[Michael G.]

First of all, hello from "Michael G." (new member)! Now, down to the Nitty-Gritty... Grado 325's have the reputation, in some circles, as being "...too bright...". All I can say is that I have the very opposite opinion of them. I can only describe their sound as silky, smooth, warm, musical, and exceedingly easy to listen to. However, I have never seriously listened to the 325's except through my Audible Illusions L-1 preamp/headphone amp. Coincidence? Maybe the great sound I'm getting has more to do with my total system synergy, but a couple of other things are also possible: 1) This headphone/amp combo really is a match made in heaven. 2) My hearing has limited bandwidth. Anyone else have a similar experience with the Grado/AI L-1 combo? I bought my used but freshly factory reconditioned L-1 for under $600, and it is an excellent tube line stage for the money (Note: The headphone circuit is solid state). Just thought I'd give y'all a heads up! See-ya...

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael G. First of all, hello from "Michael G." (new member)! Now, down to the Nitty-Gritty... Grado 325's have the reputation, in some circles, as being "...too bright...". All I can say is that I have the very opposite opinion of them. I can only describe their sound as silky, smooth, warm, musical, and exceedingly easy to listen to. However, I have never seriously listened to the 325's except through my Audible Illusions L-1 preamp/headphone amp. Coincidence? Maybe the great sound I'm getting has more to do with my total system synergy, but a couple of other things are also possible: 1) This headphone/amp combo really is a match made in heaven. 2) My hearing has limited bandwidth. Anyone else have a similar experience with the Grado/AI L-1 combo? I bought my used but freshly factory reconditioned L-1 for under $600, and it is an excellent tube line stage for the money (Note: The headphone circuit is solid state). Just thought I'd give y'all a heads up! See-ya...

Welcome to Head-Fi. Having said that, I used to own AI L1 eons ago, and its headphone output was mediocre at best (the preamp is great). The reason is that its headphone output has nothing to do with the tubed preamp section. It's just a simple op-amp headphone circuit that does not feed from the tubes. I listened to Grado HP1000 via L1, and it was boring.

I highly recommend you try some of the recent powerful headphone amps, perhaps some Gilmore designs, Dynalo, etc.

 

[mulveling]

Synergy, or lack of it, with the hp1000 doesn't have any bearing on the 325. Those two cans have a very different balance. It's quite possible that his amp synergizes well with the 325. Also I wouldn't judge an amp's quality just by its performance with one pair of headphones - especially the hard to drive hp1000.

Not to discourage him from buying some dedicated headphone amps for comparison, though...

 

[Michael G.]

Thanks for the input... Don't know how much better (or worse) certain other "more powerful" headphone amps might sound with the 325's. So far, the only other amps I have used with the 325's have been portables and cheap receivers, and with these sources the Grado's were a lot less comfortable to listen to for long periods. Perhaps the L-1 headphone output does provide a touch of "boring" sound, but maybe this is why it sounds so good to me (tames the famed Grado "brightness"?). I dunno, all I know is I like this sound! Perhaps long term "listenability" was a goal with the the L-1 headphone amp? And, maybe the preamp's designer used Grado headphones to model the sound of the L-1 headphone out? I ask, because I doubt there is enough gain provided by the L-1 to drive the more difficult (Sennheiser, Beyer, etc...) loads satisfactorily - it definitely seems to have been designed with low-impedance headphones in mind. I also suspect that how good (or bad) any amp sounds to you with a certain pair of cans has more to do with personal taste and/or system synergy than with how slickly and expensively the amp seems to be designed (on paper).

 

[Michael G.]

... Also, I thought I'd add that I used to own the AKG K-501's. Having also used these cans with the L-1, I would say that the amp/headphone interface is much more satisfying (to my ears) with the Grado's. The tonality of the K-501's sounded characteristically different, of course, with the lack of bass adding to the focus on the mid and high frequencies. But, something about the L-1/AKG combo turned me off slightly - I actually preferred to listen to the K-501's with a portable CD player. That tells me that the L-1 headphone amp may not be an intrinsically "dark" or "laid back" sounding circuit. Another reason to suspect that the L-1 really does synergize well with the Grado load? Perhaps.

 

[mulveling]

Michael, it sounds like your amp actually may be a decent match for the (John) Grados. The (Joe) Grado HP-1000 is significantly darker than the John Grado sr-325. The hp1000 is also significantly harder to drive - low impedence and low efficiency requires tons of current as well as moderate voltage swings - so in some ways it's harder to drive than the Sennheiser HD600. Based on your descriptions of the amp it's no surprise that the hp1000 would sound boring on it.

Still, the fun of this hobby is buying & comparing new equipment, and you'll never really know how good of a match it is until you've gone through a more "traditional" grado amp or 2. Keep us updated when your new amps arrive

Oh, and the sr325 is nice and very fun when it's not too bright, but the hp1000 is at a higher level of fidelity. Good luck tracking down a set to go with your new amps...

 

[Michael G.]

Thanks for the encouragement. Actually, I'll be concentrating on acquiring a set of AKG K-1000's next (rather than another "traditional headphone" amp). I have an N.E.W. A-20.1, which is a high-bias class A, 22 watt per channel, solid state stereo amp. It's power rating, intrinsic sweetness, and quiet operation will (intuitive guess) probably be perfect for "motivating" the K-1000's. My source components are also pretty sweet sounding, so I am very curious about the synergistic (or lack thereof) possibilities that await ahead... I will share the joy in due time. Thanks.