On June 28, premium professional audio products maker AKG formally launched their latest products at the JBL Acoustical Space in SM Megamall’s Cyberzone. There were several new top-quality AKG headphones and earphones to choose from, but what caught our eyes was the AKG K3003i Limited Edition. The reason? It cost a whopping P65,000! Yup, ganoon sya ka-mahal.
Although the K3003i has been available for several months now, it remains to be one of the priciest in-ear headsets in the market today. The other expensive headphones that we know right now are the UltraSone Edition 10 headphones, which could cost around P120,000 (before local tax) and the Audio-Technica ATH ANC3WH Noise-Canceling earphones that could burn P89,000 (before local tax) out of your pocket.
The above photo shows the serial number of this Limited Edition earphones, an assurance of its limited quantity. However, part of the K3003i’s appeal is the ability to fine-tune the sound coming from the earphones with the interchangeable filters. Three pairs are included: one for higher treble (high-frequency) boost, one for bass (low-frequency) boost, and the last for reference sound — which simply means that the K3003 “would strike a ‘sweet spot’ between noise cancelling and natural-sound, with a performance up to par with that of live speakers.”
The unique interchangeable caps can be screwed into the ear pieces and, according to AKG, will automatically filter the frequency range. Pero, medyo effort ata yun pagpalit-palit ng filters — still it’s a great option once you capture your desired sound output.
A closer look at the AKG K3003i. It has a three-way design inside the earphone with a conventional dynamic driver (speaker) for the low-frequency, plus two separate armature drivers for the midrange and treble. The enclosure of the phones is stainless steel making it a bit heavier than ordinary in-ear set, while the tangle-less cable covered with fabric and silicon has a length of 1.2 meters, and a standard 3.5mm audio connector on the other end. Meron din volume control/microphone remote na naka-kabit sa cable, so aside from media players, pwedeng-pwede ito gamitin sa mga compatible na mobile phones.
Now, if you don’t want to shell out P65k on a single set of earphones, there are other AKG audio products also available. They may still be expensive but we guarantee you that they would make both your ears and bank account feel more comfortable.
We ourselves are loyal AKG users. We’ve been using the 5-year old model AKG K414P, and the studio reference monitor K702 for several years now. And we could attest the incredible sound quality and value of these products. Simply put, we’re happy to be AKG users.
The entrance to the JBL Acoustical Space located at the CyberZone area of SM Megamall in Pasig City, where all the latest AKG headphones and earphones are currently showcased.
The AKG K490, one of the new AKG audio products displayed at the JBL Acoustical Space.
Founded in 1947, AKG established its name as a standard product inside professional recording studios providing high-quality headphones and microphones. In 1994, the Austrian audio company was acquired by US-based Harman International Industries, Inc., which owns other top audio brands such as Harman Kardon, Infinity and JBL.
