[Plautus001]

The issue is that as you get hooked into this hobby, there are relatively few non-schills out there providing information.

It used to be fine when there were a number of well written sources like Innerfidelity, but alas videos produce more income for content providers.

It is hard to find places where you can listen to and compare many headphones at once as it used to be pre-covid.

Generally this and the Schiit forums have been the most useful sources of information for me, hence why we defend it vigorously from the measure-holes.

 

[jonathan c]

iʻm not sure about current day grados...in the past, grados have always paired well with the gilmore-lite.

Still very true!

 

[jonathan c]

Well, I certainly opened a can of worms here. And all I said was that I bought something on his recommendation and didn’t like it. I guess we’re all on the same page.

Not a can of worms…a ‘can’ for ears

 

[David222]

The RS1x continue to emerge from the shadow of my collection .... they've become a front runner in command of time / attention...resolution is excellent... attack is quick, crisp and clean ...decay is well timed and entirely natural... If this horse is bridled correctly - timbre, flow and "thereness" are equally tremendous....take a haphazard approach in amplifying this mustang with poorly recorded tracks and find yourself quickly bucked ... looking upward (dazed and confused) from the dirt below.

 

[glpsace]

The RS1x continue to emerge from the shadow of my collection .... they've become a front runner in command of time / attention...resolution is excellent... attack is quick, crisp and clean ...decay is well timed and entirely natural... If this horse is bridled correctly - timbre, flow and "thereness" are equally tremendous....take a haphazard approach in amplifying this mustang with poorly recorded tracks and find yourself quickly bucked ... looking upward (dazed and confused) from the dirt below.

Lovely Photo.

I have never considered something like the 1X, after reading about it but since I got the 325 Gold, I see things with different "ears".

I thought I needed always that fair amount of bass in my cans, but depending on what I'm listening (even in my preferred genre) many times the 325 is my first grab, even if overall the Hemp is my favorite.

There are a few models that I'm very curious about, for different reasons. The PS500e, the RS-1X and the GS3000e.

I´m always considering other brands (mainly European now) just for sake of diversity but haven't hit the button yet.

 

[ESL-1]

Excellent suggestion! The Vioelectric V200 + Grados brings down the house!

I still feel the same about mine…

FTFY…[Reg. TM; © bcowen: 2021.]

Debating on selling my 325E. I’ll be honest, my LCD2s and Bathys have stolen most of their listening. I have had mine forever though. I still love the way they sound tho

Perhaps you should sell the 325e and fill the gap with a different Grado. The SR325x certainly brings a different take on the sound with fuller more detailed bass and and a refined mids through highs at a similar price range (IMHO).

If you think to get tempted I feel both the RS2x and especially the RS1x are sonically from a different pallet and are very open and spacious and better bass again. I feel the RS1x has been a real crowd pleaser and has tempted quite a number as first Grado purchases dive right in to the new detail and imaging. They do take more playtime to get to their true abilities. As a believer of break in on certain gear (based on 30+ years in retail audio).

Safe gamble should you ever decide to replace your 325e. Should you not fall in love you would have no problem getting most of your money back if you sold them.

The RS1x continue to emerge from the shadow of my collection .... they've become a front runner in command of time / attention...resolution is excellent... attack is quick, crisp and clean ...decay is well timed and entirely natural... If this horse is bridled correctly - timbre, flow and "thereness" are equally tremendous....take a haphazard approach in amplifying this mustang with poorly recorded tracks and find yourself quickly bucked ... looking upward (dazed and confused) from the dirt below.

Loved your post David…

 

[kugino]

iʻm not really up to date on the "e" and "x" updates to the grado line...last i checked in, the "i" were being introduced...anyone want to help out a lazy guy who doesnʻt want to search? whatʻs new with the "e" and "x" lines?

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

iʻm not really up to date on the "e" and "x" updates to the grado line...last i checked in, the "i" were being introduced...anyone want to help out a lazy guy who doesnʻt want to search? whatʻs new with the "e" and "x" lines?

Very, very, generally speaking, the e and x updates have been a move towards warmer and bassier and less sparkly. But we're talking small changes here; Grados are not going to be confused with Fostex

 

[YUHaveNoNames]

Me enjoying my Hemp with Topping DX3pro+: sweats nervously

Don't worry, they can't hear you over their distortion.

 

[jonathan c]

Don't blame yourself. Audioscientology** started before you even posted

**…also has the pseudonym ‘audiautocracy’…where measurements exist to quell the common enjoyment……

 

[jonathan c]

Is their new version V202 ok? I don't see V200 on the market.


Also my liking sound signature is U shape with about -2db at 3khz. I like good amount of treble but smooth treble, my ear sensitive with 3khz.

Sonically, HPA V202 is a direct descendant of HPA V200.

 

[kugino]

Very, very, generally speaking, the e and x updates have been a move towards warmer and bassier and less sparkly. But we're talking small changes here; Grados are not going to be confused with Fostex

um, ok...thanks for the update. in my extensive experiences with original grado lines (and iʻve heard all of them and owned most of them not counting the hp series), warmth and bass can be manipulated a lot via amp choices and even pads. grados with a melos tube, a gilmore-lite or one of justinʻs gs-x are super enjoyable. i should try out the rs-1x one of these days as a "vintage" rs-1 is still my favorite grado of all time...love grados in general so glad to see grado love still going strong.

 

[jonathan c]

To corroborate @David222 ‘s point in post #58,798, the right headphone amplifier (SS or VT), the right tube can bring out the best in RS-1x:

[With the Ken-Rad VT-231 tube pair, the RS-1x frequency response is pivoted to ‘level’ from ‘slight upward tilt’. Bass is fuller, sinuous, and midrange / openness / soundstage / treble retain their Grado virtues.

 

[movinIron]

Well, I certainly opened a can of worms here. And all I said was that I bought something on his recommendation and didn’t like it. I guess we’re all on the same page.

Is there something to say against a well opened can of worms?
Guys on ASR are true believers.
In the Harman Curve.
Not shure if everyone of them really is aware, that Harman did more than one Curve. They also made an interesting one for selling (new) AKG (now Samsung) products.
Or really aware what “the“ Harman (Target) Curve is for.
it was a salesman Initiative to find out „how can we sell the most stuff“.
And it’s first version was nothing near something audiophile.
It was done in 2012 by Sean Olive. Then changed by nearly +5dB in 2013 in the 0 - 60 Hz range and -2dB at 3kHz. And again by another +2dB in the 0 - 60 Hz range and raised by -1dB at 3kHz in 2015. Spontaneous mutation in human race? 2 times in 3 years? A little too Star Trek with me.

In short words:
It is named target curve, because it is about listener acceptance.

Listener here means … buyer. Not ‘well trained audio expert‘. As in piano tuner, conductor or…
(No intention to offend us - the listeners in reality)
The best results the Harman Target Curve gained was 61%. Including no one above 50 years and nearly no female of the questioned people.
21% did a fascinating thing: They reduced bass and raised volume. Or at least asked about how to manage it.

Sean Olive and his team did a great job. They had to fight with inexperienced test persons, their exhaustion while testing and of cause the ever existing time/ressource limits.
But they did no study about the perfect hearing as some people frantically want to believe.
And they did nothing to develop ‘the perfect speaker‘, they found out what the most percentage of average people would like to hear.
And it shows only one thing: volume @ frequency. Nothing else!
Nothing about resolution (please don‘t think digital here), distortion, decay,…
By the way, do you guys remember how positive the public reactions were, when audio industry designed the first loudness function?
I appreciate Amirs (ASR) work. He and his friends did and I think will do great efforts in finding out about sound. I need to admit that I nearly never agree to his opinions, but this hobby, at least to me, is about different impressions/opinions.
I learn from analysing different point of views. And loving it.
If it helps understanding my maybe very own point of view, currently I‘m in IT as I guess is Amir, originally I was trained EE. Did Audio (circuitry) design, repair, sometimes tuning, mostly power supply and output and worked with sound studios (as a technician). All long ago while studying and I think of myself more than a kind of jack of all trades as an expert, except the particular job I am doing at a time. Oh and I am a pad swapper. At least monthly. No equalization (yet).
So, without any irony, thanks Amir. Your points help me understanding and sometimes adapting mine.

Measurements are important. In quality control as in development. They can tell you several things about the sound of, for example, a pair of headphones.
But if measurements are everything, why are there increasing sales with Vinyl?
If digital is perfect, why do I own 3 completely different sounding CD Players? Using the same external DAC? No matter which of the 4 I own?!
If measurement is telling everything about sound quality, why are there 9 Grado headphones in my cupboard, most of them in rotation for daily use?
Why do I have to wrangle these Grados out of the kids fingers day to day?
Just to mention the Target Curve - they have their own colored JBL headphones…
and hate cables.

I hate them running around with these ever to long, ever to short, non-detachable, indestructible Grado garden hoses, knocking everything including the youngest one down.

 

[Ilomaenkimi]

The RS1x continue to emerge from the shadow of my collection .... they've become a front runner in command of time / attention...resolution is excellent... attack is quick, crisp and clean ...decay is well timed and entirely natural... If this horse is bridled correctly - timbre, flow and "thereness" are equally tremendous....take a haphazard approach in amplifying this mustang with poorly recorded tracks and find yourself quickly bucked ... looking upward (dazed and confused) from the dirt below.

How is the sound affected with those pads? Sibilance? Speed? Attack? Is soundstage as it is with stock pads?
I have RS2x and those ZMF Beyer Pads are tempting, but i'm afraid that they ruin that lovely Grado sound.