[buson160man]

I suggest the ray samuels raptor.I have owned one for a year and a half.It drives the akg 701 very well.I also have a burson ha-160 and it initially seemed a better match for the 701.But after some time i hooked up the raptor and to my surprise was able to drive the akg phone to a better extant than i remembered when i used it with the 701.apparently the akg seemed to benefit from its pairing with the burson.I do believe that the burson ultimately has more drive ability than the raptor,but the improvement in sound i got when i revisited the raptor was pretty noticeable.The raptor is i believe a much better match than the burson now for driving the 701.The raptor is more expensive than the burson but i believe it is worth the extra expenditure over the burson.The burson is a fine amp and sounds amazing at the price but IMHO the raptor is a more simpatico match for the 701.The burson has a smooth sound,good resolution and the bass has weight and is very listenable with the 701.The raptor in my system seems to be more alive than the burson with much better dynamics.It also seems to have even better resolution than the burson including low level information.The raptor is much more three dimensional.The raptor is my favorite amp at present.I have upgraded the fuse in the raptor with a hi-fi tuning gold fuse.I am also using a kubala-sosna power cord on the raptor.The kubla seems to work very well with the raptor albeit a bit pricey.I think you will like your akg 701 a lot more when you get an amp that can capably drive the phones.

 

[Twinster]

From my K701 (with Stephan AudioArt Cable) I went to the following list of headphone:

1. DT990/600 (gone)
2. ATH-W1000 (gone)
3. DT880/600 (gone)
4. HD650 (Black driver, gone)
5. HD650 (Silver driver with APS V3 / TWag cable)
6. MS2i

 
I'm now sharing my headtime between the HD650 & MS2i (Also got D5000 when close require) but now I'm in the process of changing to T1 or HE500 but I have to say that it cross my mind many time to buy another K701 because I miss them for Jazz/vocal/acoustic music genre. 
 
 

 

[Happy Camper]

K701>RS-1 was doing headphone duty and I was pretty content. Then the orthos came to town. The LCD-2 & HE-6.

I went with a HE-6. That requires a speaker amp though so may not be for everybody. The HE-500 does not have the open, airy presentation of the 701 and that's why I'm staying with the 6s. Otherwise, the 500 will make one a very happy camper.
They give you some of the stat details and some of the impact of dynamics while sounding like speakers (at least better than most hps). PRaT and the ability to keep you involved in the music is welcoming as the 701s can be lifeless with some material.

 

[WillHughes]

Quote:

From my K701 (with Stephan AudioArt Cable) I went to the following list of headphone:

1. DT990/600 (gone)
2. ATH-W1000 (gone)
3. DT880/600 (gone)
4. HD650 (Black driver, gone)
5. HD650 (Silver driver with APS V3 / TWag cable)
6. MS2i

 
I'm now sharing my headtime between the HD650 & MS2i (Also got D5000 when close require) but now I'm in the process of changing to T1 or HE500 but I have to say that it cross my mind many time to buy another K701 because I miss them for Jazz/vocal/acoustic music genre. 
 
 

 

Interesting...
 
I listened to most of the gear you've mentioned here at a meet a while ago, out of most of them (and the T1) I couldn't get over how crisp and lovely the K701 was. This was my first experience of audiophile headphones and spanned half a day. It was that experience that led me to purchasing them a few months later. Your post has definitely made me think about keeping my k701's alongside my next purchase.

 
Quote:

K701>RS-1 was doing headphone duty and I was pretty content. Then the orthos came to town. The LCD-2 & HE-6.

I went with a HE-6. That requires a speaker amp though so may not be for everybody. The HE-500 does not have the open, airy presentation of the 701 and that's why I'm staying with the 6s. Otherwise, the 500 will make one a very happy camper.
They give you some of the stat details and some of the impact of dynamics while sounding like speakers (at least better than most hps). PRaT and the ability to keep you involved in the music is welcoming as the 701s can be lifeless with some material.

 
When I listened the RS1 at the meet I mentioned above, I was overwhelmed with the guitar solos but not the overall presentation. To this day the RS1 still for me stands out for this reason, if I had the cash, I would most surely buy one just for the occasional listening to a flaming guitar.
 
I have a speaker amp sitting next to me, I really want to hear the HE-500's and HE-6 next to each other. If it's true that you say the 6 is closer to the air of my K701 then you may well have just bankrupted me.

Can't wait to get a listen at my next meet, hope someone brings along something from Hifiman.
 
 
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, they've given me a lot of insight
 
 
Will Hughes

 

[Twinster]

Same here. Te K701 were my first high-end headphone and I still remember how impress I was with the space and details in the music. I guest it's like the first girlfriend . It's always your mind.

 

[BrucYSN]

Quote:

Quote:

The thing that sticks out most with Denons is their V-shaped tonal balance.  It couldn't be further from what the K701s strive for, and that is reference-grade reproduction of the music.  To jog your memory, simply recess the midrange with EQ.
 
The HD800 is tricky in that it needs high quality amplification to sound their best, it's possible that when you tried them the chain just didn't have the greatest synergy.  I don't think I'd pair them with anything short of a WA6SE or WA22 (< sounds phenomenal).
 
The HE-5LEs are very picky in that they're hard to drive (but not necessarily expensive to drive) so keep that in mind.
 
I think I'm with you on your assessment of the AD2000 and Grados, and it's too bad you haven't heard any Stax Lambdas.

X2  the AD2000 would be a nice choice~ HD800 is kinda way out of the HDP's league. 
 

 

[Mochan]

AD2000.  Better than HD800 in my opinion.
 
And I would indeed suggest keeping the K701 alongside your next item. The K701 is special. 
 
Quote:

Hi everyone, thanks for taking an interest!
 
So I've put my noggin through something like 1000 hours of music from my K701's and I've come to the conclusion that while I love the detail and the instrument separation (air?), like most complaints of the K701, I just feel like I want a little more kick in the bass.
 
Now I'm running it from a bright source, Nuforce HDP, but changing source is not an option unfortunately.
 
I've had head-time with a fair few high-end headphones but this was before I had my 701 and so I feel those impressions have lost a lot of weight and hence I don't want to mention any names.
 
The sound signature that I want is not dark, but really just a K701 on steroids with more bass impact / feel. I'd like the sound to be fast instead of laid-back, detailed, separated and forward with a short bass-decay. I think the major attributes for me are detail and separation, I love to be able to hear every nuance... So what can you guys recommend me and why?
 
Thanks very much for your help,
 
 
Will Hughes

 

 

[buson160man]

Fellow 701er
 
                           I sympathize with your journey (1000 hours plus) but in the case of the 701 i feel it was  necessary.The rewards are definitely worth the effort.I have not heard the nuforce amp so i cannot make any comments about it's sound via the akg 701.I can make a couple off suggestions about
a suitable amp combo for the akg 701s.I have found that the burson ha-160 amp was a good match for the 701.It drives the akg very well and has good bass weight.It has a smooth sound with good detail and resolution and for the price (700 dollars us) is amazing.But my preferred amp for the akg is a ray samuels raptor.I do not know how you feel about tubes though.I can tell you it, in your comments about the sound you are seeking that this is the amp you are looking for.The raptor is my preferred amp when i am using the 701s.When paired with the akg 701 the raptor has good bass weight while not being soft or flabby.The raptor produces a very dimensional sound with the 701 with a large sound stage,The dynamics are also very good, in my system it was much better in that department than the burson.I found that the raptor was also better than the burson in its' detail retrieval and also had better low level resolution as well.The raptor is more money than the burson but i think it is worth the extra expenditure, I would like to add a useful tweak for the raptor.I suggest upgrading the fuse.I used a hi-fi tuning gold fuse in mine.I asked ray samuels about the fuse in the raptor he said he used a 500ma fuse in the raptor but that i could use a 650ma fuse and that is what i am using in my amp.I also am using a kubala sosna emotion power cord on my raptor.I know this is a pricey option but i already had one that i was using on my equipment so i used it to good effect on the raptor.In my set up i isolated the raptor on a tripplite six outlet hospital grade strip with good results.I am using another tripplite six outlet strip on my cd player.I find isolating each component was worth the effort in the improvement of sound.I hope my suggestion is useful.I would like to add that the raptor although i have not tried a lot of the other amps on the market has the attributes that you desire when used with the akg 701.                                                      Happy listening