[kantana]

 

Nice, I'm still waiting on my custom Roxannes, 3.5 weeks out n counting.  In the meantime I picked up a bargain pair of new HD800s for the Chord Hugo so I'm busy burning them in.  My Hugo just ran out of batteries so I connected them up to my Teac UD-H01.  Big difference in sound, the HD800 really do scale and you can pickup what's in the chain.  Oh well, these'll keep me occupied until my Roxannes arrive, hopefully soon.
Keep us posted how the AKR03 changes further, I'm sure they are nowhere near fully seasoned yet.

 

[Danz03]

I had a demo on a brand new pair of AKR03 right out of the box last saturday, and they sounded near perfect, which led me to confirm there's something wrong with mine. So I took mine to the service centre on Tuesday, it was quite hard to describe to them the problem as they are not broken, just didn't sound right. At first the staff said they sounded as if they weren't burnt in enough, but after I told him I have done so non stop for the last 2 weeks, he took them in to do some tests. Eventually, the verdict was that there was a problem in one or more drivers on the left channel, which was causing the phasing problem. Unfortunately, they were completely out of stock right now, so I might have to wait as long as till the end of June to get them. I was just thinking, as least mine were universal fit, probably easier for someone to notice the problem, but how would someone do so if it were a custom made pair, probably would need some more specialist equipment to test them.

Keep us posted how the AKR03 changes further, I'm sure they are nowhere near fully seasoned yet.

 

[Andy Andy]

AKR-03
 
I was lucky enough to get to audition this for an hour or so, even though i can only try them for a short amount of time (i am trying not to get the infamous 'poison') the sound it produces was sublime, i had never heard an iem that can produce such deep hitting bass, with very sweet lush mid and excellent high (i heard a little roll-of when its at high, but maybe its just my feeling, considering i only got to listen to them for a very short period of time)
 
AK120 + Kojo-KM 01
 
When i tried to my AK 120 + KM-01, single-ended, it was good, not as excellent as one may have hoped. The mid is very lush and apparent (Kojo's doing i think), but it sounded quite damp and not as open as i liked. The low was decent, it has enough punch to make my head moved and my heart throbbed a bit. The high was a bit rolled-off, i need to audition it for one good night before making further comment.
 
Ipod + Clas-db + Hugo
 
Now, this is where the AKR03 truly shone. I mean, OH MY GOD, the Kojo was clearly not powerful enough to drive all 24 drivers from the AKR-03. Hugo showed me how AKR-03 should really sound like. Lemme give you a short tour on how i felt when i heard the combination when i played Quenn's We will rock you.
 
As soon as the songs started. my mouth was widening from ear to ear involuntarily. The very deep hitting, full, not exaggerated low-end was so incredible that my head started to rock by itself, my heart throbbed, my foot kept thumping the floor. The sound of the infamous boom-boom-clap was so incredibly recreated that I almost stopped breathing.
 
The mid was a bit recessed when i was playing Quenn's, but when i switched to Buble, Nat King Cole, Sinatra. The vocal truly shone, it was very intimate, lush. And for an iem, the headstage was incredibly large, even comparable to LCD-2. I need further listening to really know how it sounds like, i was too captivated by the low-end that i forgot everything else.
 
I was unable to say anything about the high since i hadn't got the time to fully listen to it. I can only say that it was extended and beautifully recreated.
 
I am trying to get a loaner program to give it a good-night listening to. The low alone was enough to make me open my wallet. But 1800 grand was a huge sum of money for an UIEM and i need further assurance.

 

[AnakChan]

I'm curious for those of you who bought an AKR03 outside of Japan (guessing Jaben HK & SG?), how much are they selling it for? I'm curious if it matches Japan's prices as listed by Rudi on the 1st page or if they're much more expensive.

 

[Mimouille]

I am curious as to whether JH is selling balanced cables for AK240 to custom Roxanne owners. They do produce these cables for the AKR03 so...

 

[kantana]

13,800 HKD which is approx 1,770 USD.

 

[kantana]

I am curious as to whether JH is selling balanced cables for AK240 to custom Roxanne owners. They do produce these cables for the AKR03 so...

Not as far as I have tried already since I want balanced cables as well.  If you consider how much extra they charge for the AKR03 compared to Roxanne universals it comes to 250 USD.  Anyone want to pay 250 USD for the balanced cables?

 

[AnakChan]

@kantana cheers for the response. OK I guess I don't feel so bad giving up an a bid after $1650 for a pair of 2nd hand AKR03's.
 
I thought @soullinker20 managed to get a pair of balanced cables for his Rox but I don't know how.

 

[Mimouille]

JH contaminated by AK greed? Anyways, they could at least hurry up a bit in releasing kits allowing 3rd party cable makers to make Roxanne cables. I would certainly make one with fixed bass at 12 o'clock.

 

[steste1122]

I am curious as to whether JH is selling balanced cables for AK240 to custom Roxanne owners. They do produce these cables for the AKR03 so...

 
 
You mean this?  It looks identical to my AKR03 cable.
 
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/roxanne-balanced-cables.html
 
@ AnakChan: I think I paid 1750 off ebay for mine.  They shipped out of Singapore.

 

[DrSheep]

   
 
You mean this?  It looks identical to my AKR03 cable.
 
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/roxanne-balanced-cables.html
 
@ AnakChan: I think I paid 1750 off ebay for mine.  They shipped out of Singapore.

Because they are.  There are no difference between the AKR03 and the UniRox except the logo and packaging.

 

[AnakChan]

 
You mean this?  It looks identical to my AKR03 cable.
 
http://www.earphonesolutions.com/roxanne-balanced-cables.html
 
@ AnakChan: I think I paid 1750 off ebay for mine.  They shipped out of Singapore.

Originally Posted by DrSheep /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Because they are.  There are no difference between the AKR03 and the UniRox except the logo and packaging.

 
So do you mean AKR03 bundled cables are made by earphonesolutions? I wasn't aware of that.
 
However if you're referring to the IEM itself that AKR03 == UniRox, I heard that too in the local shops and therefore I suspect you're right but I'm curious if you have any confirmation that it is (i.e. compared side-by-side or straight from the horses mouth, JHA or AK?).
 
P.S. Note I'm not trolling you here 'cos I'm on the verge of being able to procure a 2nd hand AKR03 which goes for ridiculous prices as it's marketed (in Japan) as "tuned for AK240" and "limited edition to 100 only".

 

[Mimouille]

   
So do you mean AKR03 bundled cables are made by earphonesolutions? I wasn't aware of that.
 
However if you're referring to the IEM itself that AKR03 == UniRox, I heard that too in the local shops and therefore I suspect you're right but I'm curious if you have any confirmation that it is (i.e. compared side-by-side or straight from the horses mouth, JHA or AK?).
 
P.S. Note I'm not trolling you here 'cos I'm on the verge of being able to procure a 2nd hand AKR03 which goes for ridiculous prices as it's marketed (in Japan) as "tuned for AK240" and "limited edition to 100 only".

I have nothing to back it up but I suspect this "tuned for AK240" is bullcrap. Anyhow, I doubt the universal version, even tuned for AK240, could beat the custom version. But that is just me, because I prefer customs, and the Roxy being huge, universals are a hassle.

 

[AnakChan]

 
I have nothing to back it up but I suspect this "tuned for AK240" is bullcrap. Anyhow, I doubt the universal version, even tuned for AK240, could beat the custom version. But that is just me, because I prefer customs, and the Roxy being huge, universals are a hassle.

 
I'd agree with you (although I'd probably be more politically correct than the way you've termed it  ) but I was hoping someone has actually been able to compare the AKR03 with its SE cable side-by-side with the Universal Rox just to confirm, and/or spoke to Jerry or iRiver rep for a more conclusive/official answer. I picked up @kantana's post on the previous page about reports of how the AKR03 sounded different but unclear if it was tuning or the balanced cable.
 
But in Japan's ad is quite explicit in stating "tuning" without defining what it really means.

 

[DrSheep]

   
So do you mean AKR03 bundled cables are made by earphonesolutions? I wasn't aware of that.
 
However if you're referring to the IEM itself that AKR03 == UniRox, I heard that too in the local shops and therefore I suspect you're right but I'm curious if you have any confirmation that it is (i.e. compared side-by-side or straight from the horses mouth, JHA or AK?).
 
P.S. Note I'm not trolling you here 'cos I'm on the verge of being able to procure a 2nd hand AKR03 which goes for ridiculous prices as it's marketed (in Japan) as "tuned for AK240" and "limited edition to 100 only".

No I only meant that the balanced cable from Earphone Solutions was from JHA (JHA034804BLK), and the AKR03 itself is identical to the UniRox functionally (other than the bundled balanced cable) also according to Earphone Solutions.  Of course I have no proof other than their words, and I was looking tall and wide for the AKR03 too before I switched my W60 pre-order to the UniRox after emailing ES.  However, it is very possible that the AKR03 "tuning" for the AK240 is nothing more than the bundled balanced cable.  Further testing will be required to definitively prove this.