[BaudlyDamage]

Im currently considering a pair of AKG 702's but i need to know if i have enough horse power to run them. my current rig is an 80gb ipod video (5th gen) using a mcoy altoids amp. its the new version from JDL studios. Thank you!

 

[mritt400]

A cMoy mint is not going to cut it.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Agreed, a cMoy ain't gonna do it - portable amps (and many of the cheaper full-size amps) won't give you the kind of sound the K701 is capable of. Expect to spend $300-400 on one of the lower-end full-size amps that synergizes well with these headphones.

 

[freakydrew]

check the f/s forum. I just started using a Darkvoice 336i and can already tell the difference on my nearly virgin K702's.

 

[BaudlyDamage]

Say i don't have that in my budget right now. how will it suffer as compared to what it would have done with the full size amp. I like my audio very much but i don't sit and critically listen so i want to know if the eventual investment will bring a huge improvement or minuscule change.

 

[freakydrew]

are you sold on the AKG's? there are plenty of headphones out there that don't require as much amplification. AD700, Senns HD555 are very popular...I have never tried Beyerdynamics, but they get good reviews here too.
If you are not planning on proper amplification you will miss out on what the K's can offer.

 

[BaudlyDamage]

I am fairly sold on them, eventually i plan to acquire proper amplification so until then i guess ill just have to suffer. My question is, exactly how much? (or your best esitmate: ])

 

[AmanGeorge]

I just did an A/B between the K701s driven by my full rig vs. driven by my surround receiver and there's a reasonably stark difference to my ears. Dynamics are actually pretty decent in both cases, but the headphones sound slower and not nearly as precise as they do out of my amp. And of course, there's a little less bass. The whole sound isn't as punchy as it is driven out of my amp - everything blurs together a little more. You may enjoy the K701s without a great amp, but know that you'll hear noticeable improvements once you're able to improve your rig. Oh also, I had to turn the volume on my receiver up to 62/70 to get sufficient volume from the headphones, whereas I'm usually around 10 o'clock on my headphone amp (and it goes up to 5pm) - there's a lot more juice to spare. If your amp is weak, it may not even drive the K701 to the loudness levels you want (straight out of an iPod certainly won't).

 

[Acix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakydrew /img/forum/go_quote.gif are you sold on the AKG's? there are plenty of headphones out there that don't require as much amplification. AD700, Senns HD555 are very popular...I have never tried Beyerdynamics, but they get good reviews here too. If you are not planning on proper amplification you will miss out on what the K's can offer.

They don't sound like the K701/2.

 

[AmanGeorge]

Can you swing $295 for this? It would probably do very nicely

 

[Zombie_X]

I recommend the C2C as an amp for them. It has more than enough power for them.

But yeah the K70* are harder to power than most headphones.

 

[BaudlyDamage]

Thank you everyone for your posts! I currently cant swing it. the headphones themselves are about all i can swing now. ill work out the amp later on. im going from some ad700's coming out of an integrated mobo sound card full of distortion to a mcoy amp in an ipod with the DIYMOD (i hope * crosses fingers*) with these headphones coming out of it. the interconnect is amazing and the K's have silver dragon. should be a pretty decent improvement xD

 

[Sasahara]

Classic/Jazz will sing in your ears with proper amplification. ^_^ I tried hooking it up to my cheap portable amp and the difference was enough for me to just pull the phones off my head.

 

[freakydrew]

I have had the K702's for a few months and they were ok not amped (yes Acix, even unamped they were better than ATH-700s and HD 555s!

) that being said, there is a huge difference once they are amped. my volume setting is a lot lower and the sound much better!

 

[AmanGeorge]

Why are you spending all that extra money on a cMoy, diyMod, fancy interconnects and Silver Dragon? Why not buy a used stock K701 and put all that other money towards a decent amp? Also, are you doing the diyMod yourself? If so, you might as well put your diy skills towards making a diy amp, where you can get a lot of bang for relatively little buck.