[AWS Soul]

hopefully the Rs1 gets updated and comes back with a vengeance!

Dang !!! I'm in love with the RS1e , I never heard the previous versions so It's hard for me to understand what has upset so many RS1 loyalists.

 

[Luckyleo]

Dang !!! I'm in love with the RS1e , I never heard the previous versions so It's hard for me to understand what has upset so many RS1 loyalists.

I share your appreciation, as well as you confusion about the lack of love for the RS1e's!

 

[eeagle]

Steve Guttenberg’s video today is about the 325X.

Nice tickler, so I had to find the link on my own. I really don't agree with him that Grado has a sound of it own across the whole line, the various Grado models have a personality of their own, and I doubt I could nail the Grado sound in a blind test. I was also surprised he compared it to a closed back ATH-M50x?? ; and that he didn't mention the new cable design.

 

[AWS Soul]

I've noticed that on Grado U.K that the Hemp is listed in the Reference category , I thought the Hemp was a limited edition ??
Reference Series Headphones

 

[RiccardoPL]

I wonder where that image is. I've seen it somewhere else, but a couple months ago I tried to find it, and I couldn't. I think it was probably in another forum, reddit, or somewhere. I also tried finding it in archive.org, but came up empty.

Maybe this?
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/grado-sr80e-does-not-fit-my-hearing-or-broken.870284/#post-13988034

 

[sjbrook]

Observations on my new Prestige SR225x headphones…

Build…
I don’t know what sea change in philosophy led to implementing a padded head band but long overdue. Not in any way superior to the $25 pad I bought for my SR80e but it is good to start with factory padding. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QS61HW5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

The new braided cable…it is stiffer than the old rubber but seems to fight the ear cup tendency to get all twisty better. I think I prefer the rubber shielded cable overall despite the twistiness. I cannot help but feel that the only thing this new cladding addresses is a perception of product quality without actually changing product quality.

F Cush…much has been made of these. I don’t really get it. They are pretty standard hole cut dense foam pads. They have a fairly ridged structure on the inner wall of the center hole and I guess the radial cuts are patterned after TTVJ flats? I think they sound excellent but they are uncomfortable - to me. They exert pressure on the top of my ears that I cannot reposition away. As alternatives I have tried Yaxis (kinda muddy), Geekeria hole cut comfies (also too muted and too squishy), L Cush (too spacy and a bass suckout), Senn HD414 (both hole cut and solid), S Cush comfies from my SR80e (comfortable but screaming for a center hole cut).

Overall the best balance of comfort and SQ was the hole cut HD414 (YMMV). As iconic as they are, and I remember them from when they were a new product in the headphone world, I do wish there were other colors.

Sound…
This is the utterly subjective part so I will put some context in. My auditory apparatus (ears, nerves, brain) has almost six decades of use so there is some HF attenuation and my psycho-acoustic perceptions are probably somewhat different from someone in their 20’s. My musical tastes are far ranging but for headphone listening I tend not to listen to large scale complex music of any genre. Small jazz, chamber music, bluegrass, well produced studio rock. Large noisy things are for speakers and rooms, not my headspace.

My direct experience with Grados is limited to a brief session with some 60's (or maybe 80's? many years ago) and my SR80e for the past 2.5 years. Based on that I would conclude that the X series…sound like Grados, for all that implies good or bad depending on how you feel about the Grado house sound (if you are reading this thread then one assumes you are a fan. )

The above having been stated…I like these headphones. I like them very much indeed. They are a decided step up from my 80e in every respect. Imaging, clarity, bass impact and texture. I think that had I upgraded from my 80e to 225e I would have heard qualitative improvements but not having had 225e against which to compare I have no really useful insight on the overall changes from e to x.

The only real conclusion is that the Prestige series continues to be a value product that does something that so few other products in this price range seem to do – produce music. I have owned and/or listened to a lot of headphones over the decades from Senn, AKG, Beyer, Sony, Philips, Audio-Technica, etc... and while they all do good things, the Grados are the ones that, for me, get out of the way and play music. The only other headphones I get as much enjoyment from are the endlessly tweakable drivers that Koss puts in their KSC75 and PortaPro lines, but I still rate them below the Grado.

Someone reading this may conclude I am either a tone deaf moron or a savant. Not really the point. If you can find what makes you happy and not be stuck on an endless upgrade go-round then you are ahead of the curve. I would still love to check out a set of RS2 but I think this acquisition has pushed that itch a few years into the future. Maybe when they come out with an X version.

A final thought on the overall design. Based on impedance and sensitivity Grado positions these as portable friendly but why? These are the least portable cans in the world. In noisy environments you won’t hear squat unless you crank to ear bleed. In quiet shared spaces the leakage at almost any volume will annoy the shitte out of anyone within 40 feet. The cable, be it rubber or braided, is a small garden hose. This design is optimal for one thing. Sitting still in a relatively quiet room. I seriously wish they would make a higher impedance version (120~250 Ohm) for people with beefy tube amps to drive them.

Signal path…

Office: Computer (flac, streams, mp3)==> Topping D30==> B&K PT3==> Liquid Spark
Office: Marantz/HeartCD6000 (Tungsram E88CC)==> Topping D30==> B&K PT3==> Liquid Spark
Living Room: Pioneer PD65==> Pro-Ject DAC Box S FL==> Anthem Pre2L (Genelex Gold Lion 6922)
Living Room: AR/XA, Sumiko MMT, Grado Sig8/MCZ==> Vista Audio Phono-1 mkII==> Anthem Pre2L (Genelex Gold Lion 6922)

 

[Rebel Chris]

GH3 stands for great headphones 3x. Have a nice weekend.

 

[Stevko]

Gonna return my 325x.
One dead driver and crappy sound on the other side.
Thank you again amazon for the returning terms.
enjoying my beyer instead

 

[Loukasss]

Well, i couldn’t hold back anymore, so in a few weeks I’m gonna receive the sr125x. I hope by the time i get them i can share my thoughts and experience with all of you here.

 

[SHAMuuu]

They are a really good set of cans, IMO. I have the GS1000e, RS2e and now the SR325x, and I still prefer the Hemp over the others. I have other headphones from other manufacturers too, and the Hemp's still get most of my listening time.

What other headphones from other manufacturers do you have? Is the hemp preferred to all others or just the grados?

Not hype, it's really a great headphone, especially considering the price.

Yeah very good position in the mid-fi market I must say.

Like others have said, the Hemps are great regardless of the hype.

I think the reason the Hemps are getting so much praise is two fold.

1. They have a less "offensive" tuning for most people, making them a more gentle introduction to the Grado house sound.

2. They simply got way more press than any other Grado release as of late. The Hemp memes and the fact they were on Chanel's like techlinked made it so a lot more people knew about them. Then when people maybe tried them, the new tuning help them get into it more.

I was thinking the jokes and memes have given it a bit of spice and excitement for sure. Its funny... and it works. As funny as the 420 jokes, I think Steve Guttenbery saying "grados are horn-ey" is also up there for the funnies. I keep hearing SUPER PORTA PRO .. which is something a lot of people were hungry for years.

I think it's more a case of eyes being diverted to the land of the X - Series

I have been trying to understand the grado lineup and how they scale, but there is always more info on the materials of the cups than the drivers besides size. I've not come up on anything as to why the drivers differ (e.g coatings or materials or thickness, voice coil differences except to say they are lighter or something like that)

Perhaps the young Grado boys have been involved in trying to gain more young followers with a tamer sound.

 

[Stevko]

What to buy for my 325x refund?
Im finished with the X.
Some second hand woodies?

 

[donlin]

.....F Cush…much has been made of these. I don’t really get it. They are pretty standard hole cut dense foam pads. They have a fairly ridged structure on the inner wall of the center hole and I guess the radial cuts are patterned after TTVJ flats?

The TTVJ flats are actually patterned after the original Grado pads that were on all of their headphones from the late 1980’s to the mid 1990’s when they switched over to the L pads. Todd got exclusive permission from Grado to continue to sell the original flat pads so people could continue to use them.

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

What to buy for my 325x refund?
Im finished with the X.
Some second hand woodies?

You can probably find a used RS2e for $300-$350 USD which your refund would mostly cover.

 

[headfry]

Observations on my new Prestige SR225x headphones…

Build…
I don’t know what sea change in philosophy led to implementing a padded head band but long overdue. Not in any way superior to the $25 pad I bought for my SR80e but it is good to start with factory padding. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QS61HW5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

The new braided cable…it is stiffer than the old rubber but seems to fight the ear cup tendency to get all twisty better. I think I prefer the rubber shielded cable overall despite the twistiness. I cannot help but feel that the only thing this new cladding addresses is a perception of product quality without actually changing product quality.

F Cush…much has been made of these. I don’t really get it. They are pretty standard hole cut dense foam pads. They have a fairly ridged structure on the inner wall of the center hole and I guess the radial cuts are patterned after TTVJ flats? I think they sound excellent but they are uncomfortable - to me. They exert pressure on the top of my ears that I cannot reposition away. As alternatives I have tried Yaxis (kinda muddy), Geekeria hole cut comfies (also too muted and too squishy), L Cush (too spacy and a bass suckout), Senn HD414 (both hole cut and solid), S Cush comfies from my SR80e (comfortable but screaming for a center hole cut).

Overall the best balance of comfort and SQ was the hole cut HD414 (YMMV). As iconic as they are, and I remember them from when they were a new product in the headphone world, I do wish there were other colors.

Sound…
This is the utterly subjective part so I will put some context in. My auditory apparatus (ears, nerves, brain) has almost six decades of use so there is some HF attenuation and my psycho-acoustic perceptions are probably somewhat different from someone in their 20’s. My musical tastes are far ranging but for headphone listening I tend not to listen to large scale complex music of any genre. Small jazz, chamber music, bluegrass, well produced studio rock. Large noisy things are for speakers and rooms, not my headspace.

My direct experience with Grados is limited to a brief session with some 60's (or maybe 80's? many years ago) and my SR80e for the past 2.5 years. Based on that I would conclude that the X series…sound like Grados, for all that implies good or bad depending on how you feel about the Grado house sound (if you are reading this thread then one assumes you are a fan. )

The above having been stated…I like these headphones. I like them very much indeed. They are a decided step up from my 80e in every respect. Imaging, clarity, bass impact and texture. I think that had I upgraded from my 80e to 225e I would have heard qualitative improvements but not having had 225e against which to compare I have no really useful insight on the overall changes from e to x.

The only real conclusion is that the Prestige series continues to be a value product that does something that so few other products in this price range seem to do – produce music. I have owned and/or listened to a lot of headphones over the decades from Senn, AKG, Beyer, Sony, Philips, Audio-Technica, etc... and while they all do good things, the Grados are the ones that, for me, get out of the way and play music. The only other headphones I get as much enjoyment from are the endlessly tweakable drivers that Koss puts in their KSC75 and PortaPro lines, but I still rate them below the Grado.

Someone reading this may conclude I am either a tone deaf moron or a savant. Not really the point. If you can find what makes you happy and not be stuck on an endless upgrade go-round then you are ahead of the curve. I would still love to check out a set of RS2 but I think this acquisition has pushed that itch a few years into the future. Maybe when they come out with an X version.

A final thought on the overall design. Based on impedance and sensitivity Grado positions these as portable friendly but why? These are the least portable cans in the world. In noisy environments you won’t hear squat unless you crank to ear bleed. In quiet shared spaces the leakage at almost any volume will annoy the shitte out of anyone within 40 feet. The cable, be it rubber or braided, is a small garden hose. This design is optimal for one thing. Sitting still in a relatively quiet room. I seriously wish they would make a higher impedance version (120~250 Ohm) for people with beefy tube amps to drive them.

Signal path…

Office: Computer (flac, streams, mp3)==> Topping D30==> B&K PT3==> Liquid Spark
Office: Marantz/HeartCD6000 (Tungsram E88CC)==> Topping D30==> B&K PT3==> Liquid Spark
Living Room: Pioneer PD65==> Pro-Ject DAC Box S FL==> Anthem Pre2L (Genelex Gold Lion 6922)
Living Room: AR/XA, Sumiko MMT, Grado Sig8/MCZ==> Vista Audio Phono-1 mkII==> Anthem Pre2L (Genelex Gold Lion 6922)

Enjoyed reading! The 225e’s are a big step up from the 80e (I own both) and it will be interesting to see how the 225x compares with the 225e. I love the 225e, also own and use the amazing GS1000i and the GR10e’s…..with the 225e’s getting the most use. ..looking forward to reading more posts on this!

 

[sjbrook]

The TTVJ flats are actually patterned after the original Grado pads that were on all of their headphones from the late 1980’s to the mid 1990’s when they switched over to the L pads. Todd got exclusive permission from Grado to continue to sell the original flat pads so people could continue to use them.

Did the original flats have the radial cuts or was that a recent innovation?