get difficult.

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkam So when are you going to balance them?

We've got a call in at AKG to get their service documents so that we can open them up and play around with a re-wire. We can't figure out how to open them up yet, and we don't want to bust the only pair we've got at the moment, so I'm hanging on to them for further evaluation (he...he).

Acording to the marketing blurb they are "bi-wired" which is a bit of a bastardization of the terminology. Usually bi-wireing referes to running separate speaker cables from a power amp the the wooffer and tweeter of a speaker. Obviously that's not relevant here. I interpret that to mean that the cable going to the drivers in the 601/701 are separate untill you get to the headphone plug. That should mean the simply by snipping the plug you can get to the four wires needed to put on balanced XLR connections. So it appears that a balanced mod can be done easily with existing cables---nice feature for DIYers. But we will persue a re-cabling capability as the technical info becomes available. Until then, I'll be listening single ended and enjoying it. After all, I don't have a balanced amp at home and I'm not bringing them back to the office, so single ended is the way I'll be enjoying them.

 

[devwild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens Until then, I'll be listening single ended and enjoying it. After all, I don't have a balanced amp at home and I'm not bringing them back to the office, so single ended is the way I'll be enjoying them.

Someone's a bit of a can hoarder

Yeah, I was guessing that based on the "biwire" description that the cable in the K701 is simply a starquad configuration, as DIYers are so intimately familiar with.

Exageration or not, I sure do like the cable for the simple fact that it isn't microphonic at all. I want to see more of this consideration from other companies as well. So basic, yet so annoying.

 

[Patu]

Mine arrived today. Thanks Todd!

The sound is just amazing straight out of box! I really didn't expect this much. I'm truly amazed. Now I'm expecting a lot of what burn in will do.

The battle will be hard between my four cans. Only two of them will stay.

 

[wakeride74]

Does anyone want to share some opinions on the k701 vs. HD650 for classical? Strings and classical in general seems to be the Senn forte and I'd like to know how they compare in this genre.

 

[Tom L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild All of the comments I have seen imply that the 601s are, in fact, harder to drive than the K701. Though, that may have been based on brief attempts based on volume and such, not potential detail and fluidity, because that seems to be where the 701s get difficult.

I tried my 701s directly from the on-board SoundMax "sound card" on my PC at work. It drove them OK, and they were listenable, although I had to set the volume almost to the maximum. If you like to listen to your music loud, this won't cut it. The 701s worked a bit better out of the headphone output from my iRiver iMP-350 CDP. They played louder, they sounded better than they did from the PC, and there was more bass. But they lack much of the dynamic impact and detail that they have when I run the line out from the CDP into my Headsave Classic amp. I don't think that it would spending the money for the 701s unless you're going to use them with an amp.

The CD that I used for that comparison was the soundtrack from the movie "The Mambo Kings". My, the 701s certainly do a better job on Latin jazz than my Sennheiser HD-600s! The AKGs have a lot more dynamic impact, which is perhaps even more important for Latin music than for rock. The bass is also deeper. I'm trying to resist the urge to get up and dance around my cubicle.

When listening to classical music with quiet sections, I've noticed that I get quite a bit of acoustical noise from the headphone pads when I move my head up and down. It's a crunching noise, not unlike what one hears when walking on packed snow on a cold day. (Sorry, readers in warm climates won't know what I'm talking about.) My HD-600s don't do that.

 

[lmilhan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu Mine arrived today. Thanks Todd! The sound is just amazing straight out of box! I really didn't expect this much. I'm truly amazed. Now I'm expecting a lot of what burn in will do. The battle will be hard between my four cans. Only two of them will stay.

If I were a bettin' man I would say.....

K701s and The HF-1s will stay!