[Sylaw]

hey.... i demoed a set of k702's today and it turn outs to be amazing.. and i was almost about to pull the trigger of : but i saw the shure SRH1440's there as well.. too bad the shop owner does not allowing me to demo the shure's ( a Jerk) he says he cant open a closed box... so the thing it is both of them are on my budget so no issues with the cash... and considering the sound Sig , i love a very clean reproduction which have a slight mid forward sound with a hint of extra spark on top registries.. and I'm not much of a bass head either   so far the akg k702 fulls all of my specs apart from the sound stage.. i thought it was a bit weird when it comes to the sound stage of the k702 . as it seems more wider yet very shorter ( no idea how to explain it ) ..how does the SRH1440 stands with it?  if the k702 produce the music more accurate than the 1440's i would buy them,...

 

[viralcow]

The 1440 has more bass for sure, but I also feel it's unrefined. At lower frequencies it almost sounds like a rumble, a growling kind of a sound. If you're interested in the Shures I highly suggest the SRH1840 instead.
 
When it comes to soundstage, many people have complaints about the K702 - that it's too wide, almost a 2D with no depth or center, and makes some recordings sound artificially stretched. The Shures have a more natural soundstage with great imaging, but the width and depth sound more like a closed-back model - meaning it's pretty small considering it is an open headphone. I suspect it has to do with the closed backplate behind the driver (you can clearly see it on the SRH1840, the white circular piece closing off the actual driver).
 
Anyway, it's hard for me to recommend the Shures because even at $700, I prefer the K702 to the SRH1840...