K701 thread

[lucky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif After a couple of years of fiddling around with various dedicated headphone amps for my K701s, I finally found the best combo - NAD C355 BEE!! The can output from this machine is brilliant -- I never heard the 701s sing so well. Anyone else had success from non-headphone dedicated amps???

I listen to mine either direct out of my Macbook (though rarely due to wanting to avoid jack strain) or from my UB802. It cost $50 or so, I've had it for half a decade, and I have no plans to buy anything else, since it sounds great to me.

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvikul /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agent cswann1, please report mission status.

Man I was in a silly-ass-mood last night.

When I got home from shooting some pool, I pulled up Head-Fi and saw that this thread was on the front page. I immediately thought of all the arguments of late and decided to throw out a little humor.

I hope some of you found it entertaining.

 

[denydog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone else had success from non-headphone dedicated amps???

To my surprise, the K701's out of my NAD C372 integrated amp sound great. I can't really spot any difference between it and the Grace amp.

cswann1- I thought the covert-op slant was very entertaining.

 

[lordearl]

yeah - very strange! i tried meier, firestone & a couple of other amps and the NAD seems to have their equal meausre -- wonder what's in the NAD that makes it so good for the K701s?!

 

[denydog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif yeah - very strange! i tried meier, firestone & a couple of other amps and the NAD seems to have their equal meausre -- wonder what's in the NAD that makes it so good for the K701s?!

I haven't been able to find any information about how the NAD's headphone socket is supplied internally. I guess I'll have to open it up and take a look.

 

[rvikul]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cswann1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Man I was in a silly-ass-mood last night. When I got home from shooting some pool, I pulled up Head-Fi and saw that this thread was on the front page. I immediately thought of all the arguments of late and decided to throw out a little humor. I hope some of you found it entertaining.

Hee hee. It was funny indeed.

Seriously though, it makes me sick to see new threads being started in an attempt to spread the hate. For someone to actually spend the time and energy to actively denigrate a product they no longer own, there has to be motivation. Either they have a sick mind and no life OR ... OR .... and here it comes - they are getting paid for it.

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvikul /img/forum/go_quote.gif ... OR .... and here it comes - they are getting paid for it.

Oh wow!! You just blew my mind bro. I never even considered such a thing.

Holy &*%!! Now some things are starting to make sense.

I knew that Head-Fi censored threads that cast sponsors in a bad light but this is like some evil conspiracy. Basically, you have a someone badmouthing a product with baseless arguments and the forum admins are behind it.

This may be my last post.

It's like in Red Dawn when the kid visited his dad in the concentration camp.....



[size=x-large]Avenge me!!!!!![/size]

 

[rvikul]

I dont think the forum admins are behind it per se. Its a difficult task being a moderator. You have to strike a fine balance.

Back to appreciating the K701s...
I really feel the bass is much iimproved since the time i got these headphones. I probably have around 500 hours on these now (stopped counting after 350). The earpads have gotten softer, the headband is more comfortable. The harshness in the highs are completely gone (i avoided rock the first few days but after 300 hrs or burn-in these sound awesome for rock too). Soundstaging has improved immensely. I have no complaints at all now.

The P-51 Mustang makes them sing and the mids just sound so sweet. Female vocals are just sexy sounding. I am still curious to try these cans through a more powerful amp.

Actually I do have one complaint - my wife thinks i look like a dork when i wear these. She is right. I would not wear these in public

 

[NiceCans]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvikul /img/forum/go_quote.gif my wife thinks i look like a dork when i wear these. She is right. I would not wear these in public

I bet even dorks can appreciate great audio quality

 

[cswann1]

Apologies to the forum mods....that was pure speculation and not accusation.

Anyway...I haven't been banned

I'm very curious to see if my K701's pads soften up. When I was researching them before I bought mine, I thought the padding in the earpads was the memory foam like the "MemeoryFoam Mattress".

Hey! That could be a new AKG earpad mod.

 

[Happy Camper]

Want to see if bias appears, start a hate thread on Ray's gear. (Not inferring anything about RSA product, just using as an example)

Let's see, we've had VD, Xin and SP ran out and mods were quick to throw up Xin and SP warning threads and left the VD thread to run even though most of it was trollers with nothing of value to offer the thread. Read those threads and you'll see those raising the most noise had never tried the product. Just doing their duty to protect us (like we are too stupid to).

In fairness to the action, Xin and SP have created this mess, bringing it on themselves. I am in favor of these even though I own both.

In the case of the K701s, we have the typical troll patrol cruising the threads. Now if we fed the troll mentality, we could engage the Senn, Grado, Ultrasone etc. threads but us AKG fans have more class (troll bait).


ps

Dork here. I wore them once on a job site and was laughed at frequently. I did offer one of the louder critics a listen (fed from an ipod & Xin macro 4). His first comment was, "Wow, great bass from a headphone". After about 30 sec. he made the proclamation that this sounded better than his home system.

Even dorks learn, I now wear my RS-1s instead.

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Camper /img/forum/go_quote.gif In the case of the K701s, we have the typical troll patrol cruising the threads. Now if we fed the troll mentality, we could engage the Senn, Grado, Ultrasone etc. threads but us AKG fans have more class.

I've thought the same thing many times. It seems that some music lovers value a headphone with a very balanced and uncolored signature. think this holds especially true for music lovers who hold the K701 in high regard.

I've heard comments like "boring" and "dull" when referring to the K701 and I think that these are motivated by a lack of understanding of what is really ideal for a headphone or speaker. To me, at least, that ideal characteristic is one that does not add to the music to try to make it something it is not, but gets out of the way and lets the music be what it is.

The average Joe-on-the street, when asked to compare two headphones would probably prefer the one that adds more bass or treble or both, because he thinks it sounds better. In reality the colored product is the less accurate in reproducing the recorded material. There's nothing wrong with liking a less accurate product and perception rules in all things audio. My preference is currently the K701, for most music. I may prefer another even more balanced headphone tomorrow.

Also I want to apologize to other K701 owners for my recent behaviour HERE.

I stooped to the troll mentality to make a stand when there was really little to be gained, if anything. I meant everything I said but I haven't changed any minds. If anything, I think I've only encouraged this kind of thing. Won't happen again.


EDIT: BTW... it seems my efforts were not totally wasted as the above linked thread has been closed. I can't help but to feel somewhat vindicated. Is that wrong?

 

[lordearl]

I don't really understand how or why the attitude towards the K701s changed so much - I didn't browse these forums for about a year or so, but during that time these cans appear to have dropped from the top of the heap to the bottom. Is there any valid reason for this loss of reputation?

 

[cswann1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't really understand how or why the attitude towards the K701s changed so much - I didn't browse these forums for about a year or so, but during that time these cans appear to have dropped from the top of the heap to the bottom. Is there any valid reason for this loss of reputation?

I'm new to Head-Fi and this attitude has been in vogue since I joined so I have no idea why this is happening now. I haven't been around long enough to remember when the K701 was not being bashed like it is these days.

I researched plenty before purchasing and all the smack-talking did for me was make me want to hear them for myself.

Many would berate me for saying this, but I hold "professional" equipment reviews in high regard. These guys do nothing but listen to expensive audio gear, all-day every-day, and write about it. I realize that sometimes back scratching occurs between media and their paid advertisers. I weigh everything I read against other things and decide for myself who is credible. All the professional reviews I read were unanimous in their liking of the K701. The only negatives I read were from a few Head-Fi members who sounded like junior high students with a chip on their shoulder. My choice was easy to make and I have come to believe that I made exactly the right choice for me, according to what I like. Absolutely no regrets.

My only nitpick with this headphone is the bumps on the underside of the headband. AGK bumbled the band in my opinion and is still bumbling it with the K702.

 

[pataburd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordearl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't really understand how or why the attitude towards the K701s changed so much - I didn't browse these forums for about a year or so, but during that time these cans appear to have dropped from the top of the heap to the bottom. Is there any valid reason for this loss of reputation?

The K701, like the HD650, can be a polarizing topic of discussion on these threads.

I don't think that love has genuinely turned to hate so much, but that people have simply moved on after having owned--and in many cases thoroughly enjoyed--the K701. From my own experience, the K701 were my reference headphones for over a year; during that time, I had them RAL-recabled and much enjoyed them. However, after doing extensive, and for me critical, a/b-ing between the K701 and the K501, I eventually sold the K701. Even though the K701 bettered the K501 in several respects, to me, in the end, it all came down to midrange coherency, where I perceived the K501 to be the clear winners. But that's just my story.

The same can be observed about other headphones, like the Prolines and the HFI-780. Products fall in and out of favor, and it seems that the most persistent residual posts can seem to be disproportionately negative (or positive). It's par for the course on Head-Fi, I suppose: nothing to get too agitated about. : )