[illy2k]

I have had my 701's for some time now and I really do love them but it is time to start think about getting another pair of cans with a different signature. And here is where I need some help.

I have dug through the forum looking at different can reviews but still cannot find what I am looking for. My musical tastes are female vocals, electronic music, classical (strings) and DMB type rock. I love the wide soundstage of the 701's but I am looking for something with more warmth which brings out the low end without sounding muddy, and perhaps some rolled of treble. I have tried my friends 600's but find that they hide too much of the details with overwhelming warmth. So I am stuck trying to decide.

I have been looking at the SA5000, W5000, the 650's(don't like the 600's so don't know), the D5000, and pretty much any other dynamic high end can.

Some help would be appreciated, thanks guys.

 

[ph0rk]

I find the 650's with the right amp have plenty of detail while keeping their nice low end definition - ymmv.

I have recently, for the second time, gone from a k701 to a k601. I think that the k601 is actually a bit harder to drive than the k701, actually, and it is just a tad less bright.

I think that finding a very detailed headphone that is not also fatiguing is the grail really, especially for those with younger ears.

 

[Acix]

I will try Grado, or just go directly to Stax...

 

[Uncle Erik]

What amp did you use with the HD-600? Sennheisers are highly revealing of amps, so if you used the portable you haven't heardwhat the HD-600 really sounds like. You may not have heard what the K-701 really sounds like, either.

 

[illy2k]

I have used both the 600's and 701's on my Ultra Micro Stack via the optical out on my laptop. I think this should be able to drive them both successfully correct? I have never used the 600's on the RSA.

I also used both on my friends KECES and Dark Voice 336SE as well and liked them both much better on my Ultra Micro Setup.

 

[illy2k]

Do you think Cardas-ing the 650's would yield better results for what I am looking for?

 

[Currawong]

Markl/Lawton Audio mod Denon D5000s. These do exactly what you are looking for - bring out the warmth in music.

 

[Pyriel0]

Warmth doesn't bring out a low end. Power does. When I listened to the K701 through my citypulse built in amp bass was there and thats all, just there. When I listen to them through the shanling there is more bass and its punchy. I listen to a lot of rock/metal.

I also chatted with HeatFan12 on here. He has a few different amps(one of them being the KICAS) and Denon D5000 headphones. Everyone complains that D5000 has sloppy uncontrolled bass. He said it doesn't when he has it hooked into the KICAS. Here are pics of the your headroom amp/KICAS/Shanling. The K701's seem to have no bass and are treble heavy because they don't have enough power . The headroom frequency response graph shows the K701's being rolled off a bit above 10khz some and I believe it since I can listen to Slipknot and the bass pedal stands out more than the cymbals. The bass pedal is there and gone where the cymbals ring out a little bit naturally though. So even though its rolled off the sound overall seems to even out.

Solid state seems to be the safer bet on low impedance headphones. I think if you get other headphones like the D5000 you are going to run into sloppy bass. Imo you should get a strong amp first and see if your mind changes about the K701's. If not then sell them and go on to another headphone. You'll still have a good amp to power the next set(of low impedance at least)

I love my K701's and I'm just waiting to find Denon D7000's for a decent price because I would like to see how they are. I won't be selling my K701's though.

Edit: You should click on the audio-gd C2C in Currawong's sig and read his review on that amp. Thats how much difference a good amp can make and he went from an already strong ss to a better one.

 

[illy2k]

wow I thought the Ultra Micro Amp had enough power to accurately drive the big three 701/650/880. Would upgrading to the Astrodyne PS yield better results?

 

[Pyriel0]

I can't help past that cause this setup in my sig is my first set of nice stuff. I just know your K701's don't have enough juice atm. I have no experience with other equipment.

From what I have read on here the hd580/600/650(high impedance) need a good tube amp to sound best and lower impedance phones seem to be powered better/easier by monster ss amps. I wish I had one of those C2C's Currawong has just to compare to my shanling lol.

Edit: Thought I should tell you that even with a better amp the K701's are still analytical. You will have more lower end but they are still very accurate headphones. Not "fun" headphones. That's why I want to try D7000's just to have a different taste.

 

[olblueyez]

Try the 650 or move up in price and get something closer to a combination of both the 701 and the 650, ATH-AD2000. Another thing to consider it this, people are saying get a new amp because the 701 is a super tough headphone to drive properly. The ATH-AD2000 will ad some warmth, give you bass (music does need to include bass) and provide a larger sound stage than the 650, and its a low impedance headphone and will synergize with your micro stack very well. The ATH-AD2000 can be driven with an ipod, your microstack will make them sing. You just have the wrong combination of headphones and amp at present. Get the ATH-AD2000 and I bet your selling your 701's in no time.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyriel0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't help past that cause this setup in my sig is my first set of nice stuff. I just know your K701's don't have enough juice atm. I have no experience with other equipment. From what I have read on here the hd580/600/650(high impedance) need a good tube amp to sound best and lower impedance phones seem to be powered better/easier by monster ss amps. I wish I had one of those C2C's Currawong has just to compare to my shanling lol. Edit: Thought I should tell you that even with a better amp the K701's are still analytical. You will have more lower end but they are still very accurate headphones. Not "fun" headphones. That's why I want to try D7000's just to have a different taste.

Same here, but in reverse: I want to try the Shanling P100 -- it was on my shortlist of amps. I'd also like to try a pair of K701s again with the C2C.

 

[Hottuna_]

I will vouch for the shanling ph100 + K701 combination.
However, I do not have much to compare it with.

The shanling certainly brings out the bass in the K701. Percussion gets some impact aswell.
The bass to me sounds well defined in that for example you can hear nuances of the bass guitar.
Certainly a step up from my AD700 now that the amp is nicely burnt in. The K701 was second hand (2 years old) when i got it last month.
I used the K701 straight from my xonar d2x which apparently has a fairly high 5V output from its analog-out and certainly heard and felt the bass improvement brought on by the shanling when it arrived from HK.
One thing not so nice is that it tends to get rather warm and summer is here now down under and the Australian summer can get bloody hot....

Keeping an eye out for a decent affordable dac now....

 

[olblueyez]

You wanted warmer, the 701 will never be warmer, maybe more dynamic with a better SS amp. Time for some more natural sounding headphones, preferably some that will work well with your amp.

 

[pataburd]

The Darkvoice 337, with the right tubes, will drive the HDxx0 and DT880--I have the 2003 version--extremely well. By far, the best I've heard the HD650 to date has been with the DV337 w/2x JAN Philips 6SJ7WGT and 2x RCA 6AS7G, black plates.

Reportedly, the DV337 handles the K701 very well, too. My experience with the 337 is that it cannot satisfactorily drive the K501 or the D2000/D5000, however; it does a lousy job with these headphones, in fact.