[jvlgato]

Hi all! Newbie here. Audiophile 20+years,, new to high end 'phones. Have loved this forum so far, have learned so much already!

I bought an AKG K701 a few months ago, it seemed a bit thin sounding despite adequate break-in, so I brought it to a local dealer and listened on some headphone amps, thought it sounded much better on a Creek OBH-21SE, so bought that. I've liked it, but not loved it. Great imaging, so-so but acceptable bass, great detail, but just a little harsh and edgy in the mids, especially voices.

After reading a lot on this site, I wonder if I need a new tubed amp, maybe a Woo Audio WA6 or Little Dot 3? Or something else?

I don't want to break the bank, but I wonder if I could sell the Creek, would it be worth it to get a tube amp for a few hundred more? I've read about 'heaven parting, angels singing, earth shaking' etc ... and it just hasn't happened with this combo yet.

Wishful thinking, or realistic expectations?

Source: Marantz SA-15S1 SACD/CD

Headphone Amp: Creek OBH-21SE

Headphones: AKG K701, Grado SR-60, Sennheiser PX-100

Cabling: Kimber PBJ, 4TC

Main Amp: Krell KSA-100, Conrad-Johnson PV-10A

Main Speakers: Apogee Centaur

 

[HeatFan12]

And your journey begins...

Welcome

I can't recommend an amp per say because I have never owned a K-701, however, a lot of folks here will have plenty input on the 701's.

One of the questions that will be asked is your source? CDP, Ipod etc...

Good luck
Jes

 

[pabbi1]

Ah, those Creek products are a gateway product - mine was an OBH-11, with the OBH-2 psu... a loud, snotty little beast, but coarse.

Your premise seems reasonable, and should be doable... just not exactly sure what exact path you would follow. Many love DarkVoice with k701, and I heard them long ago, and indeed it was good.

Welcome, good luck, and SAYW.

 

[jvlgato]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatFan12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif And your journey begins... Welcome I can't recommend an amp per say because I have never owned a K-701, however, a lot of folks here will have plenty input on the 701's. One of the questions that will be asked is your source? CDP, Ipod etc... Good luck Jes

Thanks for the tip. I thought my equipment profile would just show up.

 

[jvlgato]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabbi1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, those Creek products are a gateway product - mine was an OBH-11, with the OBH-2 psu... a loud, snotty little beast, but coarse. Your premise seems reasonable, and should be doable... just not exactly sure what exact path you would follow. Many love DarkVoice with k701, and I heard them long ago, and indeed it was good. Welcome, good luck, and SAYW.

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

SAYW - Sorry about your wallet? Sorry About Your Wife, who will be leaving soon because of this hobby?

Does this forum have a glossary? I don't see one.

DarkVoice, Little Dot - have people had a good buying experience with the Chinese companies? I love the prices/value, but would consider it more expensive if I had to deal with poor reliability, emailing to see if my product ever shipped, watching my house burn down when it starts a fire ...

 

[coolcat]

many people here have very good experiences with darkvoice and Little dot.Just search ebay you will find two seller who have their shop there just order them.
But one thing I want to tell you.I donn't know how the other people feel but for me a proper Amp can actually help improving sound quality of headphone,but it's still the same Sound you had before you use the Amp,even though it's better.
If you're not 100% happy with your headphone and you try to buy an Amp
to suit it or even change the cable.The cost for all will be growing.
a question is ,isn't better to sell the phone and search for a new one,which you like more even if it costs you 2 times more than your old headphone.
I ask you this question because I too once tried this before

by the way your Journey begins,
welcome to the new hobby

 

[audible]

The Chinese amps are as competitive if not better than a lot of their American price-point counterparts. The quality is top notch, and service is pretty good to boot (David from Little Dot must sit at his computer and answer emails all day -- he's that fast).

 

[rds]

Quote:

a question is ,isn't better to sell the phone and search for a new one,which you like more even if it costs you 2 times more than your old headphone. I ask you this question because I too once tried this before

I think this is a good point. I love the k701s, but they are light on the bass for sure. It might be worthwhile to try Sennheiser hd6XX.

 

[jvlgato]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolcat /img/forum/go_quote.gif many people here have very good experiences with darkvoice and Little dot.Just search ebay you will find two seller who have their shop there just order them. But one thing I want to tell you.I donn't know how the other people feel but for me a proper Amp can actually help improving sound quality of headphone,but it's still the same Sound you had before you use the Amp,even though it's better. If you're not 100% happy with your headphone and you try to buy an Amp to suit it or even change the cable.The cost for all will be growing. a question is ,isn't better to sell the phone and search for a new one,which you like more even if it costs you 2 times more than your old headphone. I ask you this question because I too once tried this before by the way your Journey begins, welcome to the new hobby

Quote:

Originally Posted by rds /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think this is a good point. I love the k701s, but they are light on the bass for sure. It might be worthwhile to try Sennheiser hd6XX.

Thanks coolcat and rds. Very good point. I strongly considered the Senn HD650 and even had a listen. But I am actually ok with the K701 bass as is. It's a little light in the bass, but I'm not a huge bass guy. For me, the imaging and smoothness and accuracy of midrange and timbre are much more important, and think the K701 is really good in this regard, maybe I'm wrong. I mostly have liked the K701 for this, except for that sense of hardness and some lack of smoothness, especially for voices.

I've read others in this forum who said that replacing their amp, especially using a tubed amp over a solid state amp really helped in this regard, and that K701 should be great at midrange smoothness and liquidity/correct life-like timbre with the proper amp. But I'm open to whatever; that's why I put up this post!

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this! Maybe I need new 'phones rather than a new amp?

 

[DannyB]

Getting one of the entry level Singlepower amps may also be something to consider.

 

[jvlgato]

Thanks for the info!

DannyB, do you own one or have you heard one of Singlepower products?

Audible, you have purchased a Little Dot or communicated with them yourself? Do you suppose the LD 3 is on par or superior to Woo Audio 6?

 

[Uncle Erik]

Considering the rest of your gear (I also love C-J, Marantz and ribbons!) look into spending a bit more for a quality amp. My first setup was the OBH-11 with the HD-650. Had a big step up with a DIY Dynalo and had a Singlepower PPX3 I really liked. I'd recommend taking a look at the For Sale Forum, too, because you can save quite a bit there.

If you want to risk marital conflict, there are several high end amps that will double as a preamp. I took the PV-2 out of the system and run my Zana Deux as a pre - it excels there, too. I run it into a MV-52 and then to either ESS AMT-1s or a pair of ProAc 2.5 clones. Selling the PV-10A could get you closer to something that would pull double duty.

 

[Max Dread]

Hi mate

Funnily enough I bought myself the exact same combo just a couple of weeks ago, and I must say that I agree with your description. I too have found the bass to be under emphasised, but more importantly there seems to be a hardness and harshness to the set up that actually ends up almost hurting the ear! On the one hand I want to turn the amp up a notch for more oomph. Yet on the other I want to turn it down because the harshness is too much!

I'm hoping that when I get my new PC up and running and use my EMU 1820M soundcard with decent DAC that it may improve things. At the mo I'm just using a bog standard Yamaha Hi-Fi amp.

If not, I will be in the same boat as you. I have pre-empted this and had a casual look around on this forum and there is tonnes of recommendations. Search is your friend! Have a search for "Creek", then one for "K701" - get sifting and you will find loads of advice. Off the top of my head, the Heed CanAmp gets a few mentions as a good partner. My local store has a Musical Fidelity X-Can V3 which I might try; if it is any time soon I will let you know how I get on. A few people have said it pairs well with the K701.

Good luck....sorry I couldnt be of more help, but I'm kind of in the same boat!

Max.

 

[audible]

JVL,

I also have a pair of AKG K701's that I use with the Little Dot MK III (I picked it up from a fellow head-fier, but I have communicated concerns about warranty with David in the past and he is more than helpful).

I can't speak for the WA6, although I am sure there are people who have heard both (I'm not sure it is a particularly fair comparison, seeing as there is a very large price discrepancy -- for 399+shipping you can get the top Little Dot tube amp MKIVSE, compared to 585+shipping).

Either way, I am sure that a tube amp is a very good fit for the AKG K701's and you will be well served by either amps!

 

[jvlgato]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Considering the rest of your gear (I also love C-J, Marantz and ribbons!) look into spending a bit more for a quality amp. My first setup was the OBH-11 with the HD-650. Had a big step up with a DIY Dynalo and had a Singlepower PPX3 I really liked. I'd recommend taking a look at the For Sale Forum, too, because you can save quite a bit there. If you want to risk marital conflict, there are several high end amps that will double as a preamp. I took the PV-2 out of the system and run my Zana Deux as a pre - it excels there, too. I run it into a MV-52 and then to either ESS AMT-1s or a pair of ProAc 2.5 clones. Selling the PV-10A could get you closer to something that would pull double duty.

Wow! Now this is why I'm posting here! Nice to meet a kindred spirit, and what creative thinking! These are possibilities that I'd never considered. I'd have to time something like that to coincide with Christmas and catch the wife in a really good mood. But I think she's gotten more used to my insanity after 11 years. In our first year of dating, she asked me why I didn't just buy my stuff from Best Buy like her? We've come a long way since then, but I do still need to consider the wife factor in these decisions!

In any case, I've gotta say, I really like my C-J pre-amp. But considering your history and similar taste, I've gotta give a lot of credence to your ideas - do you consider your Zana Deux to sound equal to or better than your old C-J PV-2 as a pre-amp for your main rig? I had never heard of the Zana Deux, but via web search, it looks pretty sweet!

I do hesitate to start breaking up my main rig since I'm pretty happy with it. I'll have to think about that some more.

But my question still - based on my sound preference and current discontent with hardness in the mids, am I better off restricting my search to tubes, or should I consider any higher quality amp, including solid state? It looks like after your OBH-11 and Dynalo, you went with tubes every time.