[vorlon1]

The new Stereophile arrived in the mail today and has a full review, by Wes Phillips, of the AKG K 701s. He mentions Head-Fi, the New York meet in Nov. 2005, and Tyll etc. and does a long review of the phones. Wes seems to like them, "the AKG K 701s are the best sounding headphones I've heard..." "The K 701s just flat-out sound more like music as I hear it than any other headphones I've ever heard."

 

[mrarroyo]

But I thought he is deaf!

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlon1 The new Stereophile arrived in the mail today and has a full review, by Wes Phillips, of the AKG K 701s. He mentions Head-Fi, the New York meet in Nov. 2005, and Tyll etc. and does a long review of the phones. Wes seems to like them, "the AKG K 701s are the best sounding headphones I've heard..." "The K 701s just flat-out sound more like music as I hear it than any other headphones I've ever heard."

Besides, how many headphones could this guy have heard in his life?

I tend to agree with him that it is one of the best ever made, but having spent many many years studying music theory, history, and performance, as well as performing semi-professionally myself, I like the sound of the R10 slightly better for nearly all classical music (even if it's a little more colored). But I do like them better than nearly any other dynamic headphone (I'm still a little unsure about what the Qualia would sound like with the right fit and haven't heard the AD2000, however).

 

[vorlon1]

Quote:

But I thought he is deaf!

Well, yeah, that could be an issue, couldn't it?

 

[Large4mat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard Besides, how many headphones could this guy have heard in his life?

If you look at some of his reviews from the 1990's, I think you'll find that he's listened to headphones for most of his life. I truly believe that Wes has done a great deal for validating headphones and headphone amps as a medium for serious audiophiles. I for one will be picking up a copy of the latest Stereophile to see what he has to say. It doesn't hurt that I just picked up a pair of 701's this week...............and I must say that I am very, very impressed.

 

[MatsudaMan]

Hate to say it, but practically everything Wes Phillip's reviews is "the best he's ever heard". He just see's the good in everything.

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Large4mat If you look at some of his reviews from the 1990's, I think you'll find that he's listened to headphones for most of his life. I truly believe that Wes has done a great deal for validating headphones and headphone amps as a medium for serious audiophiles. I for one will be picking up a copy of the latest Stereophile to see what he has to say. It doesn't hurt that I just picked up a pair of 701's this week...............and I must say that I am very, very impressed.

Damn, I guess I should have used a smiley-face to make it clear I was kidding. Obviously he's listened to tons of headphones. And MatsudaMan is also right that Philips's reviews are usually pretty positive and should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[robm321]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MatsudaMan Hate to say it, but practically everything Wes Phillip's reviews is "the best he's ever heard". He just see's the good in everything.

Good point.

Thanks for the heads up. There is something worth reading finally in Stereophile that's under $50K.

I now expect major bandwagon sales. Someone from Stereophile said it was good, so it must be. Everyone place your orders lol

So, Tyll and Wes both prefer the K701 to all other headphones - is the 650 dethroned? Is there a new standard? Too bad the K701 sounds sterile and unmusical enough to be my 4th favorite headphone, otherwise, I'd agree.

 

[ironbut]

Stereophile, although I've been a constant subscriber for more than ten years, has often been criticized for favoring their big advertisers. Whether it is in constantly reviewing their products or praising shamelessly, they very seldom review a product that everyone knows is second rate or always find the silver lining of a given product. If you think that you've never seen an AKG ad in Stereophile, remember that they were swallowed by Harmon International a while back and then look for ads for Mark Levinson, Revel, Infinity, Jbl etc.,etc.,..This is not to say that there is nothing good about it. Even when I read a review of a product I have owned for awhile, there's always some interesting insight or set-up tips that are very worthwhile.

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robm321 Good point. Thanks for the heads up. There is something worth reading finally in Stereophile that's under $50K. I now expect major banwagon sales. Someone from Stereophile said it was good, so it must be. Everyone place your orders lol So, Tyll and Wes both prefer the K701 to all other headphones - is the 650 dethroned? Is there a new standard? Too bad the K701 sounds sterile and unmusical enough to be my 4th favorite headphone, otherwise, I'd agree.

I do think that the Stereophile review will push AKG sales a bit for non-headfiers; I doubt it will have much of an impact here since AKG already went through their popular phase, and now it's much more vogue to say something negative about them.

Whether they've dethroned the HD650, I'm not sure. I listen to both quite a bit, but I don't have a balanced 701, so I've been spending a lot more time with the 650.

As for best dynamic, I, like Robm, probably have them 3 or so on my "list," although I have them WAY ahead of the RS-1 and the GS1000. The R10, maybe the Qualia, and maybe a very-well amped K1000 would be above them in my book.

 

[robm321]

Very good point! I got tired of hearing Wilson speaker reviews over and over while Von Schweikerts were not getting a single review even though it has had outstanding reviews in almost all other relative publications with almost all models.




Quote:

Originally Posted by ironbut Stereophile, although I've been a constant subscriber for more than ten years, has often been criticized for favoring their big advertisers. Whether it is in constantly reviewing their products or praising shamelessly, they very seldom review a product that everyone knows is second rate or always find the silver lining of a given product. If you think that you've never seen an AKG ad in Stereophile, remember that they were swallowed by Harmon International a while back and then look for ads for Mark Levinson, Revel, Infinity, Jbl etc.,etc.,..This is not to say that there is nothing good about it. Even when I read a review of a product I have owned for awhile, there's always some interesting insight or set-up tips that are very worthwhile.

 

[humanflyz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard I doubt it will have much of an impact here since AKG already went through their popular phase, and now it's much more vogue to say something negative about them.

*Darth Vader voice*

The circle is complete

 

[Skylab]

Stereophile has a decent circulation, about 100,000, so we should all be happy when they review head-fi gear.

I enjoy reading Wes's stuff. I have subscribed to Stereophile since 1994. It's a good read IMO, generally. There is a ton of stuff I'd never have heard of except through them. So when they review headphones or headphone amps, I smile.

Now if we could juts get Sound and Vision, with it's 500,000 circulation, to review some high end cans or HP amps...

 

[warpdriver]

One of the things that amuses me is that whenever a product is rated favourably in a magazine that somebody doesn't agree with, it must have because of favourtism due to advertisers. Of course, I'm sure if the same magazine rates a product well that the same person likes, then they are telling being honest.

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vorlon1 The new Stereophile arrived in the mail today and has a full review, by Wes Phillips, of the AKG K 701s. He mentions Head-Fi, the New York meet in Nov. 2005, and Tyll etc. and does a long review of the phones. Wes seems to like them, "the AKG K 701s are the best sounding headphones I've heard..." "The K 701s just flat-out sound more like music as I hear it than any other headphones I've ever heard."

I am shocked that a commercially sponsored reviewer could get it so right.

Yes, the K701 are the most real and transparent headphone, overall, that are available.