[Centropolis]

I currently own a pair of SR-60i and have been thinking of upgrading to a slightly higher pair of Grados in the same series. I've been reading a lot about the Prestige Series and found what I am reading kind of odd.

For most other lines of headphones from other brands, it's pretty much always that the higher you go in the lineup, the general consensus will be that they are better overall, some jumps will be more significant than others. Not very often do I read people prefer ATH-M30 than ATH-M50x, or prefer Senn HD598 over HD650. But for Grados there seems to be a lot of people saying they always prefer SR-80 over anything above 125, 225/325 etc. Some even say the sound for 225 and 325 is worse than 60/80...harder to listen to for long periods of time etc. And they don't seem to mean that the price difference doesn't worth the sound upgrade, they are saying the 60/80 actual sound better than 225/325.

Is that really what most Grado owners think in general? I currently have an opportunity to get a used pair of 325 for a fairly good price and will of course test them out first but wondering if what I am reading is really what most of you think?

 

[GREQ]

From my experience it's somewhat true.
I think especially the old i-series was the weirdest one that left a lot of people feeling puzzled.
SR125i just sounded like trash - it was actually just quite badly tuned and sounded wrong. SR80i and 225i sounded great. SR325i was just razorblade treble murder death.

The new e-series generally makes way more sense across the lineup, even the 325e was more than acceptable. I havn't heard the 125e, but I hope they fixed it.
I thought the 325e sounded actually almost amazing - quite close to the PS500e which I thought was excellent.
SR60e and 80e both just sound like the original i series... maybe a touch more warmth/bass making them a bit softer and easier to listen to.

Not relevant to the Prestige series, but I thought the PS2000e is one of the worst headphones I've ever heard at any price point.
There is an element of subjectivity to it, but SR80e, (and possibly 225e if you don't mind extremely incremental improvement at best) is still a very safe bet.

 

[CJG888]

An alternative upgrade path could be to replace the plastic cups with wooden ones (full cups, not sleeves) and switch to L-Cush pads.

The drivers in your 60is are not bad at all!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I currently own a pair of SR-60i and have been thinking of upgrading to a slightly higher pair of Grados in the same series. I've been reading a lot about the Prestige Series and found what I am reading kind of odd.

For most other lines of headphones from other brands, it's pretty much always that the higher you go in the lineup, the general consensus will be that they are better overall, some jumps will be more significant than others. Not very often do I read people prefer ATH-M30 than ATH-M50x, or prefer Senn HD598 over HD650. But for Grados there seems to be a lot of people saying they always prefer SR-80 over anything above 125, 225/325 etc. Some even say the sound for 225 and 325 is worse than 60/80...harder to listen to for long periods of time etc. And they don't seem to mean that the price difference doesn't worth the sound upgrade, they are saying the 60/80 actual sound better than 225/325.

Is that really what most Grado owners think in general? I currently have an opportunity to get a used pair of 325 for a fairly good price and will of course test them out first but wondering if what I am reading is really what most of you think?

That's because the Prestige series tend to sound similar and not much of an improvement for the added expense.

If you didn't have a Grado at all and can spend only $200 (plus shipping) I'd just recommend the SR225e; nowadays if you don't specifically need Grado and can spend on an amp for example there's the HD6XX and HD58X.

If you just want more of the Grado sound with less of the fatiguing top end as on the SR325 and SR325i (or even the SR325e), but you already have the SR60i, might as well save up and get the RS2e or RS1e. Or a used RS2i or RS1i.

And HD598 vs HD600 isn't even that straightforward pre-HD58X. The HD598 has slightly wider and deeper imaging than the HD600, an older design that still cost double until three years ago. HD58X has lower pricing and impedance so barring problems getting from Drop it remained a contender.

 

[Centropolis]

The used one I was planning to buy is the gold version of SR-325i. I don't think there is any difference between the older 325i and the gold ones. So it seems like even though it's seem like a super good deal ($100 Canadian....about $70USD?), I am now second guessing whether to buy them or not.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

The used one I was planning to buy is the gold version of SR-325i. I don't think there is any difference between the older 325i and the gold ones. So it seems like even though it's seem like a super good deal ($100 Canadian....about $70USD?), I am now second guessing whether to buy them or not.

For a price like that I'd get it, sell the SR60i, and maybe get wood driver housings for the SR325is.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

I currently own a pair of SR-60i and have been thinking of upgrading to a slightly higher pair of Grados in the same series. I've been reading a lot about the Prestige Series and found what I am reading kind of odd.

For most other lines of headphones from other brands, it's pretty much always that the higher you go in the lineup, the general consensus will be that they are better overall, some jumps will be more significant than others. Not very often do I read people prefer ATH-M30 than ATH-M50x, or prefer Senn HD598 over HD650. But for Grados there seems to be a lot of people saying they always prefer SR-80 over anything above 125, 225/325 etc. Some even say the sound for 225 and 325 is worse than 60/80...harder to listen to for long periods of time etc. And they don't seem to mean that the price difference doesn't worth the sound upgrade, they are saying the 60/80 actual sound better than 225/325.

Is that really what most Grado owners think in general? I currently have an opportunity to get a used pair of 325 for a fairly good price and will of course test them out first but wondering if what I am reading is really what most of you think?

That's a tricky complicated question you are asking.
In general Grados are very much the same up and down the line and all have a variation of the "Grado sound". They all use a lot of the same hardware (gimbels, pads, headband, rod blocks) the biggest differences in terms of sound signature almost all come from changes in the material of the cups (plastic, aluminum, and various woods) So: an SR60 doesn't sound that different than any of the others in the Prestige line, except for the 325e, it uses aluminum cups and that changes the sound in a bigger way than any of the other variables they introduce as you proceed up the line. It also uses different ear pads, and has a leather headband, which helps with the fit.
SO...if you can get the 325e for half price or less, get that. If it is going to cost much more than $150? I would suggest you buy a set of cups that you like, put the ear pads you think will enhance their sound the best and put a nice leather headband on it. You can have a set that sounds as good as or better than a 325e and has a completely custom look chosen by you.

 

[tomb]

That's because the Prestige series tend to sound similar and not much of an improvement for the added expense.

If you didn't have a Grado at all and can spend only $200 (plus shipping) I'd just recommend the SR225e; nowadays if you don't specifically need Grado and can spend on an amp for example there's the HD6XX and HD58X.

If you just want more of the Grado sound with less of the fatiguing top end as on the SR325 and SR325i (or even the SR325e), but you already have the SR60i, might as well save up and get the RS2e or RS1e. Or a used RS2i or RS1i.

And HD598 vs HD600 isn't even that straightforward pre-HD58X. The HD598 has slightly wider and deeper imaging than the HD600, an older design that still cost double until three years ago. HD58X has lower pricing and impedance so barring problems getting from Drop it remained a contender.

^ This …

I flirted with Grados for many years, but the above pretty much nails it. Despite the famous reputation of the entry-level SR60, I think it's a waste of time investing in any Grado short of one with wood cups. I disagree with the above a little bit, in that the SR225 is largely a waste of money with almost zero improvement over the lower end of the Prestige series. Probably the original HF-1 is the most inexpensive Grado that was still listenable. It looked just like a Prestige version, but had the mahogany cups inside the plastic housings. Same for the HF-2 - wood cups inside the metal cans.

Even though I found amplifiers that would tame Grados and make them immensely musical (tube amps with output transformers), I finally decided that they just had too much distortion. The varying frequency response and peaks ultimately wasn't the killer. Those qualities could be tamed, but distortion can't. The reason they sound so good with guitar music is that they have distortion peaks at many of the same frequencies that guitars produce. The effect is that guitar music is often enhanced. That can be very seductive, depending on the type of music used. Unfortunately, that distortion is still there on all other types of music, too.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Even though I found amplifiers that would tame Grados and make them immensely musical (tube amps with output transformers), I finally decided that they just had too much distortion. The varying frequency response and peaks ultimately wasn't the killer. Those qualities could be tamed, but distortion can't. The reason they sound so good with guitar music is that they have distortion peaks at many of the same frequencies that guitars produce. The effect is that guitar music is often enhanced. That can be very seductive, depending on the type of music used. Unfortunately, that distortion is still there on all other types of music, too.

I like them better with saxophones than some guitar music. Electric guitars with heavy distortion-kind of music tends to have the worst performance on Grados as the relative lack of imaging cues tends to make these sound like a disorganized mess of everything but the kitchen sink getting tossed at me. Power metal and the like particularly suck on Grados, but (non-big band without vocals) Jazz tends to be sumpremely enjoyable as long as you don't need precise imaging and just enjoy the verve in how the music flows through these.

 

[CJG888]

+1 on that. Wood-cup Grados are made for Blue Note albums (including mono releases!).