[inthere]

The Lemo plugs for the Focal Utopia are also 3 pin!

 

[Jobbing]

Thank you for volunteering your feedback; while any would be appreciated, even with the 1.1s, I was aiming for the T5ps as they are 32ohms and closed, making it possibly an interesting A/B pair

By the denotation of T5p .1/.2 I assumed you were also referring to the T1 in .1 or .2 generation. Duh

 

[Jobbing]

The Lemo plugs for the Focal Utopia are also 3 pin!

AKG K872 are 3pin LEMO from '00' series, Focal Utopia are 2 pin LEMO from '0B' series with black chromed finished socket (https://www.moon-audio.com/focal-utopia-headphones.html , see 3rd pic from the left)

 

[Traveller]

  Are the K872's made in Austria? ... Shame AKG Austria is shutting down, I agree with others that it will likely be my last AKG. They have indeed gone down since Harman took over the brand. Luckily the top tier stuff remains unaffected.
  BTW does anybody have an AK380 and the 872? I remember when I had the AK240 it drove the K812 fairly well. Wondering if that is the case with the K872!

Maybe it's old news already but the 872s are not produced in Vienna *sigh*

As far as the 380 driving the 812 vs. 872; I can't imagine any difference given the transducer's specs are pretty much identical... .
812 specs
872 specs

 

[Arbie]

Just went to the store to test this headphone and I must say, I'm very impressed! Bought it instantly

 

[Traveller]

Just went to the store to test this headphone and I must say, I'm very impressed! Bought it instantly

 
Congrats! May I ask in what Country / city you made the purchase?
I will have the opportunity to try out a pair along with the Audioquest Nightowls as well as my T5p.2s next week 

 
What A&K DAP is that, btw? A black AK70??? Also new?
 
Enjoy

 

[Arbie]

   
Congrats! May I ask in what Country / city you made the purchase?
I will have the opportunity to try out a pair along with the Audioquest Nightowls as well as my T5p.2s next week 

 
What A&K DAP is that, btw? A black AK70??? Also new?
 
Enjoy

I bought it in Belgium (Leuven). Wasn't that easy to find a dealership where I could test these headphones though...
And you are correct, it is a black AK70, which is also new. Although, bought this one online.
 
I also have an Audioquest Nighthawk (v1), which is now for sale

. Worked fine in combination with the Audioquest Dragonfly (v1.2), but wasn't that exciting when paired with the AK70.
Also, since my main use changed to loud office environments, I started preferring closed-backs. And truth must be told, the AKG K872 is better in almost every way (also in different price category). Bit bass-heavy, but that is what I like in a headphone.

 

[Traveller]

...bought it in Belgium (Leuven). ... also have an Audioquest Nighthawk (v1), which is now for sale ... truth must be told, the AKG K872 is better in almost every way (also in different price category). Bit bass-heavy, but that is what I like in a headphone.

T4S!

Well, it's tough comparing an open / semi-open can with closed ones. They almost always sound quite different. But I think next week's battle of the closed cans should be on a more level playing field. I try not to assume more expensive cans are automatically better, but in all honesty, it's most often the case.
The next criteria is if one can get the cans at a discount. List prices are waaay up there. I paid €950 for my T5p.2s which list(ed) at €1200. The 872s are listed at what, ~ €1.6K??? Yet the 812s which have (to the best of my knowledge) the same design, transducer etc. can be had for €900... .
The Nightowls are debuting at €700 I believe. So yeah, less than half that of the 872's list... !
 
Well, let's see how it goes for me next week...

 

[buke9]

Just because something has the same driver doesn't mean a lot as the many ways a modded T50rp can sound so different. The 872 is a fantastic headphone. I prefer it on most music to my Ether C's

 

[jagwap]

  I bought it in Belgium (Leuven). Wasn't that easy to find a dealership where I could test these headphones though...
And you are correct, it is a black AK70, which is also new. Although, bought this one online.
 
I also have an Audioquest Nighthawk (v1), which is now for sale

. Worked fine in combination with the Audioquest Dragonfly (v1.2), but wasn't that exciting when paired with the AK70.
Also, since my main use changed to loud office environments, I started preferring closed-backs. And truth must be told, the AKG K872 is better in almost every way (also in different price category). Bit bass-heavy, but that is what I like in a headphone.

I tried to find a bricks shop.  It is hard.
 
I was visiting the UK to see family and the distributor told me only internet shops had it, but I could come and here it at there office in Letchworth if I made an appointment.  I almost did, but family things took precedent.
 
I also want the ideal closed unit.  I am enjoying my Sine and PM3s. But I suspect these are more my thing, having owned the K550 and heard the 701 and it's cousins.  I dislike pronounced bass.

 

[Traveller]

...it's tough comparing an open / semi-open can with closed ones ... The 872s are listed at what, ~ €1.6K??? Yet the 812s which have (to the best of my knowledge) the same design, transducer etc. can be had for €900... .

Just because something has the same driver doesn't mean a lot as the many ways a modded T50rp can sound so different. The 872 is a fantastic headphone. I prefer it on most music to my Ether C's

Sonically speaking, apples and oranges. AKG modded their 812 into a closed can so of course there are physical differences between the 812 and 872. This fact was never in question, only the list price.
In any event, I am very much looking forward to hearing them and your positive feedback (vs. the venerable Ether Cs) is only fueling my excitement

 

 

[Traveller]

Quote:

I will have the opportunity to try out a pair along with the Audioquest Nightowls as well as my T5p.2s next week...

 
So I finally got to try out the 872* along with the Nightowl*, the T5p.2** and as a special surprise, the Ether C Flows**... perfect lineup

(*new, **demos with hours logged)
 
The Nightowl was quite nice, but compared to my T5p.2 nothing groundbreaking and I would even say the bass was somewhat soft / slow... at least in comparison. Audioquest's guidelines state 150hr break-in period, so grain of salt.
 
The Ether Cs were pretty impressive - the term accuracy* comes to mind with the entire FR sounding perfect, no spikes, zero sibilance, everything tight, wow. Unfortunately I have no experience with Planers so I don't know if the difference to the others is the driver technology or all attributable to MrSpeaker's knowhow (I'll assume it's the combination of both).
*I read this from their website after the session: "...delivering sumptuous planar magnetic bass and dynamics, with near-electrostatic resolution"
 
But this is the 872 thread thus the best for last

 
Actually, the very moment I started to listen to the 872s (having just spend ~15mins, 2 songs on each of the other three) I didn't understand what was going on. The sound was so different. It took me a whole song to realize that what I was hearing was the sound of open cans... woah. If these are closed cans... I'll be damned. But they certainly are. In fact, when I went to place them over my ears, I got the feeling that they had "sealed" the space between the driver and my ears. Just shy of a vacuum. Not disturbing in any way, mind you, just surprising. First thought was that the 872 has no "ports" and actually, looking for a sign of one brought nothing, so it there is one, it is well hidden. Started up the second song and now I started to picture the expansive soundstage and air around the instruments...
...closed cans... really?!?
 
Wow. I had neither the time nor the recent experience to compare them to open cans so I have no clue how they compare to TOTL open cans like the HD800(S) or Focal's latest and greatest, but again, this is a closed can. Heck, the isolation was even better than the other three tested (again, I couldn't find any ports...).
They happened to also have some 812s (with demo hrs) so I tried those on and to my surprise, I preferred the 872s and found them to be more ... engaging. The gentleman who made this awesome session possible is under the impression that AKG did some detailed "tuning" that goes beyond a simple open-closed conversion (also suggest by @buke9 above) and after my (unfortunately) short comparison I tend to agree with them both!
 
One thing's for sure though; If you prefer closed cans and/or you've been using them exclusively for years, the 872 will throw you a curve ball. For closed cans, they sound anything but... . Having the T5p.2s, I decided the 872 would make the perfect compliment, offering a very open-can-like experience while providing the isolation expected from closed cans. I should take delivery of them in a few days and I will need a lot more time with them to decide if they are really deserving of their price tag... . Thanks to the build quality and the amazing open presentation they provide, it wasn't a hard decision to accept the risk and take the plunge... !
 

 
 
 

Are the K872's made in Austria? ... Shame AKG Austria is shutting down, I agree with others that it will likely be my last AKG. They have indeed gone down since Harman took over the brand. Luckily the top tier stuff remains unaffected.

Maybe it's old news already but the 872s are not produced in Vienna *sigh*

 
Okay, I have a better understanding now; The AKG 872s are produced in Slovakia and in fact, the last few production-years of the 812 were also made in Slovakia. The 8xx range was however designed in Vienna (as I assume is the case for all past AKGs). This year, they have closed the Vienna office altogether, so it's anyone's guess where the next AKG model will be designed... . As for the production, it's not a surprise that Harman Int'l went with near-shoring to cut down on production costs.

 

[buke9]

Quote:

So I finally got to try out the 872* along with the Nightowl*, the T5p.2** and as a special surprise, the Ether C Flows**... perfect lineup
(*new, **demos with hours logged)

The Nightowl was quite nice, but compared to my T5p.2 nothing groundbreaking and I would even say the bass was somewhat soft / slow... at least in comparison. Audioquest's guidelines state 150hr break-in period, so grain of salt.

The Ether Cs were pretty impressive - the term accuracy* comes to mind with the entire FR sounding perfect, no spikes, zero sibilance, everything tight, wow. Unfortunately I have no experience with Planers so I don't know if the difference to the others is the driver technology or all attributable to MrSpeaker's knowhow (I'll assume it's the combination of both).
[COLOR=0000FF]*I read this from their website after the session: "...delivering sumptuous planar magnetic bass and dynamics, with near-electrostatic resolution"[/COLOR]

But this is the 872 thread thus the best for last

Actually, the very moment I started to listen to the 872s (having just spend ~15mins, 2 songs on each of the other three) I didn't understand what was going on. The sound was so different. It took me a whole song to realize that what I was hearing was the sound of open cans... woah. If these are closed cans... I'll be damned. But they certainly are. In fact, when I went to place them over my ears, I got the feeling that they had "sealed" the space between the driver and my ears. Just shy of a vacuum. Not disturbing in any way, mind you, just surprising. First thought was that the 872 has no "ports" and actually, looking for a sign of one brought nothing, so it there is one, it is well hidden. Started up the second song and now I started to picture the expansive soundstage and air around the instruments...
...closed cans... really?!?

Wow. I had neither the time nor the recent experience to compare them to open cans so I have no clue how they compare to TOTL open cans like the HD800(S) or Focal's latest and greatest, but again, this is a closed can. Heck, the isolation was even better than the other three tested (again, I couldn't find any ports...).
They happened to also have some 812s (with demo hrs) so I tried those on and to my surprise, I preferred the 872s and found them to be more ... engaging. The gentleman who made this awesome session possible is under the impression that AKG did some detailed "tuning" that goes beyond a simple open-closed conversion (also suggest by @buke9
above) and after my (unfortunately) short comparison I tend to agree with them both!

One thing's for sure though; If you prefer closed cans and/or you've been using them exclusively for years, the 872 will throw you a curve ball. For closed cans, they sound anything but... . Having the T5p.2s, I decided the 872 would make the perfect compliment, offering a very open-can-like experience while providing the isolation expected from closed cans. I should take delivery of them in a few days and I will need a lot more time with them to decide if they are really deserving of their price tag... . Thanks to the build quality and the amazing open presentation they provide, it wasn't a hard decision to accept the risk and take the plunge... !

 



Okay, I have a better understanding now; The AKG 872s are produced in Slovakia and in fact, the last few production-years of the 812 were also made in Slovakia. The 8xx range was however designed in Vienna (as I assume is the case for all past AKGs). This year, they have closed the Vienna office altogether, so it's anyone's guess where the next AKG model will be designed... . As for the production, it's not a surprise that Harman Int'l went with near-shoring to cut down on production costs.

Glad you like them I thought the Ether C's were open sounding till I got the 872's.

 

[conquerator2]

Yeah, the 872 definitely underwent significant tuning changes vs the 812.. I prefer the closed one too

 

[Traveller]

... I should take delivery of them in a few days and I will need a lot more time with them to decide if they are really deserving of their price tag... . Thanks to the build quality and the amazing open presentation they provide, it wasn't a hard decision to accept the risk and take the plunge...

Talk about luck - they arrived sooner than planned