Grado ALMOST Best Headphone
By paying $500, it may seem like you should get the top of the line of a companies headphone. With the Grado RS-2, you nearly do. The RS-1 sells for $200 more but the difference is minimal. Most people who listen to them side by side would probably choose to save the extra money......unless money is no object.
These headphones are classy from the getgo. They arrive in a wooden box. They are made of real mahogony wood. The wood is treated not just for great looks (which it has) but for performance. The headband is real leather.
The sound?
Outstanding!
The highs are great, the midranges are tremendous and the bass is realistic and tight. They, in my opinion, outperform all other competitors. Those who cannot afford this much for a headphone may wish to consider a less expensive model from Grado. The SR-80, which sells for $95, is probably the best buy of the entire line. But if you can afford these, they are worth the investment
A review of the Grado SR225 Headphones
Hi there!
Would like to just do a quick little review of my recent aquisition of the Grado SR225 headphones, the aim is to contribute opinions to anyone else thinking of buying a pair of these headphones.
First see my previous thread to get an idea of what I was looking for in headphones (Along with this review, this will help you decide if these headphones are right for you).
When I received the package I tried them out for about 20 minutes, I was very pleased but felt like they needed lossening up a litte. I left them running pink noise just above normal listening level for 9 hours along with 30 minute breaks every two hours (BurnInWave default) as some may recomend. To my ears this DID make a difference but I can't imagine much difference between this and playing music through them for a week.
It did take me a while to adjust to the change in listening volume however, I usually listen quite loud to bring out the qualities of rock music. Listening to higher volumes on these headphones does the reverse effect, they sound more "correct" at lower volumes and a it's a bit harder to follow the music at higher volumes (but I suspect the amp and source I am using have some impact on this).
The next day the real test started
Overall impression: Some people will say headphones don't have much of a soundstage compared to speakers, probably due to the lack of natural ambience that effects vibrations after they have left the speakers and possibly also due to the feeling of the sound being in the middle of your head. Having said that, I was suprised by the openess of the sound, I am not going to exagerate and say these headphones sound like a live concert but I did find a very good positioning and seperation of instruments and very clear detail across the whole frequency spectrum and didn't require any sort of crossfeed for my ears.
High's: Before I aquired these cans I was weary/prepared of some grainy treble mentioned in other reviews but I did not experience this effect at all. Regardless of figures and graghs, I thought the treble was spot on where it should be, the treble is very responsive and true to the recording and like you probably guessed, you can hear the fingers moving on the guitar strings easier than you normally would. BEWARE THE "S" PROBLEM: You may require decent amplification to control the higher frequencies as frequently (when listening for it mostly) you will hear the letter "S" as a "szz". I would be interested in other peoples experiences here. I was using a Cambridge Audio 340A amplifer for this test. After carefull listening, these headphones don't seem to add gain to the high frequencies, they are just very good at bringing out whats available and the advantage here is they really clean up some of the softness in older music too.
Mid's: Main thing to say here really is the bass drum is in no way harsh, just right, equal qualities as the treble here and provides a great lead-in for the treble - great in acoustic music. No distortion in male or female voices, very accurate and controlled is the best way to describe this. Drum rolls are really clear here!
Low's: Another area I was uncertain about with mixed reviews saying the opposite either way. I will admit the bass at first will disapoint you if you are used to headphones with bass boost buttons but the weight of the whole sound in these headphones will grow on you until you find yourself prefering this far more. I wasn't too shocked here as my speakers have a similar sound too them. The bass is really deep and precise, the best way to describe it is that you can hear when the bass guitar shifts pitch without intentionally listening to the bass at all. These headphones don't lack bass in my opinion however, if you listen to metal, it will still blow you away and it feels almost like there is a subwoofer (Quiet one of corse) present from the tone that the bass area has. This area has alot of personal preference but if you like alot of acoustic or generally music with well recorded real instruments then it will at least sound "fine" to you. If you listen to pop, r&b, trace, house and so on, then the bass doesn't sound very good at all, probably due to the boosted/synthasied and unnatural feel the low frequencies in this music has, of course, this is just my opinion and could be due to my sources and configuration.
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- Unfortunately in this review I could not provide an extensive comparison with another set of headphones. Other headphones I own are Sennheiser PC160's and some Panasonic wireless headphones but I have listened to a great variety which I don't own.
- The last thing you want to do with these very dynamic headphones is EQ them as they will sound soft and flat from doing so through my testing.
- You can drive these headphones at very loud volumes straight from an iPod!
- Thats the end of my simple review, if you have any questions regarding the headphones or my review I will be more than happy to respond on this thead.
Peace!
Credit: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/review-grado-sr225-headphones-265497/
Grado is the kingI bumpped into Grado headphone by while wandering around at a local audiophile store many years ago, and it blew me away and I never bothered with speakers and amps since. Didn't know headphone can be this much fun! These retro looking cans are extremely neutral and faithful to the source. I've been using my SR125 at work for 7 years nonstop, they are as good as new. During which time, I stepped on the cord with the cans on my ears, dropped cans on the floor countless times. The foam ear pieces are pretty flat now. But the cans are as good as ever, with nothing going loose, disconnected or falling apart. These cans are made to last for sure.
Got myself a pair of SR325, equally fantastic. A lot more expensive than this SR125. Worth the upgrade? Probably more for my fragile ego more than anything else. I tried expensive cans of different brands, none come close.
Only downside to the Grado is your roommate will share some of your music if the volumn is high enough. After all, these are open cans, that's where the fantastic Grado sound comes from. Some says the cans pinch ears too hard over long period time of continuous listening, I completely agree. But I think the beauty and strength of these Grados are the simplicity and straightforward design and fabrication based on a ingenious and insightful idea. That idea is simply superior than other things out there. That is why you got the Grado sound at such reasonable price.
IMHO, SR125 is as good as anything out there. It's probably like this, Horse draw cart to Model T is a revolution; and so is Grado cans to everything else.
One of the best headphones ever
I am extremely happy that Amazon.com started stocking Grado products.
To audiophiles, Grado is a very big name. Grado makes some of the world's best consumer turntable catridges, and makes some of the most notoriously fun, musical headphones out there.
The Grado RS-1 headphones are the second-most expensive Grado headphones on the market now. The PS-1 is a limited-edition headphone that is very seldom-made (but it is in production currently) that contains some of the best detail, fluidity, warmth, and excitement than any other headphone. However, the RS-1s are very close to the specifications of this headphone.
The Grado Reference Series 1 is, in my opinion, the true audiophile way to ENJOY your music. Others may say that they do not like the musicality, because it has a very colored sound. Audiophiles normally know that this is not good because it doesn't "faithfully" reproduce the information on your record/CD properly. However, I don't always want to sit there and listen to the minor details of my music. Sometimes I just want to rock out and enjoy myself as much as possible, which is where the Grado RS1 headphones take the responsibility of fulfilling this for me.
The RS1 headphones at first are going to look very cheap to those who are not familiar with them. The headband is leather, but it is thin. The earcups do not surround the ear at all, they just touch them. This is a very open headphone, so outside noise will come in, and your sound will leak.
But these are all very obvious and welcome shortcomings. This leads to a very good performing headphone. While they may not be as comfortable as the Senns, they are definitely faster, more enjoyable, and contain a much more fluid sound than the Sennheiser HD650s. If you want to listen to Rock on these headphones, particularly bands from the seventies and eighties, these are the best option you will have.
Another great thing about the headphones is that they are really easy to drive without the presence of a headphone amplifier. I have experienced, however, that with my Perreaux SXH-1 amp, it really improves the sound quality. Things that the Grado sound lacks are dynamic range and midrange neutrality, but the amp was able to tone down the midrange and bass was much more dynamic than before.
If you wanna have some of the best sound quality on the planet from a name you can trust, then you will want to go with a Grado headphone. Everything from Classical to Metal sounds amazing on these headphones. They are extremely versatile, are durable even though they look like they were from WW2, and, best of all, they are some of the best sounding headophones you can buy. Male vocals, drums, wailing guitars, you name it - Grado will reproduce it faithfully.
Some albums I recommend on the Grado RS1:
Pink Floyd - The Wall
The Doors - Morison Hotel
Todd Rundgren - Something Anything
Neil Young - After the Goldrush
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Happy listening!
Absolutely Fabulous
I love these headphones. They come with the 1/4" plug, so you will need to get an adaptor to play on an Ipod. It is harder to find an adapter for 1/4" to 1/8" at any of the mass-market electronic stores. If you intend to get the Grado 325i and want to use them with an mp3 player, order Grado's adapter when you order the headphones. While they will really sound better with a headphone amplifier with an mp3 player, they actually sound very good even without. The amplifier fills out the bass and depth. It really makes a difference with almost any quality headphone, but it is not necessary with Grado all the way up to the GS1000 which sounds even better directly from the Ipod.
The sound is very forward. There is no sense of distance like being in a concert hall. You feel like you are sitting right on the stage with the musicians. They are not as comfortable as the Audio-Technica or the AKG, but if you purchase the comfort rings which fit on the outside of the earcup and fits between the earcup and your ear, they really are comfortable enough. It adds just a bit to some separation which givs you a little bit of a sense of distance.
I also really like the retro look of Grado and that they fit on the ear rather than totally surround the ear. They do not make my head or face sweat. They are also open backed headphones which gives a very nice open acoustic which I generally prefer to the closed backed headphones with the exception of the Denon headphones which are just plain wonderful.
To get to brass tacks, I cannot speak as any kind of expert, but I doubt that the Grado's are really that nuetral which is something the audio reviewers always mention. I do not think that the Grado's sound as colored as the top level Sony--the Sony 5000, but I think that John Grado has been working to achieve his personal ideal of what a very good headphone should sound like. He is imposing a certain sense of his own esthetics onto his customers. I love the way they sound. He may just be smarter than the rest of us and has the courage to say that good taste trumps "science" in setting the sound of his headphones. I do not listen to Grado headphones every day. I tend to listen to the Audio-Technica ATH-AD900 the most. To me, Grado's are like a wonderful desert. I save them for special ocassions. When I listen to the 325i or RS-2, it is always a great joy. The GS1000 is just plain over the top. I really love it. The GS1000 does not need the comfort rings. They are plenty comfortable on their own. You can also get the "comfort rings" from any Grado dealer. That is what I did. With rare exception, I have purchased all of my headphones from Amazon or Amazon Marketplace. It has been a good experience uniformly.
