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  1. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    I don't think that having "personal preferences" is wrong, but performances and/or recordings are what they are. Ignore the facts to your own (and the artists) detriment...   You can choose to listen to recordings in a way that reveals the intentions of the artist and the recording team, or...
  2. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    Usually, but not necessarily true. The times they are a changin'.   The Smyth Realiser A8 (can be used in two-channel or multi-channel mode and with headphones of your own choosing) is said to do a pretty damn good job of mimicking a real array of loudspeakers. A pair of excellent soundstagers...
  3. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    Well (at least for me), "concrete facts" do factor into my "musical enjoyment".   Part of the reason why I am able to enjoy the kinds of recordings that I like using headphones rather than speakers? My listening experience supplies me with knowledge of what that kind of music actually sounds...
  4. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    Sure, you can say that but...   But then I'd ask the question:" Why bother to listen to decent recordings on a high-end headphones if it really is "all about the music"? Why not simply buy some cheap earbuds or a $20 tabletop radio, get some crappy recordings, and "enjoy the music"? Maybe this...
  5. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    I acknowledge that you read and understand what I'm saying, regardless of how we might disagree on certain points. You are certainly free to disagree and you are certainly free to make a recording into whatever you'd like to be. You own the recording, it's yours to do with as you will.   But...
  6. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that.   Audio reproduction (loudspeaker or headphone) is (or may be) about the "recreation of a sonic event", but it is also about "suspension of disbelief".   How funny is this?   We all know that we are not listening to the real thing but it does not...
  7. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    Funny, but after a few years of listening to music via headphones almost exclusively, I have lost the sensation that the music is "all in my head".   Back when I listened to both loudspeakers and headphones on a regular basis, headphone listening did seem to me to be a much more "compromised"...
  8. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    I hear ya' (no pun intended)!   Not that there is anything wrong with making recordings that are suitable for playback on almost any kind of transducer, but the very least they could do would be to try to preserve some semblance of lifelike dynamics....
  9. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

      There is some truth in this, sure, Especially in today's world where so many people listen to music on earbuds and other portable playback options. However...   Conscientious recording engineers of the hifi era (especially those from the not-too-distant past) made recordings with the...
  10. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

      Of course it is!    Or rather, it USUALLY is. Without the use of DSP (digital signal processing as used in products like the Smyth Realiser) and/or binaural recordings, headphone listening is an "unnatural" listening experience. Although it would not be accurate to say that loudspeakers do...
  11. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    Hey, I'm thinking that something deserves to be reiterated at this point in time.   Well, not all of us would agree that the new flagships are significantly better headphones than the old flagships were/are. My three favorite headphones? Grado RS-1 for Rock, Senn HD600 or HD650 for classical...
  12. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    The prices of the "top of the line" in any hobby can seem ridiculous to someone who is not rich enough to afford such things.    Remember that $55,000 is literally "a drop in the bucket" for some people. So Sennheiser makes a few hundred limited production, handmade, *cost-no-object* statement...
  13. Michael G.

    Why are flagship headphones so expensive now?

    The answer is simple and complicated at the same time, in sync with the rest of reality.   Even back in the good old days of the "$500 flagship", there were of course other more expensive flagships. Stax electrostatic, Sennheiser Orpheus, K1000 sold for multiples of the more basic flagships...
  14. Michael G.

    Density of foam for Grado L style cushions

    Genuine replacement Grado L cushions cost about $30 a pair, but there are many Chinese knockoffs on ebay that sell for a fraction of that price.   My question would be: How many of those cheap Chinese knockoffs replicate the foam density of the original and genuine Grado L cushions?   Grado...
  15. Michael G.

    How good (or bad) sounding is the headphone amp in the Marantz CD6006 CD player?

    Has anyone tried it?   www.whathifi.com/marantz/cd6006/review
  16. Michael G.

    What AC-powered amp are you using with your Grados?

    I am currently using an older battery-powered amp, the trusty Meier Audio Porta Corda. The Meier has driven my Grados pretty well, but now I am looking around for a "budget" AC-powered amp to do them further justice...   I am running the Meier with internal switches set for "Class A" bias...
  17. Michael G.

    post your grado mods....

    Pics posted, check out my opening post.
  18. Michael G.

    post your grado mods....

    The headphones look and sound stellar and anyone would be hard-pressed to tell that they were not factory modded. The guy who modded them was a woodworker and an audiophile who seemed pretty confident in his abilities and about how to dis-assemble the wooden cups without damaging them. All I...
  19. Michael G.

    post your grado mods....

              Grado RS-1i completely recabled with 20 feet of Cardas. The guy who did the recabling did a swell job of it but this is a mod that is not recommended for the average tinkerer. There is some risk that the wooden bodies will sustain damage in the ungluing and/or reassembly...
  20. Michael G.

    Has anyone recabled the Sennheiser HD630VB?

    I know that it's a relatively new headphone but I'm wondering if anyone anywhere has taken a crack at a custom recabling job yet...
  21. Michael G.

    Open vs Closed: A Review and Comparison of the AKG K712 Pro and the Beyerdynamic DT 150

    Every headphone I've heard (or read about) so far is "rather flawed" in some way or the other. It's a common complaint levelled at almost every high-end "Flagship" headphone ever heard. Or read about. Not to mention all the failures floating and bobbing around in the flood of lower level...
  22. Michael G.

    Grado Fan Club!

    To my ears, different headphones serve certain types of music better than others. There is no *perfect* headphone. There are only *different* headphones, for different types of music...    Having owned Grado SR60, SR325, and finally RS1i, I can say with some certainty that Grado headphones do...
  23. Michael G.

    Grado RS1i Impressions thread

    A few years back when I had both "semi-vintage RS-1" and RS-1i headphones in house, I carefully compared the two versions with a variety of my favorite recordings. My general impression was that the two versions sounded more alike than different, the Grado "house sound" carrying the day in both...
  24. Michael G.

    post your grado mods....

    My RS1i headphones have been completely recabled with 20 feet of Cardas cable. The tech who dismantled and reassembled the wooden cups to replace the entire stock cable really did a wonderful and professional job, but it's not a job I would recommend for the inexperienced. The Cardas cable...
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