[shortstuff]

Hi all! First post so go easy please!

So I love music but I listen through a yamaha A-S700 amp and a pair of accoustic energy floorstanders.
 
I borrowed my Fathers DT770 PRO 80's and listened to them through this amp and fell in love with headphones. But I didn't like the DT's, the bass was all over the place.
 
I did some research, and bought AKG K702's. I love the sound they make but they have no sub bass. So I did the bass mod- opened them up and removed the little glued on ports. Now they sound fantastic. They are around 20 hours bedded in.
 
The trouble is, now I have the problem of the right speaker making a rattle at medium to high volume on sub bass notes. A rattle so loud I can hear it over the music. It is completely ruining the experience.
 
So do I RMA it (i can put the bass port blockers back in if need be, but I would be doing whoever buys them after AKG fixes the rattle a favor by leaving them out!) back to Amazon and buy something else, or send the AKG's off for repair. These are "Made in China" and not austria so I imagine that will cost me a fair bit and take a LONG time.
 
If I look at alternatives. can anyone suggest one? Budget 200GBP, need to buy off Amazon for their 90 day return feature. I was looking at Seinheissers. I would really like to stick to open backs, as the closed back DT770's just sound terrible in comparison to these. A lot of sub bass but the midrange is wooly and muddy and the highs seem non existent.
 
I listen to electronica, stuff like Boards of Canada, Depeche Mode, all 24 bit FLAC files!
 
Thank You

 

[NA Blur]

Could it be that something has fallen into the driver area and is causing the distortion?  Perhaps vacuum that area out and take another listen.
 
When in doubt put the ports back in and get the RMA.

 

[JK1]

  Hi all! First post so go easy please!

So I love music but I listen through a yamaha A-S700 amp and a pair of accoustic energy floorstanders.
 
I borrowed my Fathers DT770 PRO 80's and listened to them through this amp and fell in love with headphones. But I didn't like the DT's, the bass was all over the place.
 
I did some research, and bought AKG K702's. I love the sound they make but they have no sub bass. So I did the bass mod- opened them up and removed the little glued on ports. Now they sound fantastic. They are around 20 hours bedded in.
 
The trouble is, now I have the problem of the right speaker making a rattle at medium to high volume on sub bass notes. A rattle so loud I can hear it over the music. It is completely ruining the experience.
 
So do I RMA it (i can put the bass port blockers back in if need be, but I would be doing whoever buys them after AKG fixes the rattle a favor by leaving them out!) back to Amazon and buy something else, or send the AKG's off for repair. These are "Made in China" and not austria so I imagine that will cost me a fair bit and take a LONG time.
 
If I look at alternatives. can anyone suggest one? Budget 200GBP, need to buy off Amazon for their 90 day return feature. I was looking at Seinheissers. I would really like to stick to open backs, as the closed back DT770's just sound terrible in comparison to these. A lot of sub bass but the midrange is wooly and muddy and the highs seem non existent.
 
I listen to electronica, stuff like Boards of Canada, Depeche Mode, all 24 bit FLAC files!
 
Thank You

What makes you think you will be satisfied with the bass on open Sennheiser headphones? They have great midrange and soundstage, and are loved by classical music lovers. They are also extremely comfortable. They give no isolation at  all, and those that are into bass heavy material in general feel they don't provide enough bass. Is there any place you can listen to some decent headphones? Perhaps a musical instrument store which also sells decent headphones? In the US there is Guitar Center. Is there a chain like that in the UK?
 
Perhaps you might like a closed Sennheiser headphone like the HD380 pro? The ATH-M50X is very popular with those who play bass heavy music.

 

[Shaffer]

I did some research, and bought AKG K702's. I love the sound they make but they have no sub bass. So I did the bass mod- opened them up and removed the little glued on ports. Now they sound fantastic. They are around 20 hours bedded in.

I own K702 w/ the bass mod. They need at least 300 hours to fully open up, for the highs to mellow, and for the bass to get fleshed out. Then, you can do the bass mod. First, get to know what you're dealing with. I realize it's too late.

The trouble is, now I have the problem of the right speaker making a rattle at medium to high volume on sub bass notes. A rattle so loud I can hear it over the music. It is completely ruining the experience.

Are you running an EQ or boosting the bass in any manner?

What are you using for an amplifier?

How loud do you play the music?

So do I RMA it (i can put the bass port blockers back in if need be, but I would be doing whoever buys them after AKG fixes the rattle a favor by leaving them out!) back to Amazon and buy something else, or send the AKG's off for repair. These are "Made in China" and not austria so I imagine that will cost me a fair bit and take a LONG time.

Heh, the odds of the cans being sent to China for service are slim to none.

If I look at alternatives. can anyone suggest one? Budget 200GBP, need to buy off Amazon for their 90 day return feature. I was looking at Seinheissers. I would really like to stick to open backs, as the closed back DT770's just sound terrible in comparison to these. A lot of sub bass but the midrange is wooly and muddy and the highs seem non existent.

I own HD600 among other headphones; you can have a look at my profile. Modded K702 have the most bass, the deepest bass, and the best bass in terms of its quality.

 

[shortstuff]

If they didn't rattle, they would be awesome now. Given I still need 270 hours of burn-in then I am in for a treat.
 
The right one rattled since the first time I put them on. Apparently this is common
 
AKG DRIVER RATTLE
 
I am running them off an integrated amp. Yamaha A-S700 specifically.
 
I only hear the rattle at louder volumes but not too loud, enjoyable I would say. I have been eq'ing them at around 60hz slightly yes, through my realtek HD motherboard EQ.
 
The rattle went away for a bit but now it has come back with a vengeance!
 
Other than the lack of bass before the port mod I absolutely adore the headphones. Very comfy and lovely wide soundstage and tons of detail.
 
The closed back DT770PRO I had before just sound muddy now!

 

[Shaffer]

Years ago, before the Internet, Car and Driver used to answer technical questions from readers. I recall an individual who had an issue with severe understeer. He had a plow on his truck. C&D's advice was, "Lose the plow. Repeat, lose the plow."

Similarly, my advice to you is, lose the EQ on the low-end. Repeat, lose the EQ. The music you're playing has a lot of bass to begin with and the recordings aren't exactly the most dynamic. Or, play the music at lower volume levels. Can't have it both ways. These headphones were designed for quality, not amplitude. Good luck.