Grado science and oddities

Grado stuff for the most part, again. -- Link to the Grado factory!: http://www.gradolabs.com/page_tour.php

41 - 80 of 276 photos

The foam when the headphone stood inside its box for 20 years. You can see the pattern of color bleeding, the pads (never changed), the cable, and the headband also.

Where there is black.

May 14, 2012

May 15, 2012

When you send a headphone to Grado labs, this is was comes back to you.

May 14, 2012

"Wet" metal HP1 (it's more reflective of the light, looks like a mirror almost, this is in contrast with the "matte" or "not wet" finish). If you go in my Grado documentation album you can read that Joseph mentions it somewhere as a note: that the special alloy will adopt that "etched or mottled" look on the surface, and that it is totally normal. He also tells you that it isn't just aluminum being used, but a special anti-resonant alloy including many other metals.

May 14, 2012

The first finish for the PS1000, in my opinion the best looking. Half chrome and half matte.

Wet.

May 15, 2012

Older Grado flats, the 8 cuttings around the hole are not as "punched looking"... according to Joseph Grado thesse pads were superior to the newer flats. No one never really agrees on that subject actually.

Although the flat pads"i" Joseph just started producing (and maybe LFF's tentative to copy them) are a noteworthy and definitive improvement!

May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012

Jude with Grados, I don't think I will ever see this again. Definitely an Oddity, lol.

Nevermind I found his 2007 portable rig, he was using HP1 lol! It's in the photo gallery.

May 14, 2012

Golden PS-1000, I think they were made like this at Grado Labs, and are not the result of a mod.

Fujiya Avic Hi-Fi headphone festival, winter 2011-2012.

May 15, 2012

This "looks" like an official product, same hardware used, AC socket, it's basically a Grado RA-1 with an integrated phono stage. No idea where is the power switch though.

It could be a fake (and it probably is), I don't think Grado would sell that with a Motorola new old stock power supply.

We would have heard of it too.

May 15, 2012

This looks like an official product, a RA-1 with an integrated phono stage (2) but we need to keep in mind it could also be just a nice Chinese clone.

May 15, 2012

SR something with (black lettered) HP-1000 drivers and old SR325 cup.

May 15, 2012

Very unusual and rare (the only one I'm aware of, maybe it's a mod?) locking screw for Maxfazer's HP1.

May 15, 2012

HP1-2 or -3 with JOHN GRADO DRIVERS... I hope you will notice it if you one day you see it on eBay. It's a scam, the HP-1000 is genuinely rarer and that's the reason why you're paying and why you want these headphones.

May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012

$Wood. If you, like me, ever wondered which part of the tree was being used to go into a headphone or into custom wooden cups, here's your answer. All of it, but you only get to keep a small fraction of it in the end! :/$

May 15, 2012

The one on the left looks older and/or more beaten up. There seem to be a puck in the dome, which is really bad for the sound, lol.

May 15, 2012

Matte/satin finish for the PS1000, the second finish for it.

May 15, 2012

Powder finish, the latest and current finish for the PS500 and the SR325is.

May 15, 2012

Gold PS1000, worn. (It's the same one that earlier in the album, Fujiya Avic Hi-Fi headphone festival, winter 2011-2012 edition)

May 15, 2012

A good view of a naked PS-1000, not an oddity really.

May 15, 2012

Damaged but functional HP-1000 cable entry.

May 15, 2012

Broken voice coil on a modder's John Grado driver, not functional, lol. Grado drivers are poorly designed to be re-/cabled because the soldering contacts with the voice coil are held onto the back of the driver with glue; if you melt that glue with the heat of the soldering and accidentally lift the soldering contacts at the same time, you'll tear your voice coil with absolutely no resistance, and you'll be done... ***no actually it's kind of repairable, this user has done it successfully and there's also thread of some guy with a DT880 fully repairing his voice coil too, after a similar incident.

May 15, 2012

Bent inward headband (not the stock arc shape), owner had a small head :P lol

May 15, 2012

Gold lettering black SR325 from this thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/549243/vintage-black-grado-sr325-gold-lettering-review-vs-vintage-sr125-rs1

May 15, 2012

Magnums stock drivers. Black plastic, black screen. VERY MUCH the same geometry as the current Grados.

May 15, 2012

Partially clogged HP-1000 driver (right hand side, labeled left cup, bottom right hole). This is not really an issue, my own HP-1 has something very similar and it doesn't change much in the sound.

May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012

May 15, 2012

(3/4)

John Grado's on the left, Joseph Grado's on the right

Jun 26, 2012

May 15, 2012

(4/4)

John Grado's on the left, Joseph Grado's on the right

Jun 26, 2012

John vs Joseph Grado drivers. (left, right, respectively)

May 15, 2012

The voice coil, with the magnet under it

May 15, 2012

One of the rarer and more recent PS-1 with square gimbal cut outs for the cable (usually they are rounded!)

May 15, 2012

Has been sold for very much nothing (800 dollars) on CanuckAudioMart as "Consignment", I think it is one of the headphones used by the actresses Rachael Leigh Cook (as Josie McCoy), Rosario Dawson (as Valerie Brown), Tara Reid (Melody Valentine) in a scene for the movie Josie and the Pussycats (2001)... I will show you the picture in this album later.

I think so because of the way the rodblock have been rotated, to show the screws on the sides rather than on the back. This is how all three headphones were set in the movie, I think the purpose was just to create a more "geeky" or "headphonish" look.

No serious user would ever have a reason to do such a modification... even just a soft mod. They come out of the factory perfectly aligned already. Doing this is useless and unergonomical, but it adds to the look when the headphones are to be seen in movie! Continue surfing my album you'll see... image is lost somewhere else in my computer.

Also notice the "card" under the cable, it looks like a publicity Grado made for the people who borrowed three of their HP-1000 headphones. I've never seen any other.

Also the cable is rolled up almost foolishly, no respectable owner would ever do this to his ultra-high-end headphone... comforting my hypothesis that this was all made by a non-HP-1000 owner, and actually just a movie director of photography or something in the likes.

May 15, 2012

Pre- and after the "i" upgrade of Grado's line-up.

May 15, 2012

Comments (7)

devouringone3 5/15/12 at 10:08pm

Hey guys I've been trying like crazy to re-order these pictures properly, it's hardly doable... maybe there is too much pictures, or the Head-Fi Gallery system isn't mature enough. Maybe it's because of the traffic, let me try another day... this album photo would do great with some order in it.

Benny-x 5/21/12 at 1:20am

"So most head-di'ers aren't audiophiles", awesome. Nice pictures by the way, it's fun to see what stuff someone else in the same hobby finds around the internet that they think is interesting. I liked most of them.

devouringone3 5/21/12 at 11:47am

Yeah I find that stuff thoroughly interesting, lol. Even though any non Head-Fier would find absolutely nothing in these pictures other than rubber, wood, plastic and metal.
I don't remember saying that "most head-fi'ers aren't audiophiles"?
Although some people do think audiophile is a derogatory term.

Benny-x 5/21/12 at 7:02pm

Yeah, anyone else wouldn't find anything in them, besides maybe some strange Asian girls wearing giant gold headphones...
As for the Audiophile thing, it's in one of the pictures you have. It's a comment by some guy who's avatar looks like a peashooting-plant from Plants vs. Zombies. It was funny. As for it being derogatory, I don;t find it to be. I suppose some people could, but I just think of it as a technical term for anyone interested in audio to this degree :-) When I talk about it though, I always say I'm just really into music and components ;-)

devouringone3 5/21/12 at 7:12pm

Yeah me too lol... I say that I have headphones that are "good sounding".
On AnythingButiPod.com forums the term "audiophile" is highly frown upon because it makes them think of the guy from Head-Fi who listens to cables and headphones, but not the music. Music is a pretext to listen to headphones, instead of the contrary, but I don't think such a thing really exist. Everyone here try to honor their music, and buy gear because they like it and want it to make the best out of it.
Hey, people change their avatar, lol, I'll try to browse my pictures to find the comment in question but you should tell me on which image he did it ;) instead.

Benny-x 5/21/12 at 7:24pm

Haha, I didn't know that. I'm not a member over there, but I do visit from time to time when I can get some info they have. As for that definition, I can understand how people come to that conclusion, there's a lot of gear-traders here that cycle through gear so often that I can't see how they enjoy any music they're hearing. But at the same time, I wish I could have heard some of the stuff they've listened with :-p But yeah, like you said, most people are just trying to make their stuff sound as good as they can so that they can enjoy it :-)
As for the picture, it's one of a member called "Bellsprout", so maybe a Pokemon or Digimon character? Anyway, here's the link, http://www.head-fi.org/gallery/image/view/album/649542/id/607036/sort/display_order . It's also photo 203 if that doesn't work.

devouringone3 5/21/12 at 7:31pm

OH YEAH, LOL, THAT! :P The joke was mostly about the Bellsprout Pokémon hahaha. Actually I did not even got to remember that thread until you got me reading the text in the photo. I first though you were relating to a commentary made about one of the picture in my album. Yeah that thing looks like the plants-defender in Plants vs. Zombies ;) except Pokémon came like 10 years before :P.
The thread in question, http://www.head-fi.org/t/606277/audiophile-not-a-music-lover, in the first post, has a link to Ken Rockwell's opinion about audiophiles, and it's definitely one of the nastiest around, lol. Actually it tarnished the word a bit for me, after a read of the article.
Thanks for clarifying this small issue lol