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Jul 4, 2014 at 8:20 PM Post #661 of 6,729
stacker45 said:
  No Joseph, I wasn't referring to you, I'm pretty sure that we will here from him if he reads my post.
 
They were selling the HP-1000 and an X-CAN V2 AMP as a favor for an old client of theirs, the price was $500 for both, but since I already owned an X-CAN V2, I just wanted the headphones. To this day, I still wonder if their client really wanted $350 for the HP1000 and only $150 for the amp, I can't help but think that their client relly wanted $250 for each piece, and that he has made $100 of me. Anyway, if that was the case, I still got the last laugh!.
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Your not kidding!
And I'm sure when the sales person told (if) the owner how much the HP's were on eBay, he must have fainted.
 
Jul 4, 2014 at 8:42 PM Post #662 of 6,729
I thought about it, and these headphones cost $600, and the amp retailed for about $500 in 1992, that was a lot of money, I'm guessing here, but the seller could have been an older gentlemen to be able to aford a rig like this. Now, I don't want to offend anyone, but some older people aren't internet savvy, so it could explain the lack of reasearch about the HP-1000 worth.
 
Jul 4, 2014 at 9:22 PM Post #663 of 6,729
stacker45 said:
  Well then!, is it ever good enough?, I always try to keep things in perspective, I feel VERY fortunate to be able to own 5 pairs of Grados, and 4 headphone amps, among wich, are the ultra rare HP-1000, and it's even less seldom seen HPA-2 amp, with the even rarer PS-1 power supply. And yet, what I have paid for all of my stuff, wouldn't be enough to buy a pair of Stax SR-009 rig.
 
That being said, out of those five pairs of headphones, two were never planed, they were what you might call, impluse buys, the HP1000 is one of them, in fact, I pretty much stumbled upon them at my audio store, where I had gone to buy a new cartridge and felt mat for my turntable, I didn't even know what they were. I just knew that they sounded good enough for me to pay the $350 asking price. When I got home and researched them, I can't begin to tell you how euphoric I felt. In all the exitement, I realised that I had forgotten to buy my felt mat, so I went back the next day, and casually informed the salesman of my findings, and told him that a pair that wasn't as nice had just sold for $1775 on flea-bay. You should have seen this poor guy's face, for a moment, I thought that he would faint. 
 
To vintage cars guys like me, that's the equivalent of finding an unmolested Shelby AC Cobra 427, in a barn, being sold dirt cheap, by a little old lady who's husband just died. These days, internet access makes these kinds of deals almost impossible to find.
 
And yet, if, for whatever reason, I would have to sell all of my more expensive headphones, I'd still be satisfied with my SR80i, wich, by the way, are the ones that I am most impressed with. It's one thing to build great sounding headphones that cost $500 or more. But to build very good sounding headphones for $100. Oh!, and I know at least one other Head-Fi members that agrees with me, on this one, guess who!.
 
Now, I just hope that the ''limited edition'',  Bushmills X, wich were my other impulse buy, will follow the same path as their HP-1000 older brother, what!, I can dream, can't I?
 
Finally, I'm sorry if my story bored some of you, but I enjoyed telling you about it!.
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  Why can't I find a deal like that? Wowza....$350 for your HP1000s? Amazing...I'll give you $400 for them right now! 
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Jul 4, 2014 at 10:12 PM Post #667 of 6,729
gregorya said:
Is that Canadian dollars?...
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USD too
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....but sadly the Cdn $ is pretty strong agains the US green back. I've got some funds/investments in USD that I'm waiting on moving to Cdn...but not now. Hoping on the Cdn $ to tank for a few months!  
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Jul 4, 2014 at 11:28 PM Post #668 of 6,729
To be honest,it's a good thing that I was just as clueless as the salesman was about how much they were worth, because I seriously doubt that would've been able to keep a straight face during the transaction.
 
I just bought Parbaked HPA-1 and PS-1 a few months ago, so I think I'm going to keep them for a while. They are great headphones, but I still prefer my PS to that of the HP. I'm sure that many people would strongly disagree with me, and I respect that, but I call it as I see it, and this is no different.
 
Just imagine though, how cool it would be if Joe and John would agree to work together and come out with an ''e'' version of the HP1000. But I guess I have a better chance of getting pregnant, than this happening!.
 
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden craving for pickles and ice cream, Huh Oh!.
 
Jul 5, 2014 at 5:55 AM Post #670 of 6,729
stacker45 said:
  No Joseph, I wasn't referring to you, I'm pretty sure that we will here from him if he reads my post.
 
They were selling the HP-1000 and an X-CAN V2 AMP as a favor for an old client of theirs, the price was $500 for both, but since I already owned an X-CAN V2, I just wanted the headphones. To this day, I still wonder if their client really wanted $350 for the HP1000 and only $150 for the amp, I can't help but think that their client relly wanted $250 for each piece, and that he has made $100 of me. Anyway, if that was the case, I still got the last laugh!.
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Wow!  talk about the deal of the century.....stacker, you got it  
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Jul 5, 2014 at 8:45 AM Post #673 of 6,729
From a recent interview with Jonathan Grado:

We went over every component and improved it. The wood is cured differently to take advantage of it’s natural tonal properties, the polycarbonate is engineered to absorb excess energy and reduce secondary impulses, for a clearer tone, we gave all the headphones (except the GS/PS1000e) a 3.5mm plug, we applied our most refined geometry to the drivers, and more.

Link to full interview:
http://headfonics.com/2014/06/grado-goes-e-an-interview-with-jonathan-grado/

So at least according to Jonathan Grado, there's an advantage to 1/8" jacks over 1/4". In case anyone wondered what drove them to switch.
:)
 
Jul 5, 2014 at 10:34 AM Post #675 of 6,729
jes said:
From a recent interview with Jonathan Grado:

We went over every component and improved it. The wood is cured differently to take advantage of it’s natural tonal properties, the polycarbonate is engineered to absorb excess energy and reduce secondary impulses, for a clearer tone, we gave all the headphones (except the GS/PS1000e) a 3.5mm plug, we applied our most refined geometry to the drivers, and more.

Link to full interview:
http://headfonics.com/2014/06/grado-goes-e-an-interview-with-jonathan-grado/

So at least according to Jonathan Grado, there's an advantage to 1/8" jacks over 1/4". In case anyone wondered what drove them to switch.
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Well. If he really believed there was an advantage he would've put one on the GS/PS1k as well in my opinion 
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