The Official Grado 325i Owners Club. - Page 18

Something bad happened few days ago.....
I was just lifting my 325i from the box and suddenly the left driver fell off !!!
It was dettached from the head band. You know where the housing is attached to the headband via just one metal stick. Thats the spot where it came off ..... i was so shocked.... Wonder how did that happened because i am pretty sure that i didnt pull the cable, or put any pressure on it..

Anyone experienced this before ?

X2

I bet you were shocked too when it first happened
Will glue it when it falls out again.....lets hope not

if anyone is interested in what recabled 325i's sound like.. mine are for sale

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=242062

Scarry.....I just jumped to this thread to ask if anyone had recabled their
325i's and BAM, there's your post.

My question is, If you've recabled your 325i's was there an improvement and if so, did it justify the dollars spent. I know there are different quality cables so that would have to play into the equation. So if you did recable were the replacements in the low, medium or high price range.

actually the owner before me did. From what i've heard from him and from cantsleep, it tones down the harsh high's and increases resolution and details. im pretty sure they are recabled with cardas.

wanna buy them? ;-P

Honestly, i love them and wish i could afford those RS-1's without having to sell these

edit: double post :-/

#4103 checking in

For over a decade I've been an SR60 fan. Two weeks ago I decided, out of sheer curiosity, to find out what an upgrade might sound like, even though I'd long figured the 60s couldn't be surpassed in my open-backed headphone needs. (I also own the Shure e500's, or whatever they're calling them, these days.) So I found myself in a local Seattle dealer, Experience Audio, where I happily bought the 125s, even as I saw from the corner of my eye the golden glint of the 325i's.

Well, I adored the 125s; from the 60s, and even from the e500s, it was the difference between listening to "just a song" or "just some music" and hearing a professional recording. So entranced was I that within days I had to know what the 325i's sounded like.

Even though the proprietor of the shop I'd been to was out of town on a family emergency, he still answered the v-mail I left him and arranged for his friend to meet at the store to make the purchase (for which I am quite grateful -- even in a populous area like Seattle/Tacoma, it's the rare Grado dealer that has the 325i's actually in stock).

I don't know if I can adequately articulate how impressed I am by this pimpin'-gold rig even straight outta the box (I call 'em my "gold bugs"). They are every bit the leap from the 125s as the 125s were from the 60s; it's like having a bitchin' pair of high-end speakers tethered to your head, as opposed to merely wearing headphones. The detail is amazing, the mids liquid, the highs pronounced but refined, like seeing the Milky Way band in the country sky when previously you’d only seen the night sky from the lighted city (although I’d somewhat gotten this with the 125s, also). And the bass is what I loved about the 60s but taken to the next level; more of a tectonic rumble than a thumpy-punch, a supporting character played by a veteran character actor, refusing to hog the spotlight but lifting the rest of the cast with its performance nonetheless. While I do consider myself something of a basshead with lesser models, these leave me wanting for nothing.

Can I go on? Yes, I can! Listening to these babies at a moderate volume level is like driving a Ferrari at 65 mph; you know there’s plenty of power left to really open things up, but then that would tilt toward the irresponsible. The 325i’s perform at sub-earsplitting levels with an assured breathlessness while delivering a level of detail that almost leaves me breathless. Case in point regarding the detail: heretofore, I had not realized that the opening swoopy “buzz” of the first 20 seconds of NIN’s “A Warm Place” from The Downward Spiral included background voices. But with the 325i’s, I can hear the vocals in spades.

I think the thing that really floors me about these cans is that they can deliver a level of detail and articulateness for critical listening even better than my e500s, yet include a healthy dollop of forwardness and fun and, yes, sheer poetry that lifts them far above the description of monitors, even though they could be used as such quite ably.

So far as gear, my setup is rather humble. A 5thG 80g iPod mated with – settle down, now – one of those Wow Thing boxes the folks at SRS Audio had put out some 6 or 7 years ago. Why such a meager setup? Well, I’m about 3/4s deaf in one ear, and the surround sound psychoacoustics of the SRS technology not only fills out the stereo field for me, but actually gives me the illusion of near-full stereo hearing, a particularly handy effect for my collection of 60s music. Instead of hearing instrumentation in my good ear and only garbled vocals in my bad ear during, say, “Eleanor Rigby,” the Wow Thing convinces my brain I can hear the Paul’s voice and vocals plain as day. Not as fancy as other rigs (I’ve tried the Total Airhead with its crossfeed in the past, but it wasn’t as engaging as I’d hoped), but it makes me happy, and I can still hear what a stellar set of cans the 325i’s be.

So far as burn in – well, I’ve played these things for about 8-12 hours a day for close to 3 days now, and I think they’re settling in. (I notice that Ultrasone, which markets to the professional, has suggested burn-in times of 12-48 hours, depending on the model.) These are, with no reservation, my cans of choice.

Nice impressions

You mention how they handle high volumes well, I've noticed this too. Just the other day I had the urge to really crank my 325i using my 5.5 G ipod amped with my AE-2. I was amazed at how clean they sounded at high volume, well over 100 dB (only for a few seconds). I don't recall any of my other headphones remaining so clean sounding at such high volumes. Also to contrast this, at very low volumes they deliver great detail.

They were sold to me as new. As I say, trying to find a shop that stocks these in Pugetopolis is put-near impossible, so it could very well be only a handful a year are sold out here, and the small-volume dealer I purchased them from (he usually requires his shoppers schedule appointments) had these collecting dust in their box for howevermany months/years it's been since this pair was made. The only possible sign of wear I can detect on these is just a smidgeon of the gold lettering on the housing having been worn off, but being as I can also see machine marks on both the metal housing and the ring of plastic the cushions fit over, I suspect they came out of the shop with this imperfection (do these cans scream "small batch," or what?).

Yes, I forgot to mention this -- the 325i's ability to sound rich and detailed at low volumes is a huge plus for me, as it allows me to use them at the office at low levels to hear my phone ring or someone try to get my attention, and yet the music still has the requisite amount of presence and life for me to thoroughly enjoy my tunes.

Oh, and let me add -- I've tried the tape mod to the exterior of the cushions, only instead of using adhesive all round their circumference, I cut strips of paper the exact width of the cushions and wrapped the strips around them. The result was something that blocked the airflow but was a cinch to remove and replace. And for those who want more punch from their Grados, this mod certainly does the trick! I totally felt like I was either in a club, or had a pair of subwoofers strapped to my ears. I did notice some tonal differences and distortion, but the 325i’s amazing detail was still present. Ultimately, I can’t see myself using this mod, as it too much changes the Grados’ bass’s intended earthy rumbliness, but I can see where others would appreciate this mod.

My pair is #6074. Received them from HeadRoom 5/23/07. Even with less than 30hrs burn in they're doing everything I want them to do: They're a clear, bright window to the music, very dynamic and surprisingly comfortable- sometimes I even forget I have them on. Thank you John, Headfi and HeadRoom for making me smile even as you lighten my wallet.

Does anyone else own the SR-80s? If so, have you noticed a "veil" when comparing them to the 325is? It's not a Sennheiser veil by any stretch of the imagination, but I could swear I can hear a very thin wall of rice paper compared to the 325s. Man...these things are so crisp. I was thinking about moving up to the RS-2s shortly, but I understand they have less detail. I'm not sure I want to give that up!

#1562 is in a Fed Ex box somewhere between Boise and Tampa Bay!