[navii]

Firstly, apologies for the billionth AKG 701 amp recommendation thread!
 
I spent a lot of time here and decided that both of those amps would be a great match for the K701s. Being new to these things I do not want to make another mistake of buying something that is not ideal. (purchased a Little Dot MKII to later find out OTL tube amps arent the best for K701s).
 
So kind people in the know, both are good, but which one is better?
 
Thanks.

 

[3602]

The Caliente, aptly named "Kick-A$$", should be quite synergetic with the 701 (from what I read here on Head-Fi).

 

[ekxon]

and KICAS/Caliente is now only $299 (used to be $399 when I got mine).
I have my k702 hooked up to caliente and while I can't comment on how great it is as it is my only set up and cant compare it to anything else, but when compared to my emu 0404 usb's headphone out, you can definitely hear the difference, especially the bass.
I used to have caliente hooked up straight to my macbook pro, and for awhile I regretted the purchase because I couldn't hear much difference between macbook pro audio out and caliente. But after couple of hundred hours of burn in, and getting a dac, changed everything. I love my set up now. Caliente definitely adds up bass and enough juice to drive k702.
I would also look into a dac if you do not have one.