[diamondears]

I'm very very impressed by the PS500e so far!  (I'm driving them with the Schiit Lyr and my DAC is the Emotiva DC-1.)
 
The sound quality is really amazing.  Imagine the clarity of the HD800 mixed with the tonality of the Stax 007 MK2 and the musicality of the old revisions of the RS1 and you get the PS500e.
 
I will go as far as saying that the PS500e are the best Grado headphones that I have ever heard.  (And I have owned all the revisions of the RS1 apart from the new RS1e.)
 
I was hesitant to buy them because I thought that they were going to sound dark like the HF-2 but thank god it's not the case at all.
 

That looks really good. I should stop visiting this site...

I'm thinking of getting the older version and put G-Cushions into it like what @lehoang15tuoi did. Anybody think this is not a good idea? Having tried vent mod on my SR80i (more like screwdriver "poke" mod), I'm very willing to just vent mod for more bass in case G-Cushions brings out too much treble and mids.

Comments?

 

[maxifunk]

  From the RS1i thread:
 
Even though I'm largely on my way out of head-fi (sold off 75% of my gear - down to two pairs of headphones and one amp/DAC), I bought a little birthday present for myself last week. Good to have one of Brooklyn's finest on the headphone stand again
 

 
RS1i (almost pristine) with Manta headband and recabled with HPL's Silver Ray.

 
 

   
Indeed. The 60i from St3al should have a driver covered with white gauze on the front. Some people remove that cloth, but it's there for a reason: it prevents dirt from entering the holes in the black plastic cover.
 
The black foam covering the drivers of Wildcatsare1's PS500e is new to me. It's also not glued to the drivers like the white cloth and can be removed without the risk of dust entering the front of the driver. To me, that black foam looks like the covers of the Sennheiser PX 100 II.
I bought a secondhand SR60 some time ago which had those ear pads, and they are the same as the ear pads that came with my PX (whose drivers ended up in the ZennJazzGrado:
 
ZennJazzGrado with Sennheiser drivers:
 

 
CherryGrado with SR80i drivers:
 

I have a question did putting your SR80i in wood vastly improve the sound?

 

[kramer5150]

 
  CherryGrado with SR80i drivers:
 

 
Curious, isn't an SR80/i/e driver paired with the Grado 1/8" TRS cable, essentially just an SR60/i/e ?  Did Grado update the 1/8 TRS cable with the additional blue wire/ground to make it like the 1/4" TRS cable?

 

[020Assassin]

Curious, isn't an SR80/i/e driver paired with the Grado 1/8" TRS cable, essentially just an SR60/i/e ?  Did Grado update the 1/8 TRS cable with the additional blue wire/ground to make it like the 1/4" TRS cable?

That cable in the picture is the standard 80i cable terminating in a 1/8" jack. The gold adapter for 1/4" is next to the jack. If you enlarge the picture, you can see it clearly.

 

[020Assassin]

I have a question did putting your SR80i in wood vastly improve the sound?

Oh, yes. Soundis warmer, bass is deeper and more detailed (after vent mod), and the soundstage has increased tenfold.

 

[joseph69]

Oh, yes. Soundis warmer, bass is deeper and more detailed (after vent mod), and the soundstage has increased tenfold.

Hmm, I didn't vent my 80i's when I put the Vibrolabs "classic" wooden cups on, but there wasn't any bass increase…if anything the bass/detail/sound-stage stayed the same. When I switched to the (L) cushions, thats when the sound-stage increased, and the bass may have gotten even lighter, but still kept its excellent quality, and the detail/clarity had gotten better. So IME/IMO the (L) cushions changed the sound of my 80i's the most. The wooden cups were for aesthetic purposes mainly…and they are made from Honduran Mahogany wood. I would think the vent mod would have given you the differences that you hear, not so much the cups.

 

 

[GotGent]

Hey Guys, 225 or 325? Serious dilemma...
 
Thanks!

 

[maxifunk]

  Hey Guys, 225 or 325? Serious dilemma...
 
Thanks!

I have never tried the 225e but for $50.00 USD more the SR325e is worth the price and then some. But as a friend told me get the highest Grado in your price range and if you like the Grado Sound you'll be happy/ I started out going to get the SR80e then the SR125e then the SR255e then got a $100.00 gift and the SR325e landed in my house. Not one second of buyers remorse.
although I do wish the ear pads where more comfortable

 

[icedfirefly]

Hello guys.
 
I`m the owner of a Grado SR60i and i`m more than happy with the sound, but i have a small issue and maybe someone here can help me.
 
I use glasses, and the pads puts too much pressure over my ear and the metal part of the glasses that goes behind my ears, so after 30 minutes or so it`s pretty unconfortable, after one hours it starts to hurt.
 
I saw that i could put the G-cushions on them, could that improve a little the situation since they are bigger and they would sit around the ear, right? they are a bit expensive (compared with the headphones, i paid $85 for the SR60i and the pads are $50 or so...)
 
Are there other good quality and a bit cheaper pads that i could use?
 
Also, i`m from Spain and the G-cushions are not that easy to get, Grado don`t ship overseas, and the 2 officials shop that i contacted and sell Grado stuff have yet to answer me if they can get them...
 
I could try to buy some used ones here in Head-Fi maybe...
 
Thanks in advance!!

 

[020Assassin]

  Hmm, I didn't vent my 80i's when I put the Vibrolabs "classic" wooden cups on, but there wasn't any bass increase…if anything the bass/detail/sound-stage stayed the same. When I switched to the (L) cushions, thats when the sound-stage increased, and the bass may have gotten even lighter, but still kept its excellent quality, and the detail/clarity had gotten better. So IME/IMO the (L) cushions changed the sound of my 80i's the most. The wooden cups were for aesthetic purposes mainly…and they are made from Honduran Mahogany wood. I would think the vent mod would have given you the differences that you hear, not so much the cups.

 

There's is a whole thread comparing different tonewoods. I have my Senn PX drivers in Khaya Mahogany, but the 80i are set in Cherry, which has different tonal quality than your Vibro Labs Mahogany. And the shape is different, as the Vibro is wider. I compared A/B tested a vented 80i (in the stock cups) with the vented 80i in Cherry and while the bass deepened about the same, in the Cherry the bass was also more detailed, which must be the acoustic qualities of the wood, because the modification of the drivers was the same.
 
Also, the Senn PX sounds crappy when stock, but sounds great when placed in wooden cups, so the cups are not purely aesthetic. Just as the 325 and 225 have basically the same drivers and cable, but the metal cup of the 325 changes the sound compared to the plastic 225 cup.

 

[020Assassin]

  Hey Guys, 225 or 325? Serious dilemma...
 
Thanks!

The 225 has a plastic cup and the 325 a metal cup, which is the main difference. I can hear tonal differences and I lean toward the 325 (especially the iS, which I like better than the e), but I think you should audition both and choose what fits you and your music best.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

  Hello guys.
 
I`m the owner of a Grado SR60i and i`m more than happy with the sound, but i have a small issue and maybe someone here can help me.
 
I use glasses, and the pads puts too much pressure over my ear and the metal part of the glasses that goes behind my ears, so after 30 minutes or so it`s pretty unconfortable, after one hours it starts to hurt.
 
I saw that i could put the G-cushions on them, could that improve a little the situation since they are bigger and they would sit around the ear, right? they are a bit expensive (compared with the headphones, i paid $85 for the SR60i and the pads are $50 or so...)
 
Are there other good quality and a bit cheaper pads that i could use?
 
Also, i`m from Spain and the G-cushions are not that easy to get, Grado don`t ship overseas, and the 2 officials shop that i contacted and sell Grado stuff have yet to answer me if they can get them...
 
I could try to buy some used ones here in Head-Fi maybe...
 
Thanks in advance!!

Bend it out! Bend it out until the pressure is reduced enough for you to feel like something is hanging on your head leaving only very small force for you to feel the bass.
 
Don't buy the G-cushs, cos your Sr60i will sound like defected when equipped with those. Buy the L-cushs instead, but then, you still have to bend the headband out.

 

[insomniak1]

How about the iGrados? Any thoughts?

 

[insomniak1]

 
I have never tried the 225e but for $50.00 USD more the SR325e is worth the price and then some. But as a friend told me get the highest Grado in your price range and if you like the Grado Sound you'll be happy/ I started out going to get the SR80e then the SR125e then the SR255e then got a $100.00 gift and the SR325e landed in my house. Not one second of buyers remorse.
although I do wish the ear pads where more comfortable

Ha! This is my story as well. However I'm on the SR225e stage. Won't be long before I "escalate".

 

[Wildcatsare1]

@020Assassin, tried the 500e without the "socks" yesterday, too hot, not by a lot, but enough to make some recordings a bit irritating. So the "socks" are back on. Any thoughts on a substitute, something a bit thinner?