There is no more AKG in Vienna
Some guys of AKG-Vienna made an own company - but it has nothing to do with AKG. https://www.austrian.audio/
They might build a new headphone, but it will take some time.
Unfortunately AKG Vienna (where the TOTL / Pro headphones were designed and initially manufactured) was dissolved in June 2017, with production moved to Slovakiasome time before that. To my knowledge the whole team has left AKG/Harmann, so i guess this line o products will end with the K812/K872 -- at least with models worth remembering. Despite bing developed under constrained conditions, which makes them even more impressive.
I would not count on Austrian Audio to enter the headphone market with models of their own any time soon... but maybe some day headphones "Made in Austria" will be back again. Hope dies last as they say...
It´s a quirky company; AKG is stationary in Austria, but are under ownership of the US Harman group. The K812 are produced and assembled in Slovakia.
When try to contacting the company about their can´s, you should look for Harman, but only for their consumer can´s, and as K7xx and K8xx -series belong to their Pro-series, it should be AKG Acoustics. And when to look for spare part´s, you probably have to go for a third part company - here in Sweden it´s Septon.
It´s almost like no one at the company want to have anything to do with those can´s!
But below are contact info to a person who answered my technical inquires in 2011 (note that I´m not sure he will still be employed in this company any longer):
Hi,
I need a piece of advice.
I would like to use a OTL tube amp with the k812.
I searched this thread and many others but had very few results.
Did anyone try this combination?
Hi,
I need a piece of advice.
I would like to use a OTL tube amp with the k812.
I searched this thread and many others but had very few results.
Did anyone try this combination?
OTL Tube amps are typically designed to work well with high impedance headphones that drain little current from the amp.
For reference, to achieve similar levels, an AKG K812 needs 4 times the power needed for the Sennheiser HD800S.
It's also important to note that some OTL Tube amps have very high output impedance and that's not ideal for the K812 (poor damping factor).
You can go ahead and get a quality OTL Tube amp and it will sound, but it's a less than perfect match from a technical perspective.
The hedphones coldness are mainly due to the 3,5 kHz and 6 kHz gain as I stated earlier in this thread. Maybe using an equalizer will be a good idea, if possilble.
Despite the higher gain for 6 kHz, I think 3,5 kHz are most prominant, as most headphones seem´s to be high at around 6 - 9 kHz.
Yep, I tried to use Eq with satisfactory results when streaming Spotify. But I have no EQ for Tidal and Audirvana on windows, and I don`t like the idea of system wide eq.
I can understand preferring not to use EQ (especially since many consumer variants are not that good). You might want to try a mesh insert in front of the driver (though that does not tone down exactly 3,5kHz only) or a warmer solid state amp (Violectric was already mentioned and might be a good choice). An OTL amp will most likely not give good results due to the mismatch between high output impedance with low current output capability vs. the low impedance of the K812. You might also want to look into tube amps with output transformers, which do not have this matching problem but still have a typical tube sound.
I can understand preferring not to use EQ (especially since many consumer variants are not that good). You might want to try a mesh insert in front of the driver (though that does not tone down exactly 3,5kHz only) or a warmer solid state amp (Violectric was already mentioned and might be a good choice). An OTL amp will most likely not give good results due to the mismatch between high output impedance with low current output capability vs. the low impedance of the K812. You might also want to look into tube amps with output transformers, which do not have this matching problem but still have a typical tube sound.
I often use them with an AK380 (+amp), which is not really warm either. Very tube-like amps are not my cup of tea... but I can understand why some like their signature.
I'v been having the K812 for some time now to give away more reflections to HD800s, which i'v tried with HDVD800 amplifier in the local store.. I used to drive K812 through DF Red, but prefer the Zoom H6 now, which has more clarity in air to recognize the room reverb tails and it breathes better than DF Red, which adds dynamics and has more hifi tuned feel, kind of post-mastered radio sound, but i still drive my psb alpha b1 speakers with sub through DF Red.
HD800s are more fine tuned and elegant in sound, but thinner feel to K812, which are brighter and sounds more forward, but snare area sound better and soundstage is more visible in HD800s, when reverb tails are reaching more far. HD800s are well balanced, pleasant to ear and vocals have more bottom end and harmonic rich feel with chords, but K812 are overall more round and interesting, warm and juicier, even the HD800s has great movement and beefy swing in the sound and bass is more controlled, but lighter than K812. K812 are overall more boxier, but goes deeper in dynamic range and needs more power to shine. They are more realistic, when HD800s are more fine tuned. K812 feels more like you are having very decent speakers next to you to take you to the flow of sound, when HD800s are more present as a term of headphones and they are having different approach to K812. K812 are more darker and will need more fuel to spark, but when they are sparkling they have a much better focus than HD800s, which keeps you with them long hours easily, at night times especially.HD800s try to please you in every area with no clear focus, which can be good if one has interest in more analytical microdetailed sound with no requirements for the unique artistic touch. K812 feels more a journey to the art of sound. Classical music sounded better in HD800s for me, when they are more controlled overall, but K812 are more intimate. HD800s are more warm than HD800, but still feels quite cold and distant to K812 imo.
I`ve bought a DarkVoice 336SE OTL tube amplifier and tested it with the k812. To my pleasant surprise it has more then enough power to drive the cans and it takes care of the k812s bump at 3.5 and 6 Khz.
The only downside is that I feel that I`m loosing some soundstage. Everything seems more intimate when using the tube amp.
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