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Originally Posted by spinali /img/forum/go_quote.gif
So far, Headsonic from Australia has not responded to a confirmation on the 702
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I haven't been asked anything by anyone yet.
My source, for the record, has been a combination of 2 things. Firstly, the dealer network in the USA is completely sold out of K701's, for the first time since I have started trading, and has been since I posted my news article. It makes little sense for this situation to keep going as it has, as headphones (like most electronics) have a high fixed cost in terms of development, and a low variable cost per unit. Thus, AKG would be looking to, essentially, flood the market with units and ensure that it stays flooded. Given AKG's recent flirtations with bankruptcy, I doubt there's any room for them to take financial liberties in terms of restricting supply or market engineering. For there to be a drought for this long, something is up.
Secondly, I also heard a little bird from close to the source (not here) whisper about K702's, and I put 2 and 2 together and deduced that the K701 would be discontinued and replaced with a revised model, and that the market drought was AKG's attempt to avoid a fire sale on their flagship model. It never crossed my mind to consider the possibility of both models existing together, especially considering the major comfort issues with the K701, something I and many others agree on. A revision would offer AKG a chance to fix the niggling issues, and possibly squeeze more sales out of fans looking for the marginal improvement.
I doubt the 'studio/professional edition' theory, for two reasons. As anyone who has done studio recording previously will attest to, closed headphones are preferred for studio work, as there will always be the need to clearly hear your feed, to the exclusion of everyone else's. Of course, this still leaves the floor open for a 'solo mastering' edition, but I have my doubts, given the relatively small size of this market. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, a cost/benefit analysis simply wouldn't be able to justify the wholesale drought for a colour change. However, they are still on sale at Amazon, so perhaps they judged downstream stock levels and played their hand accordingly.
I always said that there was no concrete news, and I continue to do so. However, I believe a significant revision is much more likely than not.