scootermafia
MOT: Double Helix Cables
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2008
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- 246
Well, Grado has to be selective in who they let review it. It's pretty hard to make any of their kickass headphones sound bad, but there's really no proof that the amp is any better than a headphone jack. I think that if someone like Skylab that has heard everything reviewed it and was tasked with determining what it is worth, the news would not be good for them. I don't think the people endorsing the amp are as qualified as some of the people on this board - like for instance, when Stereophile reviews a headphone product they admit that speaker sound is their specialty and that they know relatively little about headphones. They're just not a head-fi publication. I don't trust their listed recommendations any more than I would trust my mom reviewing it.
The fact is that a $30 CMOY would cause the reviewers to have the exact same impressions (if it were presented as a Grado product hidden in a wood box, because this amp is LITERALLY a CMOY. As in, one op amp, batteries, a pair of caps, and a couple resistors. The extra money is being robbed from customers who like what they hear because of how it is marketed. If a cutaway view was shown before they listened, and then customers had the option to A/B it with any $200 and up headphone amp from any other company, there's no way they'd still go with the RA1.
The whole point of the RA1 is to pull a fast one on customers in dealerships by convincing them they need one of these contraptions to finish a system. They're going to demo it and like it, assuming they don't know headphone amps real well, and they'll assume it's money well spent because of the look and the brand. As I said, it will sound good because their headphones sound good. This is the same thing that Best Buy does when it sells you accessories to go with your stuff like a $40 ipod power cable that can be bought from the Chinese for $1.
The only use for the RA1 is as a snazzy conversation piece/paperweight/decoration.
The fact is that a $30 CMOY would cause the reviewers to have the exact same impressions (if it were presented as a Grado product hidden in a wood box, because this amp is LITERALLY a CMOY. As in, one op amp, batteries, a pair of caps, and a couple resistors. The extra money is being robbed from customers who like what they hear because of how it is marketed. If a cutaway view was shown before they listened, and then customers had the option to A/B it with any $200 and up headphone amp from any other company, there's no way they'd still go with the RA1.
The whole point of the RA1 is to pull a fast one on customers in dealerships by convincing them they need one of these contraptions to finish a system. They're going to demo it and like it, assuming they don't know headphone amps real well, and they'll assume it's money well spent because of the look and the brand. As I said, it will sound good because their headphones sound good. This is the same thing that Best Buy does when it sells you accessories to go with your stuff like a $40 ipod power cable that can be bought from the Chinese for $1.
The only use for the RA1 is as a snazzy conversation piece/paperweight/decoration.