[TooNice]

Finally received my K701

It's too early to post an impression, you are obviously not going to hear me say "OMGZ they suck" when they happen to be my new toy AND my most expensive headphones yet.

However, I can say that my HF-1 are not going anywhere (at most, they may get modded at some point). After trying a few songs with the 701, I went back to the HF-1 and realised how great the HF-1 were. The punch, energy, they suddenly feel so lively. And not thin at all unlike my first impression of them.

This doesn't mean that I find the K701 bad sounding by any mean, I appreciate the details, confort and I suspect they would complement the Grado well (the Grado are a bit tiring for me for long period, both in sound and confort).

I am wondering if the soundstage of the K701 will expand more though. I recall the K501 (well burnt in I believe) I have previously tried to be more airy. Might be my imagination I don't know.

Well, guess I'll try this burn-in thingy [I am open-mindly skeptic: I can't really think how burn in can change the sound much - but it doesn't hurt to try - and it is in my interest to think that the sound will improve - whether it does or not

].

 

[MarkyMark]

Seems like everyone here thinks they don't sing until 300 hours so hang in there! Saying that, my HD650's never really opened up like I would have hoped, although the sound did change. By contrast, the DT880's sounded good out of the box although the tendency to slight sibilance seems to have lessened.

Where did you buy your K701's from BTW? Was thinking of using a German seller as they are a fair bit cheaper.

 

[TooNice]

I just got them from Todd. I didn't check the price in EU to be honest, I just know they cost a fortune in the UK

 

[hawat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkyMark Seems like everyone here thinks they don't sing until 300 hours so hang in there! Saying that, my HD650's never really opened up like I would have hoped, although the sound did change. By contrast, the DT880's sounded good out of the box although the tendency to slight sibilance seems to have lessened. Where did you buy your K701's from BTW? Was thinking of using a German seller as they are a fair bit cheaper.

I got mine from ebay they arent as expensive and the quality is the same.
http://cgi.ebay.fr/AKG-K-701-K-701-K...QQcmdZViewItem

 

[MarkyMark]

Can't understand AKG's lack of presence in the UK market. Or their pricing...

UK = £300 (could only find 1 seller!)
German ebay = £190-£200, although most of these guys don't do Paypal

 

[TooNice]

Yea, cheapest I saw in the UK is £270.

Makes no sense at all, considering that Senns are comparatively reasonably priced. I mean, the AKG are produced in EU, yet the price vary a lot more compared to Beyer/Senns.

 

[hawat]

Yes i got mine for ~£215 with shipping and paypal fee.
But i dont understand why they are cheaper in the us than here like you said they are produced in europe

.

 

[TooNice]

Maybe bigger market meaning that retailers buy in larger quantity at a time?

Plus, no VAT. I am sure there are tax, but probably not as high in most places.

 

[MarkyMark]

Yep, nowadays you can buy the HD650 for well under £200 on ebay uk with full 2 warranty. If AKG want to compete with Senn or Beyer here then they need to look at their dealer & price structure, otherwise they'll be lucky to make any real impact.

The same sort of problem happens with the Grado range. They are widely available, unlike AKG, but the mark-up over US prices is

huge.

 

[jim580]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooNice Finally received my K701 It's too early to post an impression, you are obviously not going to hear me say "OMGZ they suck" when they happen to be my new toy AND my most expensive headphones yet. However, I can say that my HF-1 are not going anywhere (at most, they may get modded at some point). After trying a few songs with the 701, I went back to the HF-1 and realised how great the HF-1 were. The punch, energy, they suddenly feel so lively. And not thin at all unlike my first impression of them. This doesn't mean that I find the K701 bad sounding by any mean, I appreciate the details, confort and I suspect they would complement the Grado well (the Grado are a bit tiring for me for long period, both in sound and confort). I am wondering if the soundstage of the K701 will expand more though. I recall the K501 (well burnt in I believe) I have previously tried to be more airy. Might be my imagination I don't know. Well, guess I'll try this burn-in thingy [I am open-mindly skeptic: I can't really think how burn in can change the sound much - but it doesn't hurt to try - and it is in my interest to think that the sound will improve - whether it does or not ].

I used to be a burn-in skeptic also.
I've just got 70 hours on mine now.......night/day and the smile keeps growing.
Use bass heavy music at a loud level, cover them with a pillow and let them do their thing.
You won't be a sceptic any longer.
You ain't heard nothing yet.

Jim

 

[DoubleEs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooNice I just got them from Todd. I didn't check the price in EU to be honest, I just know they cost a fortune in the UK

Did you have to pay Custom/VAT when it was delivered?

 

[Borus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim580 I used to be a burn-in skeptic also. I've just got 70 hours on mine now.......night/day and the smile keeps growing. Use bass heavy music at a loud level, cover them with a pillow and let them do their thing. You won't be a sceptic any longer. You ain't heard nothing yet. Jim

Jim, in my case at 75 hours they sounded horrible, as if all ingredients of the sound were in disarray, and I could not tolerate the sound longer that 5 minutes. Then at 100 hours the coherency was back and the sound was better than that out of the box. At 150 hours I noticed the bass became stronger and so on. So, the burning in was not linear in my case; the sound was good (only bright) - out of the box, better at 25 hors and very bad at about 75 hours. Then excellent at 100 hours (not bright and coherent).

 

[warpdriver]

Everybody's break in experience will vary. If you are breaking in with gentle music or bass heavy music, what you get at 75 hours will differ from somebody else at 75 hours.

I played Madonna Confession's CD for my first 50 hours unattended with about 85dB peaks (estimated) as it has a very shrill treble and thumpy regular bass, and both the bass and treble really changed.

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawat I got mine from ebay they arent as expensive and the quality is the same. http://cgi.ebay.fr/AKG-K-701-K-701-K...QQcmdZViewItem

Mine were cheaper from Todd the Vinyl Junkie than that.

 

[Asr]

I'm going to be an owner soon too, got one on the way from HeadRoom! Should be here on Friday!

Although I don't understand why it shipped from Montana to Tennessee (where it is now according to FedEx) and is now going to make a backwards trip to Colorado. I mean hell I could've practically driven up to HeadRoom to pick my order up! Ah well...

I plan on burning in mine with Orbital's Middle of Nowhere CD, my standard test for high frequencies. I love treble. If it gets burned in enough by the 20th, I might be bringing them to the Nat'l Meet, but that will have to wait and see.