Unleashing the AKG-702

[JIGF]

I am listening to the K701 with a Lehman Rhinelander right now, very good for the price.

 

[mshan]

I have a Heed Canamp in my sig that I may be willing to part from the AKG K701 it is currently bundled with.
 
 
 
 
 

 

[dcpoor]

M^3 and Dynalo's are great with the k701/702 imho.

 

[Happy Camper]

If you are an older hobbyist with years in the hobby, you may want to do some reading on the K70x and perhaps even get to a meet locally. There is a lot of polarity with this headphone. Some love, some hate few are in the middle. As with almost any gear, you can get it to sound pretty good based on how you match your pieces. Serious system building gets relatively expensive what with tweaking after you've built your components. What you need to decide first is this the headphone you want to build a system around or do you just want an option to your speakers? What sounds good on a speaker or one headphone may not sound the same on another. If you plan on getting other headphones, you will want a versatile amp.
 
FWIW,
I had been listening to my laptop connection through a toslink (optical) cable since I started a computer based source and noticed how much better an outboard device did. I recently went to a usb to spdif converter and feel it sounds better and uses less cpu resources. This connection has improved the sound of my 15 yr old DAC.
 
I am excited to be able to audition a current flagship DAC in a couple months to hear how much difference all that wizardry makes. This is such a great hobby.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i am no techqie...and bought the K702 purely out of love at first-hearing in a local shop.
Didnt know "how difficult" it is to amp it well...hmm.
And again i bought the Udac-2 becos its so darn small and not too expensive,
and so far, i am quite happy with the sound coming out from my Macbook--udac2--k702.
( reading this thread, i know u guys will say i must be out of my mind to pair a udac-2 with k702..lol )
 
Tried listening to my k702 out from the amp-headphone socket of my home rig..cambridge 340A..
still prefer the mcbook udac2 combi i must say.
 
One thing is for sure....
the volume on my mcbook is max out..
the volume on my Itune is max out..
and the udac2 is cranked to almost max..lol

 

[livewire]

Yup, you need a bigger amp.
A Burson HA-160 maybe? 

 

[Lorspeaker]

can  i link my macbook into the burson direct via a usb cable?
 
and can i still use my udac2 in between the macbook and the burson?
my udac has two rca output socket i think.

 

 

[Oddworld]

Give those beefy cans some power! I went with a Fiio E7 + E9 combo. This combo has so much power that I can't turn the volume past 40% without hurting my ears. I think its a great combo for the K702 (which are super hard to amp)

 

[Lorspeaker]

hmmm...was just listening to some small jazz bands and vocals on the 702 from the udac2...
sounds really livelike and detailed...dun feel a pressing need to grab an amp to juice it further.
has anyone similar tots??

 

[ardgedee]

I have a portable Leckerton UHA-6S, which is an integrated DAC/amp that drives the K702 reasonably well. I tend to listen to music more quietly than most people do, but there's still power in reserve if you want to crank it. This combination delivers a lot of detail and controlled, even bass, although the sound is dry and analytical so it's not my favorite combo for regular listening. My K702 spends more time plugged into an Elekit TU-882AS tube amp, which delivers most or all the detail with a little more warmth.

 

[storrgie]

Just received my Audio-GD FUN, put in the MOON opa and wow, these 702s are a different animal.

 

[Calypso]

Quote:

I have owned the HDP for a short few days... The 701/2 sounds a little shrill on the HDP IMHO...

The HDP will need more than a few days before it delivers its best performance. I have had the HDP for 3 months (not playing it constantly off course), and it gets better and better. Amazing little piece af gear

.

 

[kite7]

I heard no shrillness with the K701 on the HDP but I don't think it's the best pairing because it doesn't bring up the bass.

 

[livewire]

 
Quote:

can  i link my macbook into the burson direct via a usb cable?
 
and can i still use my udac2 in between the macbook and the burson?
my udac has two rca output socket i think.

 

@?#1 - yes if you were to buy the new Burson with integrated dac ~$1000.
 
@?#2 - yes if you were to get the regular HA-160 model. Used ~$500 New ~$700
 
Either way aint cheap, but the Burson is renowned for driving the K70X series.
 

 

[tama]

Quote:

 
Audinst HUD-MX1 DAC > M-Stage Rev2 amp > K702
 

after doing a lot of reading this is the setup i have decided on