[tlainhart]

It's ok, calm down, my post was at least as much about pointing out how bizarre it is that people jokingly identify as addicts in need of help as it was about the shortcomings of John era Grados (and yes, I've heard and owned quite a few which aren't listed in my profile). You'll see a lot of this sort of furious fandom on head-fi where a headphone,or headphone brand, become almost a part of someone's identity. The cognitive dissonance of realizing that one is prone to this sort of cheerleading and rampant consumerism is dealt with by joking that one is a "insert brand here"-aholic, while others quip about being sorry for one's wallet. It can get a little ghastly, especially when you realize that a newbie to the scene can randomly pick out any one of the hundreds of high-end headphone models currently on the market, find the corresponding Head-Fi appreciation thread through a google search (props to SEO), and proceed to heed suggestions that whatever they don't like about the Grado sound will be fixed by jumping to the next/new model.

I hope you can see how that might not be the most efficient way to go about things for the prospective newbie. I know I've wasted thousands of dollars on utterly crap headphones because of Head-Fi before sampling enough brands, attending enough meets and reading enough content to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. And hey, if you disagree with my assessment then no biggie, I'm glad you like your headphone. But if we're gonna go down the self-aware route of joking about our onanistic brand obsessions, then why not push the hypothetical to its conclusion? If one really thinks that one is a Gradoholic, even jokingly, then maybe jotting down a list of what one likes and dislikes about the headphone (& brand) might be useful. At the very least it might inspire one to take being a headphone fan less seriously, which would at least have the added benefit of possibly giving one's wallet some reprieve. It could even provide Grado feedback about some things that their customers agree to not like about their headphones, which might lead to better products. Finally it could, just maybe, inspire one to buy a non-Grado headphone to see if there are merits to other approaches, whether to replace or complement one's current selection.

So I hope this wasn't too insulting or too tongue in cheek. After all, neither one of us would waste our times writing the responses we did if we didn't care.

Your original post was well done, as Is this follow-up. This coming from a fan of Grado products.

 

[HungryPanda]

maybe jokes aren't allowed for "serious" headphone people

 

[ruhenheiM]

  maybe jokes aren't allowed for "serious" headphone people

that's good tom.that's the first step to get better.admit and accept you had problem.that's okay.keep up the good work

 

[HungryPanda]

Thanks ruhenheiM, looks like I have got me a sponsor

 

[eserafinojr]

Amazing just the other day how nice and pleasant this thread was....
 
My big beef with the post is how overly preachy and I'm better than you vibe because I've "graduated" Grado products.
 
It's the place where we talk about our Grados past and present. Not a place where people go to find out about alternatives or other suggestions because theres a million other threads for that exact thing.
 
I own and have owned lots of different headphones besides Grado and I still love my Grados as do I my other headphones for different reasons.
 
I'm not gonna over analyze it, I just like them.
 
We are plenty aware of alternatives brands and different sounds.
 
There is nothing wrong with having a passion or affinity for a particular brand, even jokingly but still.
 
If it sounds good to you isn't all that matters? Isn't that the point of all this?
 
Also one should never feel like they've been told what to buy by Head-Fi. Nobody is forcing you to do anything.
 
Nobody should be judged for how they spent their money, this is an enthusiast forum.
 
Quote:

  maybe jokes aren't allowed for "serious" headphone people

 
I mean really... 

 

[joseph69]

Grados sit at the top of musical SQ for me and have and always will. I've heard (in home) a very good share of the current TOTL HP's out there costing $3K-5K+ that hold nothing on Grado SQ.

 

[trellus]

I'm pretty sure my ears aren't discerning enough to be able to tell the difference between a "TOTL" headphone and just ones that perform sufficiently well enough to bring me oodles of enjoyment, which of course is their primary function.

That being said, there are some specific circumstances which drive me to pick up something other than Grado headphones:

1. I need isolation and/or not to have little speakers beaming my music out, or
2. I am craving a dark, bass-heavy sound, or
3. I need in-ears for one reason or another (I have no Grado in-ears and in general prefer headphones), or
4. I have some other new headphones so they are simply heavier in rotation.

However, Grado's to my ears have a unique, exciting sound, so I can't imagine never having at least one pair of Grado headphones.

 

[BlendedTwice]

Righto! Love my Grado headphones! I also love my Focal Elear, and my Bower's Loudspeakers. Each in it's place. I am personally part of this fan club for two reasons:
A) Grado produced the first "quality" headphone I ever owned.
B) I still often prefer my RS2e to much heavier priced options. The soundstage in my head is beautiful. The fit of the hp is alive. The actual presence of the Grado is visceral. These are classic cans. These are in the moment, embrace the music, love of life headphones. Built to spec, made to last, rich embodiments of the musical experience. In my opinion: Grado makes World Class High Fidelity experience, and that goes way beyond the scope of just a headphone.
Cheers.

 

[ruhenheiM]

  Thanks ruhenheiM, looks like I have got me a sponsor

 
feel free to share your story tom.this is a safe place
 
Hi everyone.my name is steven. i'm gradoholic. So my first encounter with grado when i was in high  school.actually it was long time before that.so when i was in junior high i started to get into music.i used to just this kid, you know.at park playing with stick.just running around.walk.look around.jump around.watching cartoon.reading comic.play sport.i never touch music. so when i was in junior high. My friend start introduce me with some music.i know. cliche ****.i should just said no. so i listen to it, some music. It was okay, not my thing though. I remember in this time, i got hook with this new kind of drugs called counter strike version 1.3 and age of empire 2. man. it was a good ****. 
 
 
And then somehow, at some point of my life. I was helping my mother to cleaning up the house.take a look at garage all that. And i found a walkman. I think it was AIWA. It was great. I start listening to radio.some cassettes.it was all right.but i still not getting the addicted part.i was still this normal kid. At home i'm with this walkman. At school i'm still just that boy playing in park.until...at the last year of my junior high.i listen to this slipknot on radio. i was... what the hell is this ****.who the hell listen to this kind of thing. i just not into that kind of music. until much later on...i discovered this Mtv, VH1 on tv. Again i was this cartoon kinda kids. Anime, western cartoons. animaniacs, tom and jerry, looney tunes, flintstone,felix the cats,disney etc that was my thing.
 
 
So in this Mtv...i saw linkin park.crawling. i bought the cassette. It was hybrid theory.man, what an album. and then i started regularly watch mtv and tune in on radio. limp bizkit chocolate starfish.korn with here to stay.red hot chilli pepper by the way.cake i'll survive.placebo every you every me. marlyn manson mobscene. eminem cleanin out my closet. mudvayne not fallin. system of down toxicity.nirvana smell of teen spirit.foo fighter learn to fly.papa roach last resort.and many more.i was like. what is this sound!?!?! Before i knew it. I was hook with music. i should have said no in the first place, kids when someone offer you something just say no...or yes... who knew what you're going to ended up with. Now everyday i listen to music. Before i just this pop music, old stuff, opera, orchestra kind of ****, maybe also some jazz... i don't know, i wasn't aware how many music genre out there, at that time, to my knowledge, everything just music. It was okay listening experience. But i rather spend time reading comics and playing game. But this "new sound", just made me listen to music everyday. And one day. I just woke up in the morning, it still dark... turn on the tv. It was mtv channel. slipknot spit it out just start playing with some mask dude riding tricycle. After the song...i was like this is a great **** song. And then i turn the tv off and back to sleep right away.( my very first cassette that i bought with my own money was the beatles greatest hits with red as their background colour and something at the front as the cover of the album )
 
few hours later, when i woke up. I was like...pretty sure i listen to some music before. And then few days later. I met my friend he was putting some cassette on tapes. And the spit it out song played. I immediately borrowed the cassette. if you consider took the cassette and running away from him and yelled i'll give it back while he chased you down and screaming at you as "borrow" then yes i borrow it. I listened to it all day. But i just don't get it. i like spit it out.but the rest. not sure what to listen here. And then i fell asleep with slipknot music still playing and the headphone still on my head. when i woke up i was a new guy. Im changed. Now i understand why people listen to this music. I understand why people like music. "you could change world with music",this happened in my last year at junior high. fast forward to when i entered senior high school.
 
I bought a discman because my walkman start showing some problems. plus cds kinda futuristic. So i start buying cds. Start exploring any kind of music. Mostly nu metal. Everytime i'm always with discman. But it started getting annoying, because everyday i had to pick which cds i have to brought with me to listen. And then i saw apple ipod, the third generation. But it was hard to get in my country, i'm from Indonesia. And then i encountered Iriver at some stores. It was iriver H10 5gb. I bought that in my second year of high school. Its coming with Sennheiser MX400. It was an okay earphone. I started converting all the cds into this mp3 320kbps. The sound kinda **** but hey, at least now i could have multiplce cds on this one device. Now at this point i started to buy what hi fi magazine.stuff magazine.pretty much gadget or audio/video magazine. mostly those two. and fhm because i'm pervert but that's okay. And i saw sennheiser px100. The MX400 earphone sounds okay. But i want better. Maybe headphone from same company probably sound better. So i bought it. It was all right. kinda boomy bass actually, but its better than mx400. and it's kinda cool. You could fold it. first time i see that feature on headphone. I listen music through that system. My world was beautiful, i still reading comic,watch cartoon,play game, but now it felt complete with music.
 
 
Now i graduated from high school. entered university. I still using iriver h10 + sennheiser px100. Bought a laptop. And i got a lot of questions about the headphone and the player from the people i met in university. Because at that time, it wasn't really mainstream. The ipod still an ipod with click wheel. the 4th, u2, photos,video, some mini,nano, shuffle. there's no ipod touch. Never mind the iphone. The phone people was craving about still blackberry and nokia communicator, some sony ericson, htc based phone. Siemens was in the cellphone business at that time. The intel core duo just came out. The fastest processor was amd fx-60 something. the year was 2006. what are we talking about again.... oo yea GRADO...
 
In this 2006. I was planning to upgrade from px100. I knew about grado since high school. When i was reading all those magazines. Especially when i notice sr325 gold edition. It got my attention, really catchy. But really... that's like $300 headphone. and RS1... The almighty RS1... man... what an exotic looking headphone. and then, now in 2006, they have this $1000 headphone called GS1000. What kind of an idiot going to waste that kind of money on headphone( it turned out, i'm one of them ). mind you, I wasn't aware a website called headwize or head-fi back then, so i wasn''t aware of crazy priced headphone called Stax, Orpheus, Sony r10, Qualia, ath L3000,etc. Until at Q1 2007. I made up my mind. I need a new headphone. I was looking of information what the best headphone under $100. there's Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Akg, and Grado( sr60 and sr80 ). I was looking for some review or more information of these headphones. I couldn't find it anywhere. But this sr60 and sr80 somehow always in what hifi and stereophile. So i took leap of faith. i bought sr60. I bought it online. I couldn't find any stores which sell this headphone. So i have no idea what i'm going to ended up with. And since there's no authorized dealer. So say farewell for the warranty. And days gone by. The headphone arrived. I put it on my head. Music never been this good.
 
All my friends was really amaze of the sound. some of them bought sennheiser px series, grado sr80. Anyway, a year later, one of my friend bought sr325 gold, he bought it because he knew i was really attracted to that headphone, so he could smeared it to my face, we had those kind of friendship. He also mention this forum called head-fi and some local audiophile forum and he mention this, and i quote " there are a lot of crazy people in this headphone world, do you know it's a hobby? yea headphone, people collected headphone and then there's this headphone amplifier and this **** called Orpheus and king of dynamic headphone and all that". So i looked it up and that's when i found out all this crazy stuff about headphone. 9 years later. still on journey. i still love that sr60. I still have it
 
 

 

[anetode]

  there's difference between fact and opinion.
 
 
we aren't listen the same thing. we don't share the same perspective. we don't know each others brains work. just because someone said it doesn't mean it's a fact
 
i like grado because i listen to music. do i have something i dislike about grado. sure. but if i only had certain amount of money and i know what i'm looking for, i'm pretty sure i'm the one who can justify my purchase. i'm the one who listen to it. i'm the one who paid for it. is there better products? probably. is there wiser purchase? maybe. there are a lot of options out there. you don't have to buy it just because some random people you never met in life told you to buy it. try to audition it? sure, why not.if you have the opportunity and time.go ahead.
 
i have listen the old orpheus. it's an okay headphone, but i can't justify the price. would i buy it.no.even if i have the money.still no. what if someone buy it for me, would i accept it.yes, why not.but i don't see myself listen to it everyday. but then again i have no idea what's the condition on that orpheus, so maybe, the sound not as it should be

 
I'll admit to putting the Orpheus in the top two or three headphones I've ever heard. Glad that you're getting out there to sample the classics.
 

Your original post was well done, as Is this follow-up. This coming from a fan of Grado products.

 

Thanks!
 

Originally Posted by eserafinojr /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
Amazing just the other day how nice and pleasant this thread was....
 
My big beef with the post is how overly preachy and I'm better than you vibe because I've "graduated" Grado products.

 
Yup, I was going for a bombastic Thus Spoke Zarathustra vibe by way of AA sponsor lingo. Sadly not that much more preachy than some of the other content I've seen in these appreciation threads.
 

   
Nobody should be judged for how they spent their money, this is an enthusiast forum.

 
There's something eerily creepy about this notion, but I'm not going to judge you too harshly for it.
 

 
So in this Mtv...i saw linkin park.crawling. i bought the cassette. It was hybrid theory.man, what an album.
 

 
Poor child, you never had a chance 

 

---

 
K, feathers have been ruffled, Grado's honor defended, I'll leave you guys to laugh and love in peace.

 

[joseph69]

"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot." 

 

[ruhenheiM]

 

---

 
K, feathers have been ruffled, Grado's honor defended, I'll leave you guys to laugh and love in peace.

 
see ya

 

[eserafinojr]

@ruhenheiM
 
Those SR100s are sweet! You got blackstar's in them or pinks?
 
They sound amazing either way... just curious!

 

[AWS Soul]

Hi All

I'm new here and this is my first post.     Well i've actually been reading through this entire thread for the past year , so i've decided i would finally bite the bullet and say hello.   I feel like i know all the members (storm troopers) already .
Anyway i purchased my sr80e about a year & half ago , this was my first pair of grado's and initially didn't like the sound of them , that is until i found head-fi and i learned about the quarter mod on the S-Cush ,  and ever since then i fell in love with my SR-80e.
Then about 6 months later i got hit by a mild case of upgradeitus , and ended up purchasing an SR-325e , i was blown away by the beauty of this can but just wished it had a bit more depth in the bottom end , so once again i head to the head-fi website for tips , i quickly learned about the half wrap of electrical tape around the bottom half of my L-Cush , and WOW !!!  , i couldn't believe something so simple could achieve what i desired from this can.     I have tried the full wrap around the L-Cush but i find it supresses the high mids around 2khz which to me was an essential part of the sound i loved.   So the half wrap was genius and was a success.
Now during the past month i got hit hard this time by a terminal case of upgradeitus , the doctor said i may only have a few days left before he calls the shrink for me , so i quickly took the reigns and purchased me an RS-2e , the doctor said my health has recovered 100% over the past few days.
So now i'm 4 days into my new RS-2e and i'm loving this can immensely , the punchy bass , the crystal sounding mids , the sparkling treble has brought me pure joy.  And yes i do use the half wrap of electrical tape mod around the L-Cush.

So there we go , this is my story and it's wonderful to share it with you all.

I'm not sure how to post photos on here , the site keeps telling me i need admin. permissions.  So if anyone could help me with this issue it would be much appreciated.

Much love to y'all

 

[DavidA]

@AWS Soul, need to post a minimum number of times before you are granted the rights to post pictures, 15 or 25 IIRC.
 
Congrats on your journey and welcome.
 
I suggest one thing you might want to try, Earzonk G pads, for some like me its a bit more comfortable and ups the bass a touch.