AKG is one of the most respected brands in terms of headphones and portable music monitors. In fact, most music studios use AKG headphones as part of their recording equipment. But outside of the music community AKG is not that well known, especially in the mass market. AKG has released a number of headphones that are targeted towards consumers but their presence is still not that strong, neither is brand recall.
But AKG is not giving up. The company has recently released a new product – an in-ear monitor earphones that it hopes will carve a niche for itself in the high end audiophile market. The AKG K3003 is a new IEM product that AKG is marketing right smack within the rarefied sector of audiophile equipment. These buds are expensive – precisely, $1,200, which makes it one of the most expensive IEMs ever produced and priced way above more established “audiophile” brands like Grado, Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic or Monster.
AKG is marketing the K3003 as a unique listening experience because of the triple driver system – which is probably the first IEM to use this technology – that makes these phones capable of producing sound in the frequency range of 10Hz to 30kHz. The K3003 does look as expensive as it costs. The whole thing is made from brushed stainless steel to ensure maximum durability. It has an inline remote that is also made from the same material, a microphone and a reinforced Y connector (also made from stainless steel) that protects the cable as it splits into two for each ear – this is actually one of the most vulnerable parts of any earphone so it is quite a welcome sight to see a company take this vulnerability seriously.
With its $1,200 price tag, the AKG K3003 will definitely be something the audiophile community will be talking about and buying. The consumer market may not be as open to it though because of the extremely prohibitive price.