[Kevin Brown]

I did lots more listening, and my conclusions haven't changed.  Between the SR80i's and the MS-1i's: not much if any difference in the highs, but the MS-1i's don't have the deep end that the SR80i's do.  In fact, if anything, the MS-1i's remind me of the SR60i's I auditioned and passed on in favor of the 80's originally.  And then I moved up from the SR80i's to the SR125i's for my daytime work listening.  And now I have another pair of SR80i's for home CD mastering difference listening.
 
I am really surprised in fact.  Not what I expected at all.

 

[supersleuth]

I'm not surprised. It was always much more likely that the Grado rep quoted in the OP was simply telling the truth than that there is some elusive secret sauce applied by Alessandro. Many people vastly underestimate the power of 1) self-delusion (or to put it more politely, the highly malleable nature of human perception), and 2) small changes in the position of headphones with respect to your ears, which makes subjective comparisons (and even measurements) especially tricky with headphones.

 

[12thgear]

Expectation bias is a powerful thing. I have, and love, the MS1, but it actually wouldn't surprise me if it was an SR60 wearing a funny hat. I can't confirm, as it's the only Grado I own. 

 

[supersleuth]

I have to give Grado a lot of credit for being upfront. They don't try to pretend that an SR225, say, is based on some kind of more advanced technology than the SR60. They clearly describe the (typical audiophile-style) tweaks that distinguish the latter from the former, and let the customer decide whether they justify a 2.5-fold price increase. So I think the rep quoted in the OP was just being a straight shooter.

 

[revolink24]

I've listened to every Prestige series headphone up until the SR225.
 
The MS1 (old version) that I have isn't the same as any of them. Period.
 
That said, the entire prestige line from 80-225 sounds very similar in terms of the tonal distribution across the entire sound spectrum, that is reasonably flat but a bit peaky at the higher end,  the SR-60 is a bit different.
 

 
I don't doubt that the MS1 is also very similar. IMHO the biggest difference between the headphones is in transients.
 
Take a look at this wild square wave graph. Same headphones.
 

 
The MS1s from my experience are rather smoother - not only due to a slight reduction in the sound pressure of the 6k+ range, but also due to slightly milder attack.

 

[Suigeneris]

I've been contemplating whether to buy a new pair of Grado sr225i's or a pair of alessandro MS2i's. How would you compare these. I want a pair of cans that are fun and aggressive without sacrificing too much soundstage. Going to be listening to several genres (Rock, hip hop, pop, metal, etc.) are the MS2's really that much better? and if they are, do they have that punch?

 

[Kevin Brown]

 
Quote:

I've listened to every Prestige series headphone up until the SR225.
 
The MS1 (old version) that I have isn't the same as any of them. Period.
 
I don't doubt that the MS1 is also very similar. IMHO the biggest difference between the headphones is in transients.
 
The MS1s from my experience are rather smoother - not only due to a slight reduction in the sound pressure of the 6k+ range, but also due to slightly milder attack.

 
I compared the MS-1i's and the SR80i's back to back, with different tracks from different CDs, low volume, high volume, etc, and I heard the same thing every time: less bass from the Alessandro's and no difference in the mids and highs.
 
So either we are hearing different things, or else things *did* change between the old model and the newer one.
 
Personally, I don't put a lot of credibility into the graphs from headphone.com.  If you look at the bass response of the SR60's vs the other Grados, their data says the SR60's have *more* low end extension than the others, and not by a small margin, and that's simply not true: