Well, my joe grado journey has been an interesting one to say the least. It started with the chicago meet in january, listening to dariusf's hp-2's would be the initial seed that would spark my interest and eventual awe and obsessiveness in finding my own pair. They were grados but smooth, balanced, effortless in anything you threw at it, its perfection was simply sublime...
Pairs came up here and there, but money was an issue and was never able to bite on a pair. However, about a month and a half ago, i had the opportunity to audition a pair of hp-2's from someone who as selling in chicago. I came over and listened to them - they sounded terrible! they sounded dead, unemotional, totally devoid of any musicality regardless of the technical superiority of these dynamic transducers, i was having a hard time understanding why people crave these cans and why they sounded so good at the chicago meet. I came with cash in hand to that audition more than willing to splunk down the hard earned cash and left with cash still in hand and pissed off to say the least lol
For some reason, the joe grado bug was still in me - i would still scourge the for sale forums and ebay and audiogon for a set, i was obsessed with finding a pair. Reading about the variance issues between hp-2's didn't help either, and i began to start convincing myself that i had just listened to a bad set and dariusf's was a good set, or saying how i listened to the standard cable and the reference cable would be so much better. I was on the verge of insanity and utter delusion, the dark side was consuming me and my obsession for the hp-2's was bordering in line with Darth Vader's quest to find and convert Luke to the dark side in episodes 5 and 6.
Various sets passed me by, one that went for 450, 550, and even that sub 200 on ebay(damn you xanadu). And then came the light, an angel from heaven who would cure me of my affliction - and his name was mulveling. What started as talking about his G08 turned into what else are you selling, hp-2's were brought up, and i snatched them faster than a fatboy snatches cake at a wedding reception.
They arrived today in great condition, plugged them in the HR-2 and G07, put on some Dungen "Ta Det Lungt" (an album that was hard to listen to due to the rs-1 bumps and colorations), and was shot into a realm of pure audio bliss. Bass and drum hits that are pumping in my chest, with a groove and PRAT that is eye blinking fast, an evenhandedness and smoothness across the whole spectrum that synergizes amazingly well with the G07 and HR-2, the ability to hear all of the high end extension that would rival that of Pavlov's dogs.
My joe grado quest is complete, thank you all who were a part of it.
Pairs came up here and there, but money was an issue and was never able to bite on a pair. However, about a month and a half ago, i had the opportunity to audition a pair of hp-2's from someone who as selling in chicago. I came over and listened to them - they sounded terrible! they sounded dead, unemotional, totally devoid of any musicality regardless of the technical superiority of these dynamic transducers, i was having a hard time understanding why people crave these cans and why they sounded so good at the chicago meet. I came with cash in hand to that audition more than willing to splunk down the hard earned cash and left with cash still in hand and pissed off to say the least lol
For some reason, the joe grado bug was still in me - i would still scourge the for sale forums and ebay and audiogon for a set, i was obsessed with finding a pair. Reading about the variance issues between hp-2's didn't help either, and i began to start convincing myself that i had just listened to a bad set and dariusf's was a good set, or saying how i listened to the standard cable and the reference cable would be so much better. I was on the verge of insanity and utter delusion, the dark side was consuming me and my obsession for the hp-2's was bordering in line with Darth Vader's quest to find and convert Luke to the dark side in episodes 5 and 6.
Various sets passed me by, one that went for 450, 550, and even that sub 200 on ebay(damn you xanadu). And then came the light, an angel from heaven who would cure me of my affliction - and his name was mulveling. What started as talking about his G08 turned into what else are you selling, hp-2's were brought up, and i snatched them faster than a fatboy snatches cake at a wedding reception.
They arrived today in great condition, plugged them in the HR-2 and G07, put on some Dungen "Ta Det Lungt" (an album that was hard to listen to due to the rs-1 bumps and colorations), and was shot into a realm of pure audio bliss. Bass and drum hits that are pumping in my chest, with a groove and PRAT that is eye blinking fast, an evenhandedness and smoothness across the whole spectrum that synergizes amazingly well with the G07 and HR-2, the ability to hear all of the high end extension that would rival that of Pavlov's dogs.
My joe grado quest is complete, thank you all who were a part of it.
Enjoy!
