I recently bought some 701s at the current online discount prices(a steal in relative terms) to upgrade from some lower range Grados. Difference is night and day. They might be considered bass deficient by the headbang or hiphop gang but that is due to alot of lofi pop music listening IMO. Phones were not that important an option to me till recently so I did not ever invest in any headphones that were considered top tier but I have had some lower priced AKG Koss Senn Grado Beyer, etc. as well as some Stax in the old days. These are pretty much what I would call exactly perfect for my home listening. Everyone calls them power hogs, well I suppose if you like ear bleeds they might be. Acoustic music at normal levels for me require fairly low power with these. I can live with them as is till the break in and for years and years. Soundstage, detail, etc. just perfect for me. If you like the 702s then go for that option. Kids hate them cause they do not boom boom boom, I guess.