[Rob80b]

Open and closed case on this somewhat dormant thread... With many still working and studying from home I needed a closed back headphone so as to be fully be enveloped in my music listening. Although the Sennheiser's HD800S are my main go-to phones, the HD820s on the few occasions that I heard them I was not impressed, especially for their asking price. Now, as I always like the AKG K812s and after reading through this thread and a few reviews it looks like the K872s, by some accounts, may be even better...needless to say with the current pricing from Amazon.UK (minus the VAT) on the AKG K812 and K872s, about 1/2 of what they currently cost here in Canada, I took a leap of faith.
Now.. as does happen on the rare occasion, either due to sitting unused for a long period of time or the manufacturing processes, the drivers of some speakers or headphones will need a short break in to enable the mylar and voice coil to slightly loosen up and these K872s like the Sennheiser HD700s are no exception. Fresh out the box buyers remorse reared it's ugly head, no dynamics, base and treble being greatly restricted..but given a few hours, not days, not weeks or months the K872 took their stride and completely opened up, ok not as open as the HD800s but still an enjoyable and immersive listen all round, without any outside interference.

 

[Rob80b]

This is all ATF...but the service schematics are all currently available for download.
Clearly listing different drivers for the 812 Transducer assy.105042867 and 872 Transducer assy.10506484
https://www.akg.com/on/demandware.s...6b617/pdfs/AKG_K872_Service_Documentation.pdf
https://www.akg.com/on/demandware.s...a277e/pdfs/AKG_K812_Service_Documentation.pdf

 

[Rob80b]

For anyone following this thread, what I can say after after a few intense listening sessions over the last few days the K872s are indeed a window into a recording, if I can humbly say so. These are not the cans one picks up when in the party mood, IMHO they're neutral to a T, no added warmth or excitement, no artifical impactful base etc etc...same goes if wanting to go off to la la land, details are pin pointed uncannily, staging depth, layering and width is rather adequate for a closed back phone and makes one want to stay up and explore the sonic landscape. Having started with the AKG K240 DF back in the 70's for recording and mixing, eventually followed with the K501s, K701's, K550s, K712s and a pair of Mass Drop K7XXs the K800 series are definitely a technical achievement. The K700 series have their following but have been more often than not ambiguous on their overall sonic portrayal, these K872s are truly a professional tool and really tell it like it is...Listening to George Crumb's "Gnomic Variations, Professional, Ancient Voices of Children" album on Tidal Hi_Fi they are the perfect choice for this type of music..... : )
Mind you my HD800s and HD660S are not going anywhere and are in reach for those rare times when I do get those quiet moments at home. : )

 

[qazxsw80]

w, as I always like the AKG K812s and after reading through this thread and a few reviews it looks like the K872s, by some accounts, may be even better...needless to say with the current pricing from Amazon.

Personally, I cannot agree with that. I had them both at the same time at home and I definitely prefer the K812. The K872 had too much bass and it wasn't the low bass, unfortunately. Its sound is also less airy and less detailed.
I think the measurements describe the sound of these headphones and the differences between them pretty well. The K812 are excellent headphones with a nasty peak. The K872 are not so great, in my opinion.

 

[Beagle]

I don't 'hear' that graph at all. Certainly not the upper bass/lower mid peak and the 2.5k suckout.

 

[qazxsw80]

I don't 'hear' that graph at all. Certainly not the upper bass/lower mid peak and the 2.5k suckout.

I did hear it. Actually, that's why I sold them after just one month after buying. The bass was bloated compared to the K812 and because of that suckout the sound in the upper mid range was less realistic and emotional. I wanted to like the K872, since it is a closed pair of headphones and so is more practical, but I couldn't.
On the the other hand, the K812 is one of my favorite pairs of headphones. That peak is annoying, but can be equalized.
To clarify, all that had been long before I saw the actual graphs on that website. It is not like I saw the graphs and I started to "hear" those things or bought the headphones and expected them to sound a certain way.

Personally, I think that both AKG and Sennheiser failed to create good closed-back versions of their flagship headphones. It seems that making good-sounding closed-black headphones is not an easy task.

 

[Rob80b]

Personally, I cannot agree with that. I had them both at the same time at home and I definitely prefer the K812. The K872 had too much bass and it wasn't the low bass, unfortunately. Its sound is also less airy and less detailed.
I think the measurements describe the sound of these headphones and the differences between them pretty well. The K812 are excellent headphones with a nasty peak. The K872 are not so great, in my opinion.

Really does comes down to personal preferences, a recorded graph will never tell one precisely how the reproduced sound waves interact with an individuals ear (hearing). Music choice also plays and important part in moulding one's preferences and I'm with Beagle in not hearing what the graphs are indicating "I don't 'hear' that graph at all", but doesn't dismiss "your" observations at all. Still I find the K872s a very satisfying listen, the K812 are by their nature more airy as they are open back and would be my preference if not needing a closed back, the 872 on the other hand are almost like stepping into a treated studio, and may even be perceived as muffled by some which they are definitely not, accept, one needs to be open and welcome the differences between a closed and open back phone and one is fine.
My music listening is rather eclectic and these AKGs IMHO do a rather excellent job in bridging as many genres as possible and getting me into the music, there are hundreds of choices, flavours of alternative headphones out there but for a closed back phone these check quite a few boxes for me.

A bit more observations.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/akg-pro-audio-k872-master-reference-closed-back-headphone.21868

 

[Rob80b]

Just discovered something and it's not in the K872's favour, with all the accolades I've been throwing at the resolving power of these phones this same attribute may be it's Achilles heal..........basically my observations are telling me that the over revealing AKGs will not be very lenient with any failings of higher frequencies upstream, which includes recordings, and falls right in line with some of the negatives observations thrown at the K812/872s... but behaving as a “reference” phone should IMHO, so these may not be the best choice for some users. Still, for most recordings or if one is mostly into classical, jazz and electronica, should be no problems, listening to the likes of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring", Kraftwerk's "3-D The Catalogue", Agnes Obel "Myopia", Dave Holland's "Emerald Tears", Mahler's "5th", even Bjork's "Vulnicura", to give a few examples, were/are a real treat on the K872's.

 

[Rob80b]

I’ve listened this Bill Laswell album “Hear No Evil” on many systems over the years but on these K872s… perfect : )
https://tidal.com/album/9653121

 

[Rob80b]

Thought I'd throw in some quick comparisons on an other closed back I just acquired as an on hand alternative to the K872s...the Focal Elegia...I had high hopes and was looking forward to adding the French offering...but even after 24 hours I'm finding the Focal may just not be my cup of tea. Absolutely loving the overall presentation of the K872s but the Elegia just seem to come across, relatively speaking, a congested smorgasbord...everything is there but they just seem to be missing that magic I find with the AKGs and even the HD800S for that matter that makes me want to listen more and more. Believe the biggest deterrent/hurdle for me is the blob in the head,and somewhat grainy mid-range...a good example is Underworld's live album "Everything Everything"...on the K872s it just begs to be turned up and boggie...the Elegia on the other hand become overly aggressive, a bit brash and one's begging to have them turned down. I prefer my music to breath if possible, there is sound stage width but everything appears to be sitting on one another, similar to the wall of sound I experienced with the LCD-2 but without the extended/full base. And similar to my history with the HD600/650 my interests wanes and can image the Elegia as a closed back version of the aforementioned although the Senns IMHO are more refined.
And as mentioned on the Elegia thread ..early days and I may warm up to them...but as we say in French "à chacun son goût"....hhhhmmmm.

Just joining the Focal Elegia group....currently my 2 main phones on hand are the HD800S and the closed back AKG K872s.
Had yet to own a pair of Focals but did audition the Utopia but wasn't quite convinced on their performance with regards to my personal preferences, preferring the HD800 and HD660S.
Still with the current Elegia pricing and wanting to add a different sounding closed back to the roster thought I'd investigate.
....
Early days but what I can say are that the Elegia are almost complete opposites to the K872s. The Focal making me imagine a closed back version of the Senn HD650s, with an upfront, in your head, warmer and almost in your face, intimate presentation.. which can be fun but a bit too much for some genres of music. The K872 are so far.. cleaner sounding, much more expansive, defined detail helping layering and depth and better contoured base...the AKG just allow the recording to breath a lot more and IMHO a much more sophisticated precision instrument all round. Both pairs can be driven off hand held devices but the K872 being the much better component for mobile listening retaining most of it's attributes, the Elegia not so much but both benefit being powered off a decent amp and with an accompanied source, the Elegia attaining better base and body and the AKGs smoother, silkier highs.(sorry, no EQ in sight).
Should also mention the sophistication IMHO also refers to the architecture/design...the multiple gimbals on the AKG, while maybe appearing more fragile allow for better individual precise placement of the drivers on the ears.
But as I said..still early days and I've taken Focal's advice and currently have them hidden away in a drawer for 24 hours playing multiple Nanoplex and Kraftwerk albums on repeat hopefully tightening the base and clearing up the mid range congestion and slight graininess.
https://www.focal.com/ca/en/headphones/for-home/elegia#documentation
"Running-in period

---

• These headphones require a running-in period in order to operate at their best.
• They will run themselves in naturally after several hours of listening time.
• If you want to speed up the process, we recommend playing very bassy music through them for at least 24 hours at a relatively high volume.
• This will stabilise the speaker drivers and allow you to get the very best out of your headphones."

 

[Rob80b]

Cross post..and maybe bit contradictory to my previous observations as after another days use I'm starting to warm up to to the Focal Elegia...and possibly pertinent for those looking for a complimentary phone or wanting/needing a closed backed alternative sound signature to the K872s.

Continuing with my monologue... The Elegia are proving to be a nice complementary contrast to the AKG K872's with Mickey Hart's "Planet Drum" also coming across quite nicely . Both phones having adequate base, layering has improved greatly on the Focal so that the individual percussion instrument are more easily separated with better detail retrieval, all strong points on the K872s but nice to hear them on the Elegia.
https://listen.tidal.com/album/77623316

Although both phones are closed back the AKG still offer a lot more breathing room, width and depth to the recording and it's hard to imagine they are "not" opened, mirroring their fully opened baked counterpart the K812s, and would be the first choice for larger scale works and watching movies. The Focal, although starting to show a lot less congestion, are still "relatively speaking" more in one's head, so probably a better choice for those looking for a closer more intimate presentation, aka HD600/650s, and probably preferable for most..
Again..."running in period" as recommended by Focal or just me warming up to them...???

 

[franci2105]

What's the best amplifier for the Akg k872?

 

[Rob80b]

What's the best amplifier for the Akg k872?

I do not IMHO believe there is any best amp for the K872s. Normally they're plugged into my Bryston BHA-1 and a Cambridge CXN 2 but currently I have them in my shop running off the headphone out on an Imac and quite happy with the output. Obviously there are gains with the Bryston/Cambridge combo, deeper base, clearer less strident highs when playing louder but then I'm not running them hot in the shop, and the overall sound signature remains the same.
To get the best out of the K872 and its sibling the K812 a good source and amp are recommended but not esential for overall enjoyment...Like all things YMMV.

 

[plakat]

What's the best amplifier for the Akg k872?

Like @Rob80b said I also think that both the K812 and the K872 work well with most amps, even simple ones in mobile phones. So it depends more on your taste to choose a brighter or warmer amp.
When the K812 came out, AKG touted them as compatible with mobile sources even... so no need to go crazy, a good quality studio amp would be my primary choice if I had not that old Hugo laying around.

 

[Rob80b]

What's the best amplifier for the Akg k872?

Don't know if you've found your amp but just acquired a very affordable SMSL HO100 balanced amp which work incredibly well with the K872 or probably any headphone for that matter. Super clean, noise free with pristine highs without sounding clinical, gives the 10 x pricier Bryston BHA-1 a run for it's money.
https://www.smsl-audio.com/portal/product/detail/id/790.html