AKG K702

Source: CD IMHO all are beautifully recorded, mastered and played Ottmar Liebert: Nouveau Flamenco Sting: 10 Summner's Tales La Quattro Stagioni: The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock DVD Player SONY DVP… NS45P Surround Sound Receiver Pioneer Elite: VSX 09TX This unit was a big dog in its day and does an excellent job of accurate reproduction. It is neither bright nor warm, whatever distortion exists is inaudible. The digital to analog conversion was done with the VSX, not the inexpensive SONY DVD player. I jacked the headphones directly into the VSX with no extension cable to eliminate connectors and cables. Speakers Klipsch La Scalas Break in time Five hours Headphone construction Large comfortable ear cushions, large ball joints where they marry up with the visible speaker assembly, the headband is high quality leather, the spring for the sling is plastic and hopefully will not fatigue with repeated bending. All of the assemblies are plastic, I suspect to keep the weight down. The ear cups are connected with the clear plastic tabs and travel on a threaded cable system that appears to wind into the headphones as an auto adjustment. My noggin is XL, these fit beautifully, my 10 year old is a small they fit her too. If you are looking to block the sound of co-workers, the dishwasher, jet engines, or your significant other these won't do it. If you crank the volume up, you won't annoy anyone around you as the leakage is minimal. If you have someone in the cube next to you that needs absolute silence, these may not work for you. Storage I would not hang them from the sling considering the threaded adjusters. There is no factory storage case. I will be going out to one of the stores that sells lots of decorated wooden boxes from India, purchase one, and pad the bottom. I suspect that my last pair of headphones died in a dusting accident, pushed not jumped. So far, no witnesses have come forward, the investigation continues. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Review I played the music over the La Scalas, then listened to the same songs on the K702 Excellent clear undistorted detail in low, med and high range even with the volume cranked up. Excellent low, but could not match the punch of my La Scalas. Nothing else can either, so no surprise. Two 15 inch woofers in 2 foot by 3 foot cabinets with the horns. Sound Stage There was definitely a L R and Center, and the sound was relatively seamless between them which has a lot to do with the mixing and original studio recordings. You can't put the quality into the sound after its recorded and mastered, only hope to reproduce it on your sound system. IMHO these headphones will accurately reproduce the sounds that your amplifier source is feeding them with no audible distortion, the word "reference" is accurate as a description. If I had a place to unpack and set up my McIntosh stack, and jacked the headphones into the pre-amp; I believe, that I would have reported the K702 as warm, replicating the sound of expensive tube units. Again, the K702 will reproduce what you feed it, no more no less. Summary These headphones very closely approximate the sound of $15K worth of high end stereo equipment. If you have neutral source they will sound neutral, if warm they will sound warm. Again reference is an accurate description. I don't know a lot about I-Pods, but the more compressed your sound is the more quantization error you experience which expresses itself progressively metallic sounding music with fading details. If you were starting from zero and love music, I would suggest looking for a DVD player that does the D to A conversion on board and offers a headphone jack with volume control. I'm not familiar with the headphone amps out there but if they make a good one that does the D to A conversion and has a volume control I would buy it. Actually just took a peak elsewhere, and the amps run from $100 up to $1600 with reviews. For $500, your music would sound like $15 to $20K; great way to start out at an affordable price. Plus your landlord won't evict you for cranking the stereo at all hours Akg K702 Reference Class Open-Back Headphone. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx My first impression When I jacked these in last night and played Sting, my feeling was that if I had my McIntosh set up, plugged the K702s into the pre-amp, and turned the lights down, I would have been moved to tears (figuratively speaking).

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This is the first time I have posted a review - ever. Got these as an anniversary gift from my lovely wife (so no hope of upgrade even if I didn't like them#. I have a pair of Martin Logan speakers paired… with PS Audio PCA/HCA combination which provides exceptional detail. On first impression - very detailed, stat like sound but linear response #evident even without the breakin). As noted, I can see the promised land is not far with a little patience. Contrary to many reviews, even with the slight edge, the sound is very pleasing. It is like the first few sips of a new wine, hopefully to open and reveal a myriad of flavors. Do NOT hesitate to purchase this headphone - especially for the price. Will follow up after the break in.

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The AKG K702 headphones have exceptionally clear sound, but work best with a dedicated headphone amp. I am using them with an Asus Xonar STX soundcard, and they sound exceptional (especially in Dolby… Headphone mode). If you do not have a headphone amp, then you will find the bass response lacking on these AKGs (in comparison to Sennheiser models). I've tried a few other headphones before, Sennheiser HD497, HD555, but none had the clarity of these AKGs (especially for vocal, classical music, acoustic).

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The 702s are identical to the 701s except that the pads on the 02s are thicker which allows a more "around the head" speaker-like experience with regards to soundstage.....The 702s also have a detachable… cable and do not come with the little stand that is supplied with the 701s...No biggie.....Now, Regarding the sound....I have as my point of reference Sennheiser 600s....so, in comparison, the 702s sound is much more defined, articulate, and able to see deeper into the music then the sort of sweet tho great sounding Senn 600s....I use my 702s with an Onkyo DX-7555 reference CD Player, and a Oppo DV 970HD player, along with a recent edtion of the now discontinued Headroom MAX headphone amp.....so, I am getting some serious Hi-end input into these cans and they dont disappoint.....I will tell u, should u decide to buy, (and you should if u want to discover the real world of Hi End Headphone Audiofilia),....that u must let these phones have at least 100 hours of burn in so that the drivers relax, and until this is achieved these cans will sound BRIGHT and without a lot of bass extention, but as the drivers begin to relax, then the glorius sound they provide just gets better and better.....WELL worth the money, and the patience u provide them regarding letting them burn in will be rewarded with allowing u to hear your music as if the first time.....these are thrilling headphones that are worth 4x the money.

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