K701 - The nicest phones I've hated
Nov 26, 2007 at 9:56 PM Post #62 of 108
My thoughts exactly.
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Nov 26, 2007 at 11:18 PM Post #63 of 108
FWIW, the 701s paired beautifully when I first got them with a (last generation) Headroom Max amp and either my Accuphase DP75V or EMM Labs cd sources. Even cold out of the box, they did not sound shrill or tizzy to me like I had been warned. I preferred them overall to my 650's which did not have the reach or image density of the 701's. They were significantly more laid back than my Grado RS1s.
 
Nov 27, 2007 at 6:06 PM Post #65 of 108
Quote:

Originally Posted by shellylh /img/forum/go_quote.gif
What amp and source would you recommend to make the K701 really sing?


I'm using my 701s with a Pro-ject RM10 TT with a Sumiko Blackbird cartridged, connected directly to a Woo WA6. It's absolutely magical, with great bass extension and very nuanced midrange. Nora Jone's voice, for example, is "to die for" enchanting through that combo. My old D2D Harry James recording really pin your ears down with dynamics, combined with rich, complex overtones and solid imaging.

My best digital source is the Korg MR1000 recordings, at 1-bit 5.6MHz sampling rate. This digital matches the best analog that I've heard. Unfortunately, there's little material, other than my archived D2D recordings.

Dave
 
Nov 27, 2007 at 6:16 PM Post #66 of 108
Quote:

Originally Posted by ph0rk /img/forum/go_quote.gif
slowpogo: Glad you enjoy them - someone should.

Given how acceptable I've been finding the k601's, I think I may just be hypersensitive to upper treble (16k-20k). Stuff like the high pitched whine incandescent lightbulbs or some crt's sometimes make annoy the hell out of me, though it often takes me awhile to figure out what it is.


What is a bit nasty about the K701, judging solely by the freq. response, is not the upper but the lower treble, which should account for the edginess you reported in your first post (maybe the coldness too). The same spot of the spectrum looks less peaky in the K601.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 12:34 AM Post #68 of 108
Never listened to them before I sentenced them to two weeks in the garage, in a box, with a portable cd player and Wayman Tisdale, going round and round, over and over again.

They are now hooked up to my tube amp. They are very good and getting better by the day. For what I listen to, these are exceptional headphones. It is very hard to take them off once they are on.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 2:27 AM Post #69 of 108
Quote:

Originally Posted by dcstep /img/forum/go_quote.gif
It's absolutely magical, with great bass extension and very nuanced midrange.


My Senn 600+Cardas tend to leave my K701s in the dust when it comes to "magical" and "nuanced midrange" and all those feelgood things, IMO. Like you, I enjoy hi-end vinyl. I guess we all hear things different ways.
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Nov 28, 2007 at 3:16 AM Post #70 of 108
I have to agree with the posts that say this is partly a matter of taste, and partly proper amplification.

I love my 701's with the DV336 amp. I've tested various Sens 565, 590, 650 and they just lack the detail of the 701's. It's almost like something is missing with the Sens, but could be I just prefer the frequency response of the 701's.

To my ears the 701's do the best job of recreating a live music sound vs the other cans I have heard. They do make bad recordings sound very bad though.
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 3:30 AM Post #71 of 108
Quote:

Originally Posted by Asr /img/forum/go_quote.gif
K701 is very dependent on both amp and source, not just amp! Where are the members of Team Source First?
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I've heard the K701 out of 10 CD players to date (some of them using the same amp and cables eliminating those variables) and I have to tell you, the K701 scaled every single time. I repeat: every single time. Of course I'm not discounting the amp stage, but source plays a major, crucial part too. I practically hated the K701 on one CD player in fact (the Ayre CX-7e).


Asr, what were some of the cd-players you used, worse to best? I'm just interested in how far the 701 can be taken.

Thanx
 
Nov 28, 2007 at 3:51 AM Post #72 of 108
Quote:

Originally Posted by ph0rk /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Ultimately, I think I'm going to let them go. I may be more of a basshead than I thought.
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Wanting bass in your music does not make you a basshead... it just means you prefer to listen to music the way it was engineered to sound. I've never been to a concert of live performance where I didn't hear or feel the bass to at least a nominal degree. If a part of the audible spectrum is missing from the sound being reproduced, it is not enjoyable to listen to. I don't blame you for getting rid of the K701. I haven't spent much time with them myself but the few minutes I did spend listening to them I was able to tell right away they weren't able to accurately reproduce music.

(I guess I'll just have to trust Fitz that out-of-production AKGs sound much better.
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Nov 28, 2007 at 6:35 AM Post #74 of 108
Quote:

Originally Posted by dste6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Asr, what were some of the cd-players you used, worse to best? I'm just interested in how far the 701 can be taken.

Thanx


I can't rank "worse to best" due to some lost memory of the ones I owned the longest ago but I'll rank along the price scale which should be helpful on some level:

Onkyo CS-V720 > NAD T533 > CEC CD3300 > CA Azur 640C V2 > Arcam DiVA CD73 > Audio Aero Prima > Primare CD31 > Arcam FMJ CD33 > Ayre CX-7e > Accuphase DP-500

I should probably add that I feel the K701 probably would've stopped scaling upwards at the Ayre CX-7e if I hadn't re-cabled them with the Stefan AudioArt Equinox.
 
Jan 6, 2008 at 11:58 PM Post #75 of 108
Ok, I earlier said (somewhere in this thread) that I tried the K701's with SOME int amp/CD player (also ipod+hornet) at an audio shop and found them to be a bit boring. However, I have decided to give them another chance with some of my own equipment. They should arrive in a few days. Right now I have a Stello DA100 DAC and an X-Can V3 (upgraded tubes and PS) as well as DV 332 (upgraded tubes). I should have a GS-1 by mid-Feb. I assume the K701 will sound best with Stello DA100 + GS-1 (but I have not heard the K701s nor the GS-1 so who knows). At least I have a lot of time to burn the K701s in before the GS-1 shows up. 300 hours of burn in at least, right??? Any recommendations for good quality recording to try?
 
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