Unfortunately, our options get smaller and smaller to select from in this area. Some impressions of our selection:
Sound Images (Falls Church): Used to carry Grado. Out of Business.
Sound Works (Kensington, MD): Not sure what they used to carry for headphones. Out of Business.
IQ-Audio (Fairfax - In the old Tweeter location): Carries Sennheiser 515s, Klipsch on-ear 'phones and some in-ear models. They can order almost anything. Demonstrating the headphones is a bit hard as there are no demo pairs out and available. Everything is boxed, so you'd be listening to new phones that have not been broken in.
Guitar Center (Fairfax): Has an OK selection actually. AKG, Shure, Audio-Technica, etc. No demo pairs are out to try. Basically, you can buy the headphones and try them out - with 30 days to return them if you don't like them.
Gifted Listener Audio (Centreville): Grado and I also see that they're an authorized dealer for Audio-Technica. Basically, they don't have demo phones to use. However, they will open up a box of some for you, if necessary so you can utilize your portable device or CD to demo the 'phones. They have access to Grado parts, too - pads, adapters, etc., if needed. Trying the phones out of the box can be a bit hard, because they are not broken in. You basically have to go by your judgment at the time. Gifted Listener has a "no returns" policy unless they've specified the option for you to return the item in writing at the time of purchase.
Lederers: I haven't tried them, yet. Sounds like it's worth a trip for me to see and hear what they have.
Good luck on your journey! I'm a Grado fan-boy. I have the SR325 (non "i") and a modded pair of the 225 (non "i", but are woodies) on their way to me and a pair of SR60 (non "i") that my daughter uses. If you wanted to try some of these, we could meet up somewhere to demo them, if desired.
