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Do I need an amp for Grado Sr125's?

post #1 of 10
2/14/07 at 3:04am
Thread Starter 
Hello all,

After discovering this forum, I immediately picked up a Chaintech AV-710 card from newegg so I could say goodbye to my crappy onboard sound. My question is, is it necessary to buy an amp for these cans? I have had the sr125's for about 2 years now, and have listened to them with my powerbook, ipod, and pc, and have always thought they sounded great through the powerbook and ipod. The question is, am I missing out on way better sound without an amp? If so, what are the best matches for these particular cans? Would love to spend under $100 if it was worth it.

Thanks again!
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post #2 of 10
2/14/07 at 6:09am
I don't believe you need an amp for these. I had a pair of the same Grados for ages and listened mostly out of a portable cd player. The sound was big, and the bass was miles better than anything else out of similar devices. I did get a lot of kicks out of the old Creek OBH-11 amp. When used with the appropriate regulated power supply, the sound was clean and tame, but still punchy and involving.
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post #3 of 10
2/14/07 at 6:45am
You don't need it, but it'd be nice to have I'm sure.

Past a certain line there is no 'better' sound anyway, just different.
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post #4 of 10
2/14/07 at 11:26pm
I loved what my PA2V2 and Go-Vibe do for the lower end Grados. Both warm it up and make the bass very punchy.
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post #5 of 10
2/14/07 at 11:55pm
Forget the amp. The MS1 is similar to your SR125 and it didn't make any appreciable difference in sound quality when amped. Any money that would have been spent buying an amp to make the SR125 sound a little bit better could be used to upgrade your SR125 to a SR225 or SR325i, which would bring a greater leap in sound quality.
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post #6 of 10
2/15/07 at 6:31pm
Thread Starter 
thanks so much for all the feedback, much appreciated!
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post #7 of 10
2/16/07 at 2:18am
Hello the house!

I recently made the jump from SR60s to SR225s and I must say I am enjoying the music even more. My son is now listening to his music via the 60s, and is quite contented, I can assure you.

That said, I am considering the purchase of an amp (most likely a HeadRoom Micro, but I am open to further research). And even if I do not get one (perish the thought! ), I shall continue to enjoy listening to music from my iPod and my Music Hall radio (Jazz 88.3 in San Diego) through the Grados.

In all honesty, the addition of a quality amplifier would simply be the icing on the cake. But...

Plain cake is still cake. Which is to say, wonder full.

Enjoy yours.

The Toad
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post #8 of 10
2/16/07 at 11:46am
QUOTE am I missing out on way better sound without an amp?

Remember the with regard to amplification the ideal is to strive for is stright wire with gain. I like to keep my path as simple as possible which means no amp in the way unless you need it. The Grados are efficient and work well with the amp you have now. Unless you want to go to a tube amp which is more money, I think the sound quality to an opamp based headphone amp will be a sideways step...different but not much better for all the effort.
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post #9 of 10
2/16/07 at 7:58pm
I personally have an SR-125. Running it off an amp, even a CMOY, made a big difference when driven both by my ipod and onboard sound. The bass performance is significantly improved as well as slight improvements overall.
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post #10 of 10
2/16/07 at 9:13pm
Need an amp, probably not (read the specs to be at 32 ohms like the SR60/80's). Want an amp, why surely.
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