My K701's have never sounded this good.
I have spent all day today
listening to my K701's with this amp. I think I have been barking up the wrong tree when trying to synergise amps and headphones. I have always been somewhat stuck with the concept that a warm phone must synergise with a neutral or forward amp, and forward headphone with a neutral or warm amp. Today proved my own beliefs were flawed.
This particular headphone amplifier is a full tube amplifier which I felt paired well with the HD650 due to its "euphonic body of tone" existing in the mid/uppermid frequencies, to balance the peaky lower midrange resonance of the HD650...Therefore my logic dictated that it would not match with the K701...and thats how I left it...until today.
Quite a few people complain that the K701 has a upper midrange peak - which creates a discontinuity between the rest of the spectrum. At times I also hear this - which is why, though I truly enjoyed the K701's, they were not my absolute favorite. However when I plugged the K701's today to this tube amp - I was truly stunned. Quite possibly because the amplifier has been thoroughly burned in by my HD650's since I last listened to it wit the K701.
It seems to me that what has occurred is that the "euphonic body of tone" that resides in the mid/upper-mid of this amplifier, has descended upon the upper-midrange resonance of the K701 - merged together and removed the discontinuity in the frequency ranges, forming a seamless frequency response that incorporates a smooth, liquid, full bodied midrange that remains absolutely neutral, natural and palatable. Liquid, smooth and full-bodied are words that I would never have associated with the K701.
More importantly is the result that instruments now sound realistically close range to me...not faraway and resonating in a large auditorium. Whereas the HD650 is my favorite because when it is synergised to my setup - it sounded the closest to me to jamming and rehearsals when I was drumming in a band in an intimate surrounding, and listening at the drummers seat. The K701's now that I believe I have found synergy, sounds very much like when I took a break and watched and listened to the group members jamming from a few meters away. The memories bring tears to my eyes (not really, but you get the gist). Imaging seems so much better now as well.
The details are not lost and is as incredible as ever, the K701 is not trying to do something it was never designed to do, ie sound dark or warm - but the tonal elements have been enhanced to no end. There has been no compromise in the K701's inherent strength, ie when paired to a super warm amp, details can be subdued as a side effect.
I have owned these K701's for two years - and only today, can I say I truly love them. The K701 may not knock the HD650 as my favorite, but whether if there remains one single headphone designated as favorite remains to be seen.
