AKG K 701 White

AKG Acoustics in Austria has brought their considerable audio engineering skills into sharp focus on their high-end dynamic headphone designs and produced an astonishingly superb-sounding pair of cans in their flagship K701 model. Getting it absolutely right at this demanding level of reference-grade audio performance is tough and the K701 gets pretty darn near perfection. These cans deliver a dynamic and punchy sound, articulate and clear over the full audio spectrum. Precise musical detail lovers should appreciate the clean punch and tightly focused bottom-end control of these headphones. Classical and acoustic music fans will likewise love the fact that the dynamic control moves right on up the frequency range to distinctly articulate every finger pluck and rosin-on-gut string texture in the sound mix. About the only thing that we can possibly say bad about these headphones is that those who like a very laid-back, mellow-sounding, or heavy bass presentation might want to look elsewhere since these are certainly highly refined, audiophile-oriented headphones that deliver a deeply expansive soundstage image along with a textural detail and a liquid immediacy that demands your attention. And…oh!...what a lovely musical demand it is!

We highly appreciate when a headphone manufacturer does a nice job evolving their products and in this case AKG has done more than just a nice job. These cans have a number of unique features that create a pretty dramatic improvement over previous AKG 'best-of-category' headphones. Their audio response is directly improved by a brand-new proprietary AKG Varimotion™ diaphragm that is designed to provide better pistonic motion and acoustic control plus a revolutionary flat-wound voice coil design which allows for greater concentrations of the magnetic field within the voice coil, thus driving the element diaphragm with more authority thereby delivering a cleaner, ultra-articulate sound. Our HeadRoom experience with the K701 is that it requires a REALLY extensive chunk of burn-in / play-time to fully 'relax' sonically & sound its very best, so please assume MINIMUM 300hrs of play-time before the full audio pleasure of these cans is completely realized. The new 'ergonomically-perfect' earcup ear pads are a soft velour-type material, very comfortable, and are designed to point the driver at the ear for a more correct listening angle. The high-end oxygen-free copper headphone cable is 'bi-wired', which we assume means the return channel for each driver remains separate until it reaches the common ground connection on the 1/4" plug. Though it smacks just a bit of hipster iPod-ism, we actually think the k701's white color scheme is actually quite striking and visually effective. And if you don’t particularly like the color, you’ll still love how amazingly light and comfortable these headphones feel on the head with their well-designed, albeit slightly oversize ergonomics. An absolutely world-class A-1 audiophile headphone and heartily recommended! … GREAT job, AKG!

FYI: For listeners wishing to use the AKG k701 with portable audio players like iPods, Mp3 players, & PCs/laptops, a dedicated headphone amp of some sort is simply a must for maximized audio performance due to the headphone's VERY low sensitivity -- despite its fairly efficient 62-ohm impedance rating. Our entry-level HeadRoom 'Mobile Line' portable headphone amps ($99-$149usd) will do the trick nicely but the more powerful, accurate, and dynamically-quick HeadRoom 'Micro' series of products come very highly recommended for this superb headphone.