Mr. Peabody,

I auditioned the Senns, and I was a huge fan for years before I heard the Grados. True the sound is different, but most of my gear is a bit on the warm side and so the Senns went too far. The Grados did a great job evening things out for me and for some reason I like warm speakers, but brighter phones. Anyhow, the soundstage with the Grados is a bit smaller, I agree, but it makes me feel like I am closer to the stage. It's more immediate, I guess. With large orchestral works it's like I'm sitting front-row center of the stage with the players, perhaps not as realistic, but definitely awe-inspiring - sort of like a good SACD & speakers setup works. Now I've read that the AKGs are a little leaner on the bass than the Senns, but how did you compare the mids & highs on both these phones?

By the way, you are right that they are comfortable, but the large over-the-ear size pushes my glasses against my temples which gets bothersome on long listening sessions. Not that the Grados are an improvement in that department, but at the time I was so focussed on just the sound that I completely forgot about the comfort factor.

Dusty,

I've never heard the Beyerdynamics, but I have read an awful lot of positive reviews. I have also heard other AKGs, although not the 701. For some reason I can't find any online sources comparing these phones. While they differ in price quite a bit, they do seem to be their top phones in the still sensibly priced range. Presuming that they are equally comfortable, how would you compare the sound on these?