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Author Topic: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett  (Read 919 times)

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loki993

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Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« on: September 09, 2015, 03:54:38 PM »
Im looking for an amp that can do both..I know two ends of the spectrum. I need power at 62 ohms AND power and current at 600 for the Sextetts. only a few requirements...has to be solid state and Id like to keep it under 400. 3 amps Im looking at:

Schiit Magni 2 Uber This was the front runner for a while. Some people say it doesn't get along well with the K7xx though as it can make them harsh up top...dont know.

JDS Labs Element Not a lot out there on this be similar/better specs than the Magni 2 U but its also got a DAC built in.

Lake people G103-S Again not a ton on this but what I have seen is good. Also this is by far the most powerful of the bunch into 600 ohms...530mW and over 17 Volts.  The others are what? 140 and 170mW I think...They should all be more than enough to drive the Sextetts. The power levels on the G103 seem to be a level above the rest of the group...maybe that's just that though....specs....Im more worried about real world performance.

If you want as 4th you could throw the Asgard 2 in there but honestly I wasn't considering it because at least on paper it doesn't seem to differentiate itself from the M2U all that much and I really don't need an amp that doubles as a space heater in my tiny office. It already gets hot enough in there.

Anything else out
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Thujone

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2015, 05:00:30 PM »
Project Polaris should be considered.
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loki993

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2015, 06:16:00 PM »
Quote from: Thujone on September 09, 2015, 05:00:30 PM
Project Polaris should be considered.

I hear that one mentioned a lot but this worries me "Frans cooked up a wonderful JFET input stage which lightly mimics pleasant distortions found in tube designs. " I've also heard its designed to do basically what that says....its designed to sound tuby...I dont want a tube amp and I especially don't want an SS amp trying to sound like a tube amp...

With that said it checks every other box for sure....plenty of power, plenty of adjustability though Ill probably never use it and the price is definitely right...its a thought but I want something thats fairly neutral and uncolored.....
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gandhisfist

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2015, 06:19:19 PM »
Audio-GD NFB-15 if they still have it; NFB-11 otherwise.
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takato14

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2015, 06:58:33 PM »
These are very different headphones spec-wise, which makes an all in one solution difficult. However, if I'm not mistaken the K7XX uses AKG's flat wire voice-coil tech, doesn't it? That will make it require much more power than the specs suggest. Sounds like a good tube amp is your best bet as it will push enough voltage to satisfy both headphones.

Valhalla 2 is a great amp. Vali is a good, cheaper alternative.

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loki993

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2015, 08:30:45 PM »
Quote from: takato14 on September 09, 2015, 06:58:33 PM
These are very different headphones spec-wise, which makes an all in one solution difficult. However, if I'm not mistaken the K7XX uses AKG's flat wire voice-coil tech, doesn't it? That will make it require much more power than the specs suggest. Sounds like a good tube amp is your best bet as it will push enough voltage to satisfy both headphones.

Valhalla 2 is a great amp. Vali is a good, cheaper alternative.



I know they are which why I needed to ask the question. Also yes the K7xxs do like a lot of current which is why I specifically chose the amps I did. They all put at least 1w RMS and high current into 60 ohms. Any if these are plenty for the K7xx. Throwing the Sextetts in though makes the G103 look good at least on paper as it puts by far the most into 600 ohms.

If audiobot 9000 is to be believed though they will all drive either of these headphones to ear damaging levels. I was just wondering if anyone has actually heard them and could give me some insight on how they actually sound.

Even though on paper it looks like the vali may power the Sextetts I dont know if it actually has enough power for it. Valhalla is nice but I really dont want to deal with tubes. Right now I just want the cleanest uncolored sound I can get. If I want to play with tubes eventually it will be down the road sometime as they can get fairly expensive once you start messing around with them.
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RexAeterna

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2015, 01:54:42 AM »
I use own several pairs of sextetts lp's and akg 702...never thought the 702 needed amp at all and never saw much improvement from them going from my phone to speaker outs of power amp ect...my sextetts were different story. They needed decent voltage and took advantage of speaker outs and good preamps/mixers to be driven to their sensitivity rating. Tried them on phones before and they sounded very quiet with distortion.. Never with k702 so it was always my go to headphone for portable use and all around purposes when I had them.
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loki993

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2015, 04:20:50 PM »
Quote from: RexAeterna on September 10, 2015, 01:54:42 AM
I use own several pairs of sextetts lp's and akg 702...never thought the 702 needed amp at all and never saw much improvement from them going from my phone to speaker outs of power amp ect...my sextetts were different story. They needed decent voltage and took advantage of speaker outs and good preamps/mixers to be driven to their sensitivity rating. Tried them on phones before and they sounded very quiet with distortion.. Never with k702 so it was always my go to headphone for portable use and all around purposes when I had them.

I actually tried them with my Fiio E10 just for S&Gs and they actually sounded decent. I had to bump it to high gain and turn it up to about 5, but they sounded ok. I could definitely tell they needed more oomph but still I wasn't expecting it to even be able to drive them to a decent sounding level.
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ohm-image

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2015, 02:27:55 AM »
Quote from: loki993 on September 09, 2015, 03:54:38 PM
Im looking for an amp that can do both..I know two ends of the spectrum. I need power at 62 ohms AND power and current at 600 for the Sextetts. only a few requirements...has to be solid state and Id like to keep it under 400. 3 amps Im looking at:

Schiit Magni 2 Uber This was the front runner for a while. Some people say it doesn't get along well with the K7xx though as it can make them harsh up top...dont know.

JDS Labs Element Not a lot out there on this be similar/better specs than the Magni 2 U but its also got a DAC built in.

Lake people G103-S Again not a ton on this but what I have seen is good. Also this is by far the most powerful of the bunch into 600 ohms...530mW and over 17 Volts.  The others are what? 140 and 170mW I think...They should all be more than enough to drive the Sextetts. The power levels on the G103 seem to be a level above the rest of the group...maybe that's just that though....specs....Im more worried about real world performance.

If you want as 4th you could throw the Asgard 2 in there but honestly I wasn't considering it because at least on paper it doesn't seem to differentiate itself from the M2U all that much and I really don't need an amp that doubles as a space heater in my tiny office. It already gets hot enough in there.

Anything else out

BTW, The Element is very powerful. I've benchmarked it against various loaded metrics in RMAA:

http://ohm-image.net/data/audio/rmaa-jdslabs-the-element-24-bit
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Artasia

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Re: Amp for AKG K7XX AND AKG Sextett
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2015, 02:47:07 AM »
I can only speak from the experience I have had with amp-pairings and the AKG K7XX. They seem to thrive well on high-current amps, those that also pair well with planars, from my experience. They were the best sounding out the Lyr I once owned, an amp that I otherwise was not entirely fond of with my other headphones. Unlike with the HE-500s or HD650s, the Lyr and K7XX's, was very very special, full-bodied sound, punchy and dynamic, with some tube sweetness on top. They also sounded great out of my former Gustard H10, another amp that pairs well with planars. However, the Lyr was the better of the two, I think. Both of these amps destroyed the O2 with the K7XX, which I didn't quite expect, since the Q701s I tried actually sounded better out of an O2 than my Lyr. In any case, the Lyr/K7XX was one of the best amp/headphone pairings I have heard from "mid-fi" level gear. If you are solely looking to maximize the K7XX sound, I would give this amp a try. Otherwise, I would say aim for an amp that outputs lots of current, as the K7XX's can definitely take it.
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