Is Grado evolving too slowly? - Page 6

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnmnkh 

Long story short, if you are buying anything over $300 for Grado headphones, the price/performance ratio you are getting would be worse than those of $1000+ headphones from other companies. Basically if you are buying RS series, for example, you are wasting money as much as you are buying HD800.

 

Really, only Grado you need to get is SR-60, SR-225, MS-1 (or MS-2) and that's it. Really.

 

Maybe GS-1000 ONLY IF you like classical and for some reason your ears cannot stand against Sennheiser and AKG headphones.....

Good post.  I'd be interested in trying out a modded SR-80i, but aside from that, I would not recommend going any higher than the SR-225i.

The GS-1000i is nice, but at that price, I would always opt for an HD800.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvrboy 

 

 

Other companies allow dealers to sell at a discount as products age or competitors come on the market. Well, Grado's products are very old and fare terribly against the competition, but their dealers still aren't allowed to discount. I can't even think of another company like Grado that forces their dealers to sell at exact MSRP. What does that tell you?

It tells me that you need to do a little more research before making blanket statements about overseas

markets you know little about.

Sennheiser is distributed in Australia via a company called Syntec ~ they will not allow any retailer to stock the HD800,

once an order is placed, it will be delivered for sale to the customer, a small margin (miniscule) will be passed on

to the retailer, making the whole process just a labor of love. Hence why few retailers even bother with the

HD 800 over here.

Price is fixed at $2000AUD as per it's initial release in 2009 and it will not budge.

Add to the fact that the customer if they do not have any ancillary gear they will also have to fork out another

$1200 for an amp to do it justice plus more for a decent source.

(The primary reason why people are disappointed with the HD800, they tell themselves that a Boost-a-roo

of Fiio E7 will drive them nicely. Absolutely delusional)

$4000AUD spend. Hardly call that value, I like the HD800 but I would hardly call it a bargain when you

can get a GS1000i for $1030AUD over here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stokitw 

Grado made GS-1000 which is a whole level better HD650, K702, DT990 etc. in the most demanding music genre -- classical music and enjoyed a success in business sense (which Orpheus or other "legendary" phones failed to achieve).

This simple fact opens the market for the HD800, T1, and all the others.

Yes, we better thanks Grado for not evolving too fast or we will see a $5,000 price mark for top level mass producing headphones.

 

 

Noooooooo way.

From my experience, PS-1000 did better than GS-1000 (thus one of the reasons why I have these huge metal phones in my house) for classicals, but if someone is going to buy these headphones for listening any serious classical listening I will slap his/her face hard. Because even HD595 do better for classical with much less price IMO.

I know I am going to be flamed. But really, Grado 1000 lines are like last ditch for classical lovers if they cannot stand any high-end Sennheiser/AKG or Beyer headphones. But I just cannot imagine that such person exists in the universe. 

I'll be honest about this. This thing that really bothers me is not the lack of evolution, but the obvious cheapskate moves of recent.

I remember how the wood on the RS-1 used to look and how they were packaged (I had one in the late 90s.)

In the past five years, I've purchased a used PS1000, and new GS1000 and RS2. I was disturbed with the packaging of the "TOTL" GS1000 and PS1000. And I was horrified / flabbergasted / what-the-eff-is-this-5f17 at the "new" buttonless ugly wood cups of the RS2. (I happened to get these new RS2s right when they switched, so that really pissed me off.)

If Grado wants to give customers "vintage" phones, that fine, but they should at least package and treat the wood aesthetics appropriately. I mean the Apple notebooks aren't the most high-tech in parts, but at least Apple isn't making them look more and more like Dells.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stokitw 

Grado made GS-1000 which is a whole level better HD650, K702, DT990 etc. in the most demanding music genre -- classical music and enjoyed a success in business sense (which Orpheus or other "legendary" phones failed to achieve).

This simple fact opens the market for the HD800, T1, and all the others.

Yes, we better thanks Grado for not evolving too fast or we will see a $5,000 price mark for top level mass producing headphones.

 

 

You're not serious?

Oh, I guess you are.

It's not really about which phone is better.

Sennheiser, AKG, Grado, all tried to raise the bar before but failed to be a business success.

Without the business success of GS-1000, you probably won't find Senn and Beyer jumps in with their HD800 and T1.

It is kind of funny that market actually evolves with Grado, a small workshop in Brooklyn, rather than those supposed more innovative firms.

And don't forget the fact that it takes almost two years for Senn "evolve" to HD800 level and catch up in making $1,000 phone actually profitable..

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnmnkh 

 

Noooooooo way.

 

 

From my experience, PS-1000 did better than GS-1000 (thus one of the reasons why I have these huge metal phones in my house) for classicals, but if someone is going to buy these headphones for listening any serious classical listening I will slap his/her face hard. Because even HD595 do better for classical with much less price IMO.

 

I know I am going to be flamed. But really, Grado 1000 lines are like last ditch for classical lovers if they cannot stand any high-end Sennheiser/AKG or Beyer headphones. But I just cannot imagine that such person exists in the universe. 

People like Grado for the sound, they have a specific coloration that people love. You don't love it? That's fine no one is forcing you to listen too them or buy them, spend your money on something else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteCrow 

People like Grado for the sound, they have a specific coloration that people love. You don't love it? That's fine no one is forcing you to listen too them or buy them, spend your money on something else.

Exactly, people get caught up with wanting to appreciate the most accurate reproduction of a recording.

But the ear is not a scientific instrument, it is peculiar, organic instrument. It explains why so many

spend so much only to find that their T1 or HD800 rig sounds...erm..flat.

If Grado sounds good to you, then it is.

Joy....soon this thread will turn into another battlefield between Grado haters vs Grado fans...... 

As a Grado fan, I would say that they are progressing, but yes very very slowly. My previous post was summarily dismissed by pcf. But I will stand by it.

Progress = change + success.

John Grado changed the sound signature after he took over Grado. The sound went from neutral/reference/boring to bright/harsh/very-unreference/musical. pcf consider this a change. I consider it progress.

And John didn't have to release the GS1000, the RS1 was doing fine for one whole decade. But he decided to raise the bar and engineer a sound and design that's unheard of in Grado namely huge soundstage and comfort.

FYI, my GS1000i serial # is 9724. If this is counted from the GS1000 in 2006, it's an impressive number, but if it's counted from the GS1000iii in 2009, it's even more impressive, considering it's a much maligned product here on head-fi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick01 

Joy....soon this thread will turn into another battlefield between Grado haters vs Grado fans...... 

A new Grado thread brings in the trolls like a rotting carcass..

I find that from a sound perspective, they are truly a matter of tastes.

However, what I will never understand is why they haven't made an attempt to improve the ergonomics and comfort of their headphones.

They spent all that time and passion in pursuit of a good sounding headphone and they feel like your wearing styrofoam box on your head.

With that, I haven't seen them try to appeal to a broader audience. The bright "grado" sound is a niche, and it would be nice if they could attempt to create a balanced phone that doesn't require EQ'ing to sound normal (albeit normal is also a matter of opinion)

Another observation :-

John Grado runs a family business, any research on the guy reveals him to be a family guy - hence he is not interested in audio

world domination, just enough to continue paying the bills and living the lifestyle that he chooses. He does not need to set the

world on fire to achieve this.

Try telling that to a large multinational like Sennheiser or Beyer Dynamic who's mantra is in theory - to strive for unlimited sales.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick01 

Joy....soon this thread will turn into another battlefield between Grado haters vs Grado fans...... 

 

...and I will lead you all into glorious battle!

Seriously I bet if you did this kind of thread on like Ultrasone or AKG or something, most people wouldn't even click the thread. The debate exists because they're popular, otherwise they wouldn't care.

If you don't like 'em I completely understand if you got valid reasons why, there are some glaring setbacks to Grado listening and ownership, but some people just like them because they think the cans are kinda cool as well as sounding good... for me I like hot treble, I'm not sure that at the 1000 dollar level you really should still have that, since it's just a "fun factor" thing on the lower priced cans, but hey, you like what you like.

As for cutting corners, yea wtf man, I bought an RS-2 (non-i) and I was expecting this mahogany treasure chest to come with me along with a vial of children's tears to clean my plugs with, all I got is yet another pizza, with a cute foam cutout in the shape of a Grado... they still sound good, but cmon look what Audeze gives you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwarmi 

Try telling that to a large multinational like Sennheiser or Beyer Dynamic who's mantra is in theory - to strive for unlimited sales.

You're confusing Sennheiser with Monster...

Audeze = innovative small maker like Grado that is not a family business and actually would have 'silent backers' that you don't hear about.