Top of the line AKG K872 Headphones released at Musikmesse 2016
AKG, part of the Harman Group, released a new pair of headphones last week at Musikmesse. Like their sister model, the K812, these are sure to hold many similarities in quality, performance and high price tag. If you’re looking for the ultimate pair of professional closed-back headphones, then these might be for you.
Choosing the right pair of headphones is a very personal decision. For some, it’s a pair that they’ve grown-up to love and learn over the years, and for others it’s the hunt for the ultimate mobile listening experience. If you fall into the later camp, or just wonder what the best listening experience on headphones could be, then check these out. The predecessor to this latest model was AKG’s reigning champion, the K812. Although enjoyed by many professionals, there was pressure on AKG to develop a closed-back model.
Open-backed headphones are renowned for having a better sonic performance, simply because of the lack of pressure on the reverse side of the driver not interfering (distorting) it’s movement. This would have been a contributing factor to the K812’s success. However, in the modern world of audio, the demand for closed-back headphones is probably greater, allowing the K872 to be used for recording, and isolating background noise if on the move or in a live sound scenario.
AKG haven’t explained how they’ve created the new closed units, but this model is based around a similar driver as the one developed for the K812. The transducer inside each ear cup is the largest AKG manufacture at 53mm in diameter. They also boast these drivers to have 1.5 tesla magnets, which are supposedly the strongest available in headphones today. This should go a long way to explain the capabilities of these headphones which offer a frequency response of 5Hz to 54kHz. This is greater than most headphones I know and obviously well beyond the human listening range. Impedance for the K872 will be 36 Ohms, with a max input power rating of 300 mW.
Pricing and availability information isn’t clear yet, but I think we’ll see them in May/June this year. The price of the K812 is currently around the 1,000 GBP mark and I think we can expect the price of the K872 to be even higher! Maybe as high as 1,200 GBP to 1,300 GBP. This is a lot, but well worth a listen if you’re on the hunt for the ultimate mobile monitors.
More Information: http://www.akg.com/pro/p/k872
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