For those of you who don't know already, I build speakers as a sideline business. I have been doing it for more than half my life at this point, and still enjoy it tremendously.
As these things go, the speakers I build for my personal use tend to get better and better with each build. I like experimenting with different things, and often make some interesting findings ;D My current speakers are high efficiency TQWT with some funky tweaks being driven by Maestro Audio monoblocks and pre all in class A. This all gets fed via an old Theta Digital DAC.
I purchased one of Gert's headphone amplifiers from a fellow forumite, and imported a set of AKG 702 phones from the UK. Now I know the 702s need a long and serious break-in time, so take into consideration that the phones were only played for an hour before I actually listened to them seriously.
I purchased the headphones because I wanted some kind of reference point or sanity check for when I build & voice speakers. For instance - how much sibilance is the right amount on a specific track? Is the sibilance on the recording, is the driver doing something it shouldn't, etc...
After listening to the phones for about an hour (plugged into the headphone amp via the Theta DAC), the only conclusion I can make is that the AKG 702 paired with Gerts headphone amp is a very serious contender in terms of details and accuracy in production. For the price I paid, it is a hell of a bargain and really puts you into the high end of stereo reproduction. I am definitely impressed. Cannot wait to hear what the 702s will do when they are finally broken in. Hopefully by early next week.
However: My hifi is better than the headphones. Obviously the things like soundstage, etc doesn't come into the picture - I am simply referring to clarity and micro detail. It isn't a HUGE difference at all, but the hifi is definitely better by a small margin. I am not sure whether to be happy or not about this - it is kind of distressing in a way to be honest. I was really considering to purchase a pair of Beyer Dynamic Tesla T1 phones, but in the end opted for the AKG. Perhaps I should have gone for the T1s after all.
Ian.
As these things go, the speakers I build for my personal use tend to get better and better with each build. I like experimenting with different things, and often make some interesting findings ;D My current speakers are high efficiency TQWT with some funky tweaks being driven by Maestro Audio monoblocks and pre all in class A. This all gets fed via an old Theta Digital DAC.
I purchased one of Gert's headphone amplifiers from a fellow forumite, and imported a set of AKG 702 phones from the UK. Now I know the 702s need a long and serious break-in time, so take into consideration that the phones were only played for an hour before I actually listened to them seriously.
I purchased the headphones because I wanted some kind of reference point or sanity check for when I build & voice speakers. For instance - how much sibilance is the right amount on a specific track? Is the sibilance on the recording, is the driver doing something it shouldn't, etc...
After listening to the phones for about an hour (plugged into the headphone amp via the Theta DAC), the only conclusion I can make is that the AKG 702 paired with Gerts headphone amp is a very serious contender in terms of details and accuracy in production. For the price I paid, it is a hell of a bargain and really puts you into the high end of stereo reproduction. I am definitely impressed. Cannot wait to hear what the 702s will do when they are finally broken in. Hopefully by early next week.
However: My hifi is better than the headphones. Obviously the things like soundstage, etc doesn't come into the picture - I am simply referring to clarity and micro detail. It isn't a HUGE difference at all, but the hifi is definitely better by a small margin. I am not sure whether to be happy or not about this - it is kind of distressing in a way to be honest. I was really considering to purchase a pair of Beyer Dynamic Tesla T1 phones, but in the end opted for the AKG. Perhaps I should have gone for the T1s after all.
Ian.
