Why Grados are rather low rated by HeadRoom?

Dunno. I can understand the rs1 rating though, $700 retail isn't too good of a p-to-p ratio. If it was like $300ish, the rs1 would probably sell like hotcakes.

After a long break from Grados, I returrned to them after listening mainly on Sennheiser 650's and Beyer DT880.

I found them lacking in real depth of sound in comparison (although I was only listening to the Grado 60 and 80) There is a real clarity there but there is definitely something missing at the bottom end imo.

They make a nice change in comparison to the Sennheisers sound and are great for listening to radio speech. Sometimes the Sennheisers sound a bit 'boomy' on BBC radio voices but the Grados lose that and the forward treble content really helps clarity.

Ian

in regards to sound stage, neutrality, build quality, its difficult for Grados to maintain the QC other companies have. Grados are so incredibly colored, it was highly distracting for me. The top end is greatly unbalanced compared to the rest of the frequency range. To say the highs were 4 times higher in then the mids and low, that would be an understatement.

Understandably, Grados are a small family owned company, but when I first got my sr-80s, I was like "So these are what fancy cans are like?" Then I got the akg 240s which were considerably cheaper and realized they blew away the sr 80s in terms of clarity, neutrality and build quality was on a whole different level.

Then I got the senns and once again noticed higher quality with the senns.
These cans seemed to exhibit better driver matching then the Grados and much more comfortable.

Then I tried on some Beyers, and once agian had the same experience.

I personally agree with the ratings. Though I do consider that they are small thus must meet higher over head costs. But in regards to just quality in assembly and sound performance. I would not rate them too highly. If they were to bump up the build quality, I think that would be great.

Headroom is not a big fan of those Grados Pair that with the value pricing scale, and you end up with those numbers. Cest la Vie!

They have genuine first-listen appeal. Live with them though, and the lustre soon fades as you discover that they don't actually have much depth beyond the initial 'wow' to offer in comparison to the European (and even some Japanese) competition. Fun but rather superficial, as well as being badly underengineered, especially at the higher end where there is serious competition these days.


The only headphones truly worth buying in the Grado range IMO are the SR60/80. I'm sure Headroom's scores reflect other factors (they are a business after all) but in terms of the Grados I have owned, I have an even lower perception of their value than Headroom due to the prices charged for them on the UK.


If the U.S. secondhand prices for Grados that I have bought were the new retail, they would be generally more recommendable.

As someone who owns and enjoys both HD600s (with cardas cable) and SR225s, I feel the need to present another point of view here, at least about the sound characteristics of Grado cans. Build quality is another story, but one that's less important to me than sound quality. While I understand why some people feel that Grados are too bright and lack depth--in fact, I felt that way myself for quite some time--I've come to hear things very differently in recent months.

First, the Grado sound changed dramatically for me when I reversed the bowls. This took away some of the extra shrillness and added considerable bass. Second, once I got Millet hybrid amp, the Grado truly shone. Not only is their treble detail and ability to portray texture obviously superior to that of the Senns (which was always the case), but they have a kind of glorious, very liquidy midrange that really defines "audio heaven" for me with many recordings (Sarah MacLachlan's "Fumbling Toward Ecstasy" is a particularly good example of this). The Senns sound much "drier," and I use them mainly to tame extra thin, trebly recordings (REM's "Automatic for the People" is a good example of a great HD600 listen).

Personally, I think the 225s (and presumably the HF version as well) are a HUGE audio value--for me they sound better than the HD600s on most recordings (especially the richer-sounding ones), but cost a fraction of the Senns's price (particularly when the HD600s were still current). While I respect and value the opinions of those who disagree, I do wish people would be a bit more relativistic when they make pronouncements about value.

Actually, I'm seriously considering taking the big jump to the RS1s, in spite of the frightening price tag. If they are even a little bit richer sounding (to me) than the already-lush 225s, it would probably be worth it!

Oh, they most certainly are

I do agree with HeadRoom's ratings, to a point. Sure, there are better "bang for the buck" headphones in the traditional technical sense (ex:flatter eq), and the Grado sound just doesn't appeal to everyone. But for those who love the Grado sound, no other can compares. Also, the Grado sound isn't good for every Genre like the HD600/650/DT880/etc. I just cannot bring myself to listen to any classical music with the RS-1, the strings can be too bright, and the soundstage just doesn't work with most recordings. Some other high-end cans are a decent headphone for any music taste. IMO.

To answer OP: These are value ratings. Grados are great, but overpriced.

I think it's funny that they say "but their SR60 is the best sub-$100 headphone." but they only rated it 4.5 and others for around the same price are rated 5's.....

I think it's because of the comfort issue.

It's been established that headroom is biased. Big deal, it's their company and they can rate headphones however they wish. Basically, they think the price-to-performace ratio of a lot of the Grados is poor. To be honest, my SR-80's and HF-1's pretty much hold up to the prices I paid for them, but that's my opinion.

Because they are telling the truth?

I keed I keed.

Grados are the best headphones in the world.






For me to poop on!

-Ed

Who cares? I for one would take any "value rating" provided by a commerical entity as being open to bias for any number of business as well as personal reasons.

Oh man LOL! When reading your post I perfectly heard in my mind the pause and then Triumph's voice saying that .