[trellus]

Grado has a firm no-discounting policy to keep the playing field level for their retailers. Back when I had my little online headphone shop (Inner Sanctum Audio), I carried Grados. During my “Going Out of Business Sale”, I initially posted a site-wide discount of 20%, then 30%. One day, I got a phone call from John Grado himself, telling me I can’t discount the Grados. He was nice about it, even adding, “I guess if you’re going out of business, I really don’t have any leverage to stop you from discounting.” I honored his request, though. Great family business.

That was a laudable, ethical decision. I think Grado headphones are great value for the money -- obviously, like everyone, OF COURSE I want to pay as little as I can, but honestly, the prices are pretty good as is.

 

[Menkau-ra]

Only on boxes…

I don't really care if they have BOXES on sale
I want a headphone.

 

[Menkau-ra]

Also, as @ESL-1 (and others) would point out, Grado Labs has kept a pretty tight lid on headphone prices over the years. Would you rather have that or generally quite higher prices with partial (?) relief from a Black Friday sale?

I prefer if they start selling their headphones without cables and give me a discount

 

[Menkau-ra]

What Grado can do is to start selling kits, just like Bottlehead. Build your own headphone. That would be a killer for us.

 

[god-bluff]

Anyone using the Schiit Fulla E to drive thier Grados? I'm still narrowing down the options, I was also considering the Magni and an apple dongle combo but that will require me to buy a small pure sine wave Inverter to run it at night. My cabin is entirely 12v when the sun is down.

Your Grados deserve more than a pile of shiite .. sorry ..Schiiit !

 

[Plautus001]

Your Grados deserve more than a pile of shiite .. sorry ..Schiiit !

Disagree... Schiit works great with Grado and they use Grado to test some amps.

If you want to pay more for less with other brands... your choice...

 

[jonathan c]

I prefer if they start selling their headphones without cables and give me a discount

The biggest discount comes with: no headband + no pads + no drivers + no cables…

 

[Sinister Whisperz]

Your Grados deserve more than a pile of shiite .. sorry ..Schiiit !

Of that I have no doubt, but I'm also sure Schiit is going to sound better than Kindle Fire or Motorola. I'm on a tight budget if you have a better suggestion, I'm all ears.

 

[ESL-1]

I should have mentioned that I'm not a basshead at all. To my ears, the bass extension of the RS1x is weak and anemic, and unfortunately the F pads was not a good option for me because it kills the mid-treble "magic" of the RS1x.



I agree with you.

Sorry to hear that it sounds like that to you. Hopefully you have put on plenty of hours of playtime/break in.

My RS1x took a good bit over 200 hours to break in. The last aspect to arrive at that point definitely was the final quality and good detailing of the bass.

I also find that the L pad it comes with as the best combo. They were not designed around the flats.

Good luck.

 

[Luckyleo]

What Grado can do is to start selling kits, just like Bottlehead. Build your own headphone. That would be a killer for us.

Or maybe continue to provide high value, great sounding headphones and cartridges, as they have for 50 years? Or is it 60 years?

LOL, All good!

Leo

 

[MomijiTMO]

Hi all - I am getting back into head-fi after a good 10 year long break.

I’m considering treating myself to a new headphone and leaning towards a Grado. I own a HF2 and a MS Pro (i era) which I’ve just ordered new pads since they had perished in their long hibernation . My local store in Aus seems to have stock of some limited editions (Hemp, White, GH2/3/4). Is there a clear direction I should go to not overlap too much with what I already have? Those new RS1Xs look particularly unusual with the tri wood.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Luckyleo]

Hi all - I am getting back into head-fi after a good 10 year long break.

I’m considering treating myself to a new headphone and leaning towards a Grado. I own a HF2 and a MS Pro (i era) which I’ve just ordered new pads since they had perished in their long hibernation . My local store in Aus seems to have stock of some limited editions (Hemp, White, GH2/3/4). Is there a clear direction I should go to not overlap too much with what I already have? Those new RS1Xs look particularly unusual with the tri wood.

Thanks in advance.

Depends on your budget. Hemps and GH series are great and should be an improvement. Remember, those are incremental changes. If your budget permits, the RS1x, GS1000x, and GS3000x are more noticeable improvements over your current setup. Remember:

1) I don't know your sonic preferences
2) I don't know your source, dac, or ampliphier
3) I'm just a schmo on a forum, just like many others here on Headfi. PLEASE TAKE THIS AS JUST ANOTHER DATAPOINT

 

[MomijiTMO]

Depends on your budget. Hemps and GH series are great and should be an improvement. Remember, those are incremental changes. If your budget permits, the RS1x, GS1000x, and GS3000x are more noticeable improvements over your current setup. Remember:

1) I don't know your sonic preferences
2) I don't know your source, dac, or ampliphier
3) I'm just a schmo on a forum, just like many others here on Headfi. PLEASE TAKE THIS AS JUST ANOTHER DATAPOINT

Thanks for the quick reply! Just looking for a different flavour rather than an incremental improvement (to avoid being disappointed).

I hadn’t considered the GS line before. I see the price for those have increased over the years. The GS1000e is roughly half the price of the GS1000x (local store) or do I hold out for the GS3000x…. Will ponder.

Do you still enjoy your HF2s compared to your RS1Xs or GS3000x?

 

[ESL-1]

I prefer if they start selling their headphones without cables and give me a discount

I guess they could cut off the cables to save weight too.

Seriously I for one have only good experiences with all the Grados I have or have owned.

BTW, I have a 1/4 inch male to two 3.5mm headphone cable made from Grado’s cable.

I was not at all surprised how good it sounded on some of my other phones set up for detachable cables.

My home built Grado cable sounded better than what Focal gives you on the $1500 Clear and the cables that came with my $2000 Sony MDR-1ZR.

Raise your hand if that is a surprise to you.

 

[jonathan c]

For @Luckyleo and other GS3000x owners: if you like piano, you must listen to the album Facing You (ECM 1017: recorded November, 1971; released March, 1972.). This is a solo piano debut on the ECM label by Keith Jarrett. Astounding!