[Rossy007]

A bit bizarre but I found this
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/131382976636?rmvSB=true

 

[rawrster]

Do you live near any place where you can audition gear or go to a meet? You can get a better idea of where to spend your money from those options. That's where I would go first uf they are available

 

[Rossy007]

Do you live near any place where you can audition gear or go to a meet? You can get a better idea of where to spend your money from those options. That's where I would go first uf they are available

Thats a good idea, I live on the east coast, a little bit out there so I struggle finding any good stores to audition. I will try to find ant meets close and audition some combinations.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

   
Yep, gang pile on.
I'm telling Mom.
You guys never let me do anything!
I'm going to log off and sulk....!   

 
Sounds like this is turning into a big mess of confusion.
 
I got the maximum power from AKG's specs:
http://eu.akg.com/akg-product-detail_eu/q-701.html
 
You can also see the sensitivity of the Q701 on that link;   105 dB SPL/V.
AKGs specs seem to be a bit optimistic.
 
Math alert, danger, statistics ahead:
 
Here's a link to Inner Fidelity:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGQuincyJonesQ701.pdf
Tyl measures 0.318 Volts rms, 1.68 mW to get an SPL of 90 dB.
90 dB is a fairly loud average listening level.
3.18 Volts, 168 mW would allow peaks of 110 dB SPL, not 120 dB.
 
I'll guess you are probably listening at an average level of 90 dB or maybe more.
But you're not driving 1.5 Watts into your Q701s.
Your source must output a very low output level.
 
Anyway....
Do I use my Q701 with my iPad?
yes, but i don't expect amazing sound, it merely sounds competent.
Do they work with the iPad? They sure do. Clean, no distortion, etc.
But I didn't buy the Q701 to use with an iPad.
Sure, the Qs sound better with better electronics.
 
Lately I've been using a Matrix Quattro amp and a Beresford Caiman Mk II DAC with my Q701.
For my ears, that's a good sounding, well balanced system.

Hey, Chris J, I'll join you in your corner and we can sulk together.
 
I was JUST using my Q701 with my iPod Classic *unprotected* (i.e. without an amp interposed between source and headphone).  I did not succumb to STD (sonically terrible degradation).  In fact, it was great!
 
Oh I have LOTS of amps that I put between the two when my head-fi friends are coming over... but sometimes, when no one  is looking, I just listen straight!!

 

[Danpyre]

 
Hey, Chris J, I'll join you in your corner and we can sulk together.
 
I was JUST using my Q701 with my iPod Classic *unprotected* (i.e. without an amp interposed between source and headphone).  I did not succumb to STD (sonically terrible degradation).  In fact, it was great!
 
Oh I have LOTS of amps that I put between the two when my head-fi friends are coming over... but sometimes, when no one  is looking, I just listen straight!!

Why?  It was very fatiguing before I had my amp.  Now I can listen to very bass heavy or treble heavy music without fatigue.

 

[Chris J]

 
Hey, Chris J, I'll join you in your corner and we can sulk together.
 
I was JUST using my Q701 with my iPod Classic *unprotected* (i.e. without an amp interposed between source and headphone).  I did not succumb to STD (sonically terrible degradation).  In fact, it was great!
 
Oh I have LOTS of amps that I put between the two when my head-fi friends are coming over... but sometimes, when no one  is looking, I just listen straight!!

 
 
Er, don't tell anyone!   

 

[jodgey4]

I did an experiment a while back testing how much adding a powerful amp did to the sound of different cans. The Q's just got louder, not better. No more bass or treble or full character. Only adding a DAC did anything of note for these cans, which was huge.

I found the same results for every can I own except the HE-400's I had at the time, an amp alone made them sound hugely better, to the point where I couldn't recommend one buying them without an amp that can push mad amounts of current.

Trust what you hear around the forums, but verify!

 

[Rossy007]

I did an experiment a while back testing how much adding a powerful amp did to the sound of different cans. The Q's just got louder, not better. No more bass or treble or full character. Only adding a DAC did anything of note for these cans, which was huge.

I found the same results for every can I own except the HE-400's I had at the time, an amp alone made them sound hugely better, to the point where I couldn't recommend one buying them without an amp that can push mad amounts of current.

Trust what you hear around the forums, but verify!

In your opinion..and I wont hold you to it

would my money be best spent on a CD\DAC upgrade as opposed to the amp?

 

[Stillhart]

I did an experiment a while back testing how much adding a powerful amp did to the sound of different cans. The Q's just got louder, not better. No more bass or treble or full character. Only adding a DAC did anything of note for these cans, which was huge.

I found the same results for every can I own except the HE-400's I had at the time, an amp alone made them sound hugely better, to the point where I couldn't recommend one buying them without an amp that can push mad amounts of current.

Trust what you hear around the forums, but verify!

 
I agree with you on the bolded part.  Just wanted to throw out there that when I jumped from the Sound Blaster Omni to the Matrix M-Stage (with the Q701), I did hear a noticeable difference.  *shrug*  It's a subjective hobby we have here so it's always best to test for yourself.

 

[Shaffer]

I agree with you on the bolded part.  Just wanted to throw out there that when I jumped from the Sound Blaster Omni to the Matrix M-Stage (with the Q701), I did hear a noticeable difference.  *shrug*  It's a subjective hobby we have here so it's always best to test for yourself.

I own K702. Like you, I have no trouble hearing a noticeable difference. I'll go so far as to say that I can't believe this even a point to be debated, it's that obvious.

 

[jodgey4]

 
In your opinion..and I wont hold you to it

would my money be best spent on a CD\DAC upgrade as opposed to the amp?

In my personal, subjective opinion, given $1000, I would transfer my music playing to stored music on my PC or find a CDP that can do digital out if my collection wasn't too big to rip to FLAC. A good DAC in a CDP is useless IMHO

. I would run that into an Audio-GD NFB-15 from USB (PC) or optical (CDP), and upgrade my headphones to the K712 or K7XX or other IF AND ONLY IF I felt that my Q's were too uncomfortable and I wanted more bass but didn't want to perform the bass mod. If I needed analog inputs to my amp, then I would grab the Audio-GD NFB-3 DAC and keep the LD1+ amp, and then decide down the line if I want to try a new amp.

 

[ThurstonX]

Schiit Magni 2 Uber + Modi 2 Uber ($300) and whatever's left on another pair of cans that are decidedly different from the Q701s (shouldn't be too tough; not there's anything wrong with the Qs!).  I love my $300 Fidelio X2s, and they're quite nice all-rounders compared to the Qs.  I read they made Tyll's product of the year... something he's not proclaimed in the past.  Only matters if your familiar with him and his reviews, of course.  Or splurge on the HE-500s to get a taste of the planar sound at an increasingly lower price.
 
Well, it's easy for us to spend your $1K 

 

 

[Rossy007]

  In my personal, subjective opinion, given $1000, I would transfer my music playing to stored music on my PC or find a CDP that can do digital out if my collection wasn't too big to rip to FLAC. A good DAC in a CDP is useless IMHO

. I would run that into an Audio-GD NFB-15 from USB (PC) or optical (CDP), and upgrade my headphones to the K712 or K7XX or other IF AND ONLY IF I felt that my Q's were too uncomfortable and I wanted more bass but didn't want to perform the bass mod. If I needed analog inputs to my amp, then I would grab the Audio-GD NFB-3 DAC and keep the LD1+ amp, and then decide down the line if I want to try a new amp.

Without sounding strange, I want to stay away from the pc as i am on it all day at work and there is something nostalgic about selecting a cd and playing it. I dont mind investing in a cdp & dac but really love the openness of the Q701 and would rather keep them. sorry if I am making this difficult, I dont mind parting with the amp or cd player or both but prefer to keep the Q's

 
Thanks everyone for their input, keep it comming

 

[Liu Junyuan]

Without sounding strange, I want to stay away from the pc as i am on it all day at work and there is something nostalgic about selecting a cd and playing it. I dont mind investing in a cdp & dac but really love the openness of the Q701 and would rather keep them. sorry if I am making this difficult, I dont mind parting with the amp or cd player or both but prefer to keep the Q's

Thanks everyone for their input, keep it comming

I respect your fidelity to the Qs. I share your sentiment despite that I am now listening to my K7XXs that arrived yesterday (which are putatively K712s in black). I am loving these so far but know that the Qs have their own unique signature to offer, which is why I shall happily keep them.

I think you have recieved great advice from everyone here. All over this long thread you will find strong endorsements for the Matrix M-Stage and NFB-15. Both sound like great options to me. I do think you can do better than your LD1.

My experience tells me you should not underestimate your DAC. I used a VDAC for three years and a Modi for one. I recently picked up a Gungnir, and it was clear the DAC had been bottlenecking my system for years. The Gungnir's tone is stupefyingly rich. and smooth.

Right now we are in a confusing time for buying DACs because nobody has posted reviews of how the Modi Uber compares to the Bifrost Uber. Should you go NFB-15, which includes its own well-regarded DAC, it would not matter. But if you didn't, I would wait the inevitable forthcoming impressions on the Uber Modi. As it stands now, I am tempted to gesture you towards the Bifrost Uber but just cannot know for certain without reading about the new Modi.

For what it's worth, I run a Lyr and Gungnir as my primary setup, but I often use an O2 for the solid state clarity. The K7XX sounds better through my Lyr, but my Q701s sound better through my O2 for some reason.

 

[Rossy007]

I respect your fidelity to the Qs. I share your sentiment despite that I am now listening to my K7XXs that arrived yesterday (which are putatively K712s in black). I am loving these so far but know that the Qs have their own unique signature to offer, which is why I shall happily keep them.

I think you have recieved great advice from everyone here. All over this long thread you will find strong endorsements for the Matrix M-Stage and NFB-15. Both sound like great options to me. I do think you can do better than your LD1.

My experience tells me you should not underestimate your DAC. I used a VDAC for three years and a Modi for one. I recently picked up a Gungnir, and it was clear the DAC had been bottlenecking my system for years. The Gungnir's tone is stupefyingly rich. and smooth.

Right now we are in a confusing time for buying DACs because nobody has posted reviews of how the Modi Uber compares to the Bifrost Uber. Should you go NFB-15, which includes its own well-regarded DAC, it would not matter. But if you didn't, I would wait the inevitable forthcoming impressions on the Uber Modi. As it stands now, I am tempted to gesture you towards the Bifrost Uber but just cannot know for certain without reading about the new Modi.

For what it's worth, I run a Lyr and Gungnir as my primary setup, but I often use an O2 for the solid state clarity. The K7XX sounds better through my Lyr, but my Q701s sound better through my O2 for some reason.

Thanks for your reply, its nice to hear someone with the same affinity for the Q701 and I have to agree, the knowledge and suggestions have helped me tremendously. I love my LD1+ but not married to it like my Q's and have read some great things about the Woo WA6 but I now will be looking into the DAC side and a transport as I still want to play my CD's. Thanks again everyone.