Manufacturing issue on AKG K712 Pro / are they made in China?

Submitted by yaddle41 t3_1175zfq in headphones

Cracks in clear plastic

I just realized the plastic on my 18 month old made in Slovakia AKG 712 Pro's did already break. I assume this is down to poor material quality or a design flaw, because the retaining clip that contacts them has a sharp corner.

I assume this will happen to pretty much all AKG K712 Pro's at some time.

Do you see the same defects?

The Harman customer service offered to send me a replacement. Did anyone of you buy K712 Pro's recently and can tell me if they are made in China now?

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AbbottsOnion t1_j9c759w wrote

This has always happened regardless of where they are made, it's just an issue with the cheap design, people think because it's made in china the quality has gone down hill but it's not true it's always been the same flawed design.

Happened to my AKG k7XX, it's unfortunate the K6 and K7 series have this design flaw as well as the elastics eventually wearing out. They are great headphones otherwise.

If you want solid build quality I would look into Beyerdynamic headphones.

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yaddle41 OP t1_j9f7r8p wrote

I had a few Beyers before. Their cables suck, they are heavy and clamp to hard for my liking.

I still have a AKG K400 and K500 lying around here. None of them have any problems like that after 20+ years.

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Masungit t1_j9a7ixk wrote

I had a Q701 and that happened too. Made in China.

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StanGenchev t1_j9aqy52 wrote

All AKGs are made in China now, except the K712.

I bought mine a couple of years ago (serial number 077457) and I haven't had any issues.

That said, that plastic piece is known to break sometimes even on the old Austrian made ones. It's relatively rare but it does happen.

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Regular-Mousse7841 t1_j9aywyn wrote

AKG build went downhill a while ago, i myself and many others have had bad experience with it. For me AKG is a brand to avoid, their phones sounds great, but longevity is missing. I advise to check comment section on amazon, this is pretty common btw

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rajmahid t1_j9bwwlu wrote

I have a K701 (China), two K702s (one China, one Austria) and Q701 (Austria). The build quality on all of them is identical. Only issue I ever had was the Austrian K702 went dead in the left channel that was easily remedied in 10 minutes with a little phillips screwdriver & soldering pencil.

I just love it when people make anecdotal pronouncements or dubious ‘facts’ with no actual or extended experience. Take this for what it’s worth, but for me the AKGs have been audio nirvana for over six years…in spite of having tried countless other headphones.

PS: I tried the K712 twice and found it an awful disappointment — a dumbed down AKG with a bass boost that bleeds into the lower mids for a murky experience. A waste of K7 progress that was probably intended to appeal to the hip hop/metalheads.

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Regular-Mousse7841 t1_j9c5k9k wrote

I'm talking from experience, my K553 fell from hip level and the hinges broke, while i mistreat my DT770 the way Chris brown mistreated Rihanna, and they are brand new. K712 also had an issue with the earcup that would get loose. So yeah i'm talking about my proper experience with them, and notice how i said "for me". as in "my own opinion" to which i'm entitled to btw

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rajmahid t1_j9cv3h2 wrote

Now you’re making more sense than your previous generalizations. Almost everyone in the hobby gets a lemon, but to generalize that a brand is “going downhill” is like me saying that Sennheisers are poorly built because my previous HD800 headphone had a cracked headband (true occurrence) is the same thing. Cheers!

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yaddle41 OP t1_j9f7z7x wrote

Good to know, that the Chinese quality isn't any worse. I still would prefer a European made one, when I get my exchange unit (same supply chain as the old made in Austria ones, so I know what I am getting).

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