[franconero]

After years without decent headphones, I bought a pair of Grado SR80i's 2 weeks ago and love them so much I am, insanely, after a "better" set of headphones. I've just ordered an Asgard and had intended to step up the Grado line and buy the sr325is. I've read in a number of places that the 325is might make a good match with the Asgard, but all along I've had the image of the brushed aluminum versions in mind. I guess I'm a little slow on the uptake, but I now see that the most recent version is chrome instead of the brushed aluminum. I guess I'm just shallow enough to care about the fact that the chrome seems to come off cheap in a lot of the photos.
 
Sorry for the long set up, but here's what I'd appreciate some thoughts on: Does anyone prefer/like the chrome? Do the photos of the chrome version do them justice? I'd simply step up to the RS1's if money wasn't a concern, but it is. Maybe (probably) I'm shallow, but this has got me rethinking the whole thing - should it?

 

[pcf]

The chrome 325is looks much better in real life than in photo. All the photographs I have seen of them and the chrome PS1000 are awful so I wouldn't make judgement based on that.
Do you have a chance to try them out somewhere? You might want to find out if you like the sound also.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
If you don't like how it looks, don't get it.

Besides, you should step up to the RS1 anyhow. It's a better headphone, and you'll want to upgrade later again anyways. This skips too upgrades and saves you the money in the process so you can afford more goodies like a new DAC or AMP of choice.
 
Very best,

 

[Chris_Himself]

I miss the old Goldies

 

[franconero]

Thanks guys. I going to try to find some place in SoCal to check them, and others, out next week.
 
 Although I can see that there might, in the long run, be some money actually saved by simply getting the RS1's now, I think I need some time to develop my own preferences. To be totally honest with you, I really don't know if it's specifically the Grados I'm responding to, or simply the fact that it has been about 10 years since I listened to any decent headphones. I like the sr80i's and the idea of Grado for some reason - for these, albeit pretty thin, reasons I thought I'd step up the line since I've decided to buy an amp. The speed of this first foray into this stuff has my head sort of spinning - the $700 price tag on the RS1's is pretty sobering.
 
All of this seems so incredibly subjective - does anyone have any thoughts about the sr225i's? I've read more than a couple people around here who actually prefer them and this would take care of the whole chrome issue.

 

[Chris_Himself]

Finally the voice of reason steps in haha!
 
Yes I do own the SR-225's. Love them to death. It all started with ALO cabled SR-225's for me, then a stock SR-225, then I recabled that, sold the SR-225 on ebay a while back. I like them a lot. I bought the RS-2's from HeadRoom later, did a comparison, needless to say I don't own the RS-2's anymore. Take that with the grain of salt but I was more than willing to keep the RS-2's even if they sounded a slight bit better to me considering how pretty they were, but they just were not, so sadly I let them go.
 
I've listened to GS-1000's as well, but not enough to even make comparisons. They do sound really good though
 
Now that I've stopped working and I'm working on my materials engineering degree, I'm confident that I have a setup that I'll be happy with and little else for the money could really provide me with the same levels of satisfaction. (Maybe K601's)
 
You know, if you gave Headroom a call, I've spent like 15 minutes just chatting about headphones with no intention of buying them and thats how I bought my first SR-60/SR-80/SR-125 EVERY SINGLE TIME their politeness and honesty seems to sell their stuff to me!
 

 

[franconero]

thanks for the impressions. I'm somebody who usually over-buys when I'm not exactly up-to-speed on a particular technology. Seems like spending more on audio doesn't always deliver objective "improvement." 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Nobody can really tell you what you buy or what you'll like, you just buy what you want and you be happy with whatever you buy because you like it. No need to overspend just to feel like a boss for a few days and then eat top ramen for the month haha. Although I've had some bad upgraditis before too so I've seen both ends of the spectrum

 

[n-phect]

 

[wje]

Don't forget - as you travel to a few Grado dealers in your area to check out some of their headphones, some dealers still might have the brushed silver aluminum models in stock, if you prefer them.  For some dealers, headphones don't always move too fast and they could have a model in stock for a year or more.