[danaa]

Never intended to get a new set of phones. Usually listen to classical and my Perreaux/Senn 650's have more than brought me great pleasure in this regard.

But.........................
You see, my daughter's boyfriend wanted some headphones. Instead of his buying the $30 pair he thought would be great, I thought I'd splurge and get him some 225's, so that he could hear something nicer. Anyway, I wanted to give them a listen myself. Well, I asked and received permission to do so and they were good, but not great on classical. Then, I put in Pink Floyd's Pulse and was blown away. After deliberating for a couple of days, I decided I needed two pairs of phones, with each set's sonic signature working best with different pieces of music.

So, now, I guess I'll be dusting off my rock, jazz, etc. collection because these phones kick *ss in that department.

 

[Blitzula]

This is the musician boyfriend, right? I thought you were just going to wait for them to break up and then take the headphones....

 

[danaa]

Wow!!! You have a great memory.

Yes, I waited a couple of days to see if they'd break up, but no such luck, so I had to buy my own pair.

These phones are fun!!!

On my Senns, I sometimes get over analytical about the sound. These I just plop on and enjoy.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Ack, I hate these kinds of posts...

They make me want to sell my ATH-A900s for some SR-225s, especially since I know that I love the Grado signature and open headphones.

Were you using the Perreaux with the Grado, or some other amplifier?

How do they sound unamped?

 

[Blitzula]

Every Grado I tried sounded very good unamped. I'd be surprised if there is much debate on that anymore. Sure, an amp will always improve the sound, but the Grados are excellent unamped.

 

[Jahn]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Grado! Another Senn traitor is always refreshing! Senns might be good for classical, but when you want to rock out (or even prog rock out) Grados are the way to go, as you've heard for yourself. The SR225 is indeed a fun can. If you ever feel it's TOO much fun, but don't want to fall asleep, try the more neutral grados like the Alessandro line or the Joe Grado line used. Death to Sennheiser!

 

[danaa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn Welcome to the wonderful world of Grado! Another Senn traitor is always refreshing! Senns might be good for classical, but when you want to rock out (or even prog rock out) Grados are the way to go, as you've heard for yourself. The SR225 is indeed a fun can. If you ever feel it's TOO much fun, but don't want to fall asleep, try the more neutral grados like the Alessandro line or the Joe Grado line used. Death to Sennheiser!

Thanks Jahn. I still love my Senns, but find myself strangely drawn to my new toys.

Now, I better understand the debate.

As far as the amplification, I first tried them via the jack on my Integra 9.4 pre/pro, but prefer them on my Perreaux. No way I'd turn the dial past the 9:00 position though. I wouldn't worry about having to have a dedicated phone amp though, as they still do a dang good job anyway.

Could it be that Jahn is right? Am I becoming a Gradoite?

All I can say is
[size=x-large]These phones rock!!![/size]

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by danaa Thanks Jahn. I still love my Senns, but find myself strangely drawn to my new toys. Now, I better understand the debate. As far as the amplification, I first tried them via the jack on my Integra 9.4 pre/pro, but prefer them on my Perreaux. No way I'd turn the dial past the 9:00 position though. I wouldn't worry about having to have a dedicated phone amp though, as they still do a dang good job anyway. Could it be that Jahn is right? Am I becoming a Gradoite? All I can say is [size=x-large]These phones rock!!![/size]

I have a dedicated headphone amp (a tricked out cmoy with OPA2227). I was just wondering how much they'd benefit from a high currency amplifier like a Gilmore Lite, in comparison.

 

[Nietzsche]

Every Grado I tried sounded very good unamped ]

Unamped ??? My Grado doesn't work at all that way !

 

[taymat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by danaa Never intended to get a new set of phones. Usually listen to classical and my Perreaux/Senn 650's have more than brought me great pleasure in this regard. But......................... You see, my daughter's boyfriend wanted some headphones. Instead of his buying the $30 pair he thought would be great, I thought I'd splurge and get him some 225's, so that he could hear something nicer. Anyway, I wanted to give them a listen myself. Well, I asked and received permission to do so and they were good, but not great on classical. Then, I put in Pink Floyd's Pulse and was blown away. After deliberating for a couple of days, I decided I needed two pairs of phones, with each set's sonic signature working best with different pieces of music. So, now, I guess I'll be dusting off my rock, jazz, etc. collection because these phones kick *ss in that department.

This is what I first thought when I heard my rs-1s with various cds. The Grado sound is great for rock and jazz, not good for classical.

 

[00940]

yep, the grado sr60 works well unamped. For my sr225, I'm happy to have my gilmore

Seriously, it makes quite a serious difference if the amplification (and the source) is up to the task.

I also practice the two pair of cans approach, making it even worse, two cans, two amps

 

[Nietzsche]

Hi 00940,

Brutus, tu quoque ?

Unamped (by anything)! Whaw! So you also don't need to plug the jack of your headphone anywhere? Solar energy and bluetooth ?

LOL :

 

[00940]

wow, your profile got heavy Nietzche. Time to visit Hasselt

So, Solo and prehead for the hd650, earmax for grado ?

 

[Nietzsche]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 00940 So, Solo and prehead for the hd650, earmax for grado ?

Indeed:
Arcam FMJ CD23 & Oehlbach & Solo & HD650: Rock (5% of my CD's)
Arcam FMJ CD23 & Van de hul the First Ultimate & Prehead & hd 650: Classical (50%) (better soundstage and enormous resolution, but no chambermusic: ut infra)
Arcam FMJ CD23 & Chord Signature & EMP & Grado: Jazz (45%)
Arcam FMJ CD23 & EMP & hd 650: Classical chamber (read: string-) music (more complex and natural violinsound).

I'm still looking for a better solution for stringed classical music since I'm a big lover of stringquartets. I'm swapping tubes now for even better results.
Maybe the medium (CD) is too limited for complex overtones. I'm considering a (stereo) SACDP.

I know, It will never be perfect.

Jan

 

[Jahn]

Oh yes - Grado also rules in Jazz land. I just got Portraits in Jazz by the Bill Evans Trio and it sounds super from the Solo to the Grado. Dare I say it, better than my new Crystal 20 speakers? More intimate anyhow.