[jonathan c]

I have had several models made after 2016 in L pad or f pad form. Honestly the only Grado I could wear around the clock were my 80e’s with L pads after I really stretched the pads just enough to clamp on my ears and softened the pads. I have had 80e, 225e, ps500e, rs1e, and now I just have my hemps. Which sit right in the middle of those for comfort. PS500e being the worst.

Chacun a son gout. PS500e with F-pads is one of my favourites (Grado or otherwise).

 

[jonathan c]

Honestly looking back now it seems the better they sounded to me the worse the comfort was for me.** I thought I seen someone on here stating that g pads weren’t good for long term comfort, but no I have never tried them.

** I hope that the converse is not true: the better they feel, the worse they sound …

 

[ekolite]

Chacun a son gout. PS500e with F-pads is one of my favourites (Grado or otherwise).

Never heard those with f pads. In fact I was unaware of the f pads when I had my PS500e several years ago. Would love to hear ‘em.

 

[ekolite]

I just put on L pads on my hemps. Had to turn them WAaayy up now. But I am getting some slight distortions in doing so. But I forgot how much I missed these pads.

 

[ekolite]

Yes. L.pads seems to be a good fit with hemps and classical. rock pop country not so much.

 

[ekolite]

Further experimentation needed.. cleaning my pads now.. they have been sitting idle on my shelf for 2 years. I am definitely feeling the front row effect now back on f pads. But better soundstage and imaging on L pads.

 

[575125]

Uncomfortable for long periods even with g-pads huh? Are they heavy? I’ve never tried a g pad. But seems like all Grados aren’t good for very long periods of listening and the lighter the headphone setup is (including cable.) the longer you could realistically wear them.

I absolutely have to wear glasses as I'm near blind. G pads take away quite a lot of the bass impact because the top parts of the pads being the material that they are, rest plonked on the glasses arms rather than enveloping around them so I get this sense of bass downwards by my lobes but not upwards by my temples and it's a massive pain having to keep taking them on and off to change tracks as indeed the headphones while not too heavy, are cumbersome because of the cable. Everytime I take them off and on again I've gotta smack that cable back down in it's place. That damn thing has a life of its own.

 

[OnlySoMany]

Honestly looking back now it seems the better they sounded to me the worse the comfort was for me. I thought I seen someone on here stating that g pads weren’t good for long term comfort, but no I have never tried them.

Yep. The ps1000e was horribly uncomfortable, but sounded amazing. I'm not here to hate on grado, I'm just saying some things are better in 2023 than in 1970.

1. Detachable cables. Let me choose what I want to use, don't solder it in place. If I want to smooth things out with copper, let me. Or ramp things up with silver, let me.

2. Headbands. It's not too hard to add some padding.

3. Amazon level (or worse) foam pads. Why does everyone have to seek out 3rd party solutions for this? Also, make them easier to swap.

4. Plastic height adjustable sliders. Just make them metal. I'm sure people will pay an extra 10 or 20 dollars. It would look better, feel better, and never separate.

5. Wish list item here. Would it hurt to have limited woods available? Maple, cocobolo, ash, whatever. Please give choices.

 

[ekolite]

I absolutely have to wear glasses as I'm near blind. G pads take away quite a lot of the bass impact because the top parts of the pads being the material that they are, rest plonked on the glasses arms rather than enveloping around them so I get this sense of bass downwards by my lobes but not upwards by my temples and it's a massive pain having to keep taking them on and off to change tracks as indeed the headphones while not too heavy, are cumbersome because of the cable. Everytime I take them off and on again I've gotta smack that cable back down in it's place. That damn thing has a life of its own.

I know what you mean. At the same time, I am more than certain that Grado keeps it simple for people to choose how to mod them as it seems damn near half of Grado owners end up modding them in one way or another.

 

[jonathan c]

I absolutely have to wear glasses as I'm near blind.** G pads take away quite a lot of the bass impact because the top parts of the pads being the material that they are, rest plonked on the glasses arms rather than enveloping around them so I get this sense of bass downwards by my lobes but not upwards by my temples and it's a massive pain having to keep taking them on and off to change tracks as indeed the headphones while not too heavy, are cumbersome because of the cable. Everytime I take them off and on again I've gotta smack that cable back down in it's place. That damn thing has a life of its own.

** Me too. However, I do not wear my glasses while listening. Why? Comfort and I can focus on / bathe in sound.

 

[ekolite]

I absolutely have to wear glasses as I'm near blind. G pads take away quite a lot of the bass impact because the top parts of the pads being the material that they are, rest plonked on the glasses arms rather than enveloping around them so I get this sense of bass downwards by my lobes but not upwards by my temples and it's a massive pain having to keep taking them on and off to change tracks as indeed the headphones while not too heavy, are cumbersome because of the cable. Everytime I take them off and on again I've gotta smack that cable back down in it's place. That damn thing has a life of its own.

My friend is completely blind. He never heard hi-fi anything before so I am hooking him up with some Koss kph-40’s. You may should look into these as they are a quantum leap more comfortable than Grados but you do miss on some of that magical Grado sound. They kept me totally happy while I was looking to upgrade at one time. I could wear them in 15-hour intervals without any discomfort with yaxi pad upgrade (12 dollars)

 

[575125]

My friend is completely blind. He never heard hi-fi anything before so I am hooking him up with some Koss kph-40’s. You may should look into these as they are a quantum leap more comfortable than Grados but you do miss on some of that magical Grado sound. They kept me totally happy while I was looking to upgrade at one time. I could wear them in 15-hour intervals without any discomfort with yaxi pad upgrade (12 dollars)

KPH40 are a fantastic set of headphones. Like 90% of the SR80 for a fraction of the price. Was actually going to buy a pair again for portable use until I saw a pair of oppo pm3 boxed like new for a bargain price. Wish koss did a truly wireless portapro. They could house the battery in one side of the comfozone and the Bluetooth module in the other. Those dangly ones they made a few years ago...

 

[ekolite]

Good call. I have never tried a Bluetooth Koss but have been tempted to. They actually sound even better with lossy formats than Grado does IMO. If I had an old iPod or something. I might go for porta pro or kph40 instead of Grado. Grado does have the upper hand of getting louder with f pads. But the comfort isn’t as good especially long term. Damn it. That’s it I’m getting my kph-40’s out tonight.

 

[ekolite]

My findings. After applying deoxit to the connections on my Koss kph40’s. And doing a couple of frequency sweeps. I was very impressed with them and I think they would make a fine budget alternative to the Grados for most genres. For classical I still prefer the Grados however the Koss are no slouch. The Koss deliver sweet rich highs that give a euphoric feeling like having some fine wine. A bit congested in the lower mids/bass region but other than that if it does this just turn it down a notch, should take care of it. The Koss get you almost there for much less money. If you want to perfect it get the Grados later. How the Koss scale with gear I don’t know. But I imagine they would scale some yes. Hey they are priced right. Wouldn’t hurt to try.

Conclusion: Koss KPH40 - A budget masterpiece that sounds different enough from Grados to be thoroughly enjoyable on their own.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

My findings. After applying deoxit to the connections on my Koss kph40’s. And doing a couple of frequency sweeps. I was very impressed with them and I think they would make a fine budget alternative to the Grados for most genres. For classical I still prefer the Grados however the Koss are no slouch. The Koss deliver sweet rich highs that give a euphoric feeling like having some fine wine. A bit congested in the lower mids/bass region but other than that if it does this just turn it down a notch, should take care of it. The Koss get you almost there for much less money. If you want to perfect it get the Grados later. How the Koss scale with gear I don’t know. But I imagine they would scale some yes. Hey they are priced right. Wouldn’t hurt to try.

Conclusion: Koss KPH40 - A budget masterpiece that sounds different enough from Grados to be thoroughly enjoyable on their own.

If you can find a pair of Sennheiser PX 100s, you will know which set of portable headphones is truly King of the Hill