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I just paid a very old debt a few minutes ago. I decided to do that rather than spend $250 for headphone cables that I'll barely notice any differences let alone improvements. I think that's a very wise decision.
I looked at the wiring schematic for the AKG K 702 and I'd have to say that I'm having a hard time believing how a cable upgrade will make a dramatic difference for them. Technically, the replacement cable doesn't even fully connect both drivers. It's more or less difficult to understand how $500 dollar boutique replacement cables can make any sonic improvements beyond placebo effect. I call it "I'm not going to admit I spent more money for a headphone cable than the headphones themselves so I'll just fool myself and others here that don't know any better."
The Moon Audio Silver Dragon did produce noticeable improvements, but the pure silver wire sounded wrong. I found it exacerbated the bright trebles more sharply and there was this fake sheen of high definition that I could not find to occur naturally. They're very expensive headphone cables. However, they're popular here and are sometimes recommended for cost-no-object upgrades for the AKG K 702. I found that it was just a waste of money and I returned them for a full refund.
I'll have to say that until AKG releases a future successor to the K 701 or K 702 or Q 701 that radically changes the wiring to the drivers, it's a waste of time to spend more than $30 for high end boutique aftermarket cables for this headphone. The only way that you'll notice any sound differences is when you spend stupid money like I did for a headphone cable that costs more than the current street price for the headphones themselves and that's just insane and stupid at the same time. The improvements come down to personal preferences and that's just about it. I did not like the Moon Audio Silver Dragon at all for the K 702. It had too many minuses compared to strengths that outweighed their cost.
I'm not saying that cable manufacturers and authorized dealers are scam artists preying upon the rich and dumb. I'm just saying that cable upgrades are context sensitive to your personal preferences and your sound system. If it sounds good, then it is good. I think that the stock cable sounds good and it's a good value compared to Belden or Mogami aftermarket cables especially when you compare them against high end boutique cables like Moon Audio's cables.
For other headphones, cable upgrades can yield clear sound improvements depending upon your personal preferences and sound system. I'm not making generalizations about other headphones or your sound system.
The most important piece is the source music. For me, I have a very large collection of Fraunhofer or LAME 320 Kbps MP3s at 16 bits 44.1 or 48.0 kHz resolution. I have a limited collection of FLAC 24 bit 192 kHz high resolution albums. Most of the time, I'll listen to Spotify Premium which uses Vorbis 320 Kbps bit rate at standard 16 bit 44.1 kHz resolution. As you can see for yourself, it's a wash for me. Upgrading the headphone cable for my AKG K 702 is not going to be worth it in my particular case.
Cable upgrades are never a dramatic difference. At least not for me. Probably less than a 5% improvement. I'm also not a believer in them making a measurable difference in frequency graphs, but that they slightly change the tone of how a headphone sounds. It's like the difference between the K701 and Q701. The biggest difference i've heard was when I recabled my HD-598 straight to the drivers with Mogami W2893.
I also don't think a more expensive cable will magically make it sound better. I think you could get similar results with cheaper wire. For example I always felt that Cat6 made into a headphone cable sounded a bit like ALO SXC. I've had a few expensive cables (mostly in trades) that were worse than stock. Technically better, but just not the same.
Despite the stock wires in place on the K702, there is still some benefits of a recable. I prefer DIY or cheap wire.
I imagine silver would be awful on the K702. Silver plated copper was even bad and it SEEMED to suck out all the warmth of my Q701. Thing felt more distant, which seems impossible. ALO SXC was amazing the first week then I realized I lost some of my warmth. I didn't want the Q701 any more analytical sounding.
Mogami I love because it sounds like stock, but is slightly fuller sounding than stock. Basically the same with some other improvements.
I've always had this crazy belief that the lower the capacitance the brighter/thinner a headphone will sound. When I get a higher capacitance wire it sounds warmer and more muffled.
I like whatever is right in the middle. I think most stock cables are except for the Sennheiser HD-650. I think Mogami is probably right in the middle, but slightly higher.
When I got my Magni it made me believe such things even more. Like how come an amp that measures so flat could sound so cold and analytical and seem bright at times? My other amp is transparent and sounds less cold, yet not warm. I know theres a lot more to it.
