Grado Fan Club!

[protoss]

So whats the verdict on the HP100 SE vs HP1000
Is it a modern take, better than the original or not even close?

 

[alexdemaet]

Yeah...but getting at the drivers is not an easy task. I basically had to destroy the plastic housing to get at the drivers -- I put them in new wood enclosures so I was not being careful. I think that you can get them out with a heat gun and a lot of patience...I did mine caveman style...slashing with a knife as I was grunting loudly and eating raw meat.

This is what that caveman created. No removable cable because the originals didn't have them.

It is still on my to do lust but you can also install the beautifulaudio adapter.

 

[chesebert]

So whats the verdict on the HP100 SE vs HP1000
Is it a modern take, better than the original or not even close?

Technically superior modern take.

 

[ekolite]

It is a bit over a year (actually 14 months) since I started using Grado headphones. I bought a pair of SR325x from Amazon on 1st March 2024. I rarely buy from Amazon but they had them very reasonably priced here in the UK and of course there is the 30 day no-questions-asked returns policy. So I bought them thinking I’d try them out and if I didn’t like them, well I could send them back. So that is how I discovered that Grado is my favourite headphone.

I now have three Grados, SR325x, RS1x and GS3000x and I feel I have a Grado for nearly every mood. However I do still have the cans I was using before I bought these Grados and I plan now to write about how my Grado use has influenced my use of these pre-Grado cans. Although I am a Grado noob really I actually first started using headphones quite a long time ago, the very first use was in the 70s when I would use cans at night in my family home so I could listen to music without waking up my parents then in the 80s I really liked using Sony Walkmans (Walkmen? always something to wonder about). It was in the 90s that headphones became my prime way to listen to music because I was living in a tiny flat in London and if I played music using my main system then all my neighbours were listening to that music as well. My brain kind of became rewired in the 90s such that when I wanted to really listen to music attentively I would want to use headphones and that continues to this day even though I live in a detached house.

I actually have quite a lot of headphones but most of them are in a box and no longer used, the box is a kind of headphone graveyard really. There is nothing valuable there because anything like that I have sold. The most valuable thing in the box is a pair of AKG K702 cans, but they were used a huge amount and they are really worn out so I can’t see anyone wanting to buy them.

So, the not-Grados that I have outside that box are:

Sennheiser HD800S
Beyerdynamic T1 Gen 2
Focal Azurys
AKG K450

The most used are the Focal Azurys cans, in fact these are the only ones I bought after I had discovered Grados. I use them with my iFi Audio xDSD Gryphon on public transport and generally when I’m out and about. I use the Gryphon in bluetooth mode while travelling but they really come into their own when I am sitting in cafés writing, then I plug the Gryphon into my iPad Pro 13” M4 and I have really excellent quality music which I love to have while writing. As an aside I am currently engaged in a major writing project. If you've got this far you might be thinking maybe this post is the "major writing project".

I bought my AKG K450 cans on 23rd April 2011 (I keep good records!). They’ve had a few pad replacements over the years. The value I have had from these cans has been quite remarkable. My main use for these today is when I go out at night, I love to go into town here in Brighton at the weekend and I don’t want to take my Gryphon and Azurys cans because it is bulky and also I might lose them while socialising, so I plug my K450 cans into the Apple dongle and that goes into my iPhone 14 Pro Max. It always amazes me just how good they sound, it really is a lovely simple way-to-go.

I still use my Sennheiser HD800S for attentive listening in my house and I still really enjoy them even though they are very different indeed from my Grados. I think I use them about 10% of the time but it is always a great time using them. They do what they do very well indeed I think they have always been a quite brilliant design actually.

I pretty much never use my Beyerdynamic T1 Gen 2 since I got my Grados. They are excellent cans and those that believe they are better cans than the HD800S have a case as they are absolutely great all-rounders. I used to use them when I wanted something with a bit more life than the HD800S, but of course as you have guessed I get all the life I want from the Grado cans so the T1 Gen 2 cans now pretty much never get used.

I rocked the k450’s for a while. Brilliant phones though do get a bit pinchy after a few hours for me. I also had the q460 before those with the badass neon green and black vibe. I started out with not liking a lot of headphones after that until I tried sennheiser 280 pro. And would have been happy for the sound if it wasn’t for the terrible comfort after a bit. Then Ultrasones I had a lot of fun with. But do prefer the more dependable grado sound without all the treble spikes and such. Which I first tried in 2018. I did take a break for over a year when my cables on both my pair got damaged. Rocked the Koss kph40’s and porta pros during that time. It can be done. But feels so good when you come back.

 

[jonathan c]

... I have been enjoying PS500e -- with G-cushions -- as of late.

With Woo WA6 (Gen 1), the sound is: airy, balanced, luscious, punchy ....

 

[jleewachter]

Bummer. Grado experts. Are the removable cable mods a solution to that problem? Certainly something in which I could be interested down the road among other mods.

It certainly solved the problem I had with my RS1X that had a dead channel due to the stock soldering having disconnected the wire to the driver terminal. Granted it involved a bit of soldering/disassembly/reassembly on my part but if an idiot like me can do it with RS1Xs, I'd assume anyone could do it with 225s (which should be easier to disassemble.) Just have to be careful and patient.

 

[Stevko]

Throwing this out there. I’ve never actually received a defective audio product and my SR325X have a short or driver issue on the right side. Grado and my local shop are taking care of me, but I’m asking the Grado fans here… is this common?

Love the sound, just a bit disappointed at the moment.

Yeaa. Bought 325x and 60e with same issue.

 

[piglet]

... I have been enjoying PS500e -- with G-cushions -- as of late. With Woo WA6 (Gen 1), the sound is: airy, balanced, luscious, punchy ....

The aluminium of the PS500e looks like it matches that WA6. Beside the WA6 is another Woo Audio amp, is that another WA6? Maybe for dual listening? Maybe it is a different Woo Audio amplifier?

 

[jonathan c]

The aluminium of the PS500e looks like it matches that WA6. Beside the WA6 is another Woo Audio amp, is that another WA6? Maybe for dual listening? Maybe it is a different Woo Audio amplifier?

It is Woo WA3 -- output transformer-less (OTL). Discontinued .... it is a great h/p/a, and with select tubes becomes .

 

[piglet]

I only recently picked up my first pair of Grado headphones and have had zero issues, but two general responses based on my experiences with different audio brands over the decades:
1) Boutique brands (like Grado) do a lot by hand and occasionally miss something.
2) Boutique brands (like Grado) are almost always great with customer service and support.

It used to be that manufacturers would describe things as being hand-built as being some indicator of quality. I think they do this less now as the public has come to learn that, actually, machines are far better.

My European cans are all remarkable intricate designs. The most recent being the Focal Azurys are very much in the school of moulded plastic but it is just remarkable how good it is, how detailed it all is, how fine the design is. I'm sure there are dedicated machines at the factory that press these various pieces together and then put the tiny little screws in, probably all at the same time. There is probably a human operating the machine, but the machine is doing the essential aligning and all that fine stuff. I also think probably it is all taking place in China or India but this final aspect is the least important issue for me.

I think that manufacturers like Focal design their cans to be built by machines and they design the machines that build them at the same time. The cans could not be reliably assembled by humans.

Grados are built by hand and so they are designed to be built by hand. The design is extremely simple, I think a major reason for the captive cables is that it makes assembly simpler and for Grado the time spent assembling each unit will be a major factor in price.

Things that are built by hand will be designed differently and actually, I think that people respond positively to this, even if they aren't thinking about this issue. My three Grados actually appeal to non-audiophiles as objects in a way that none of my other cans do. People want to pick them up and hold them, maybe try them on. There is something about that wood and the way they are constructed that people just like.

My other activity in life that involves messing with equipment is bicycles and I see something similar with old hand-built steel framed bicycles. People just love them. Even if they have no knowledge about bicycles they gravitate towards them, they want to touch them, maybe sit on them. You know when you see one that it was built by someone, it has such a different vibe about it from a contemporary aluminium framed bicycle.

In truth, functionally, the manufacturing machines are better. They don't make mistakes, they are extremely accurate and my guess is that machine built headphones will, on average, be more reliable.

Everything says that I should want the machine built cans, but I want the hand-built ones.

 

[Anticipator]

It certainly solved the problem I had with my RS1X that had a dead channel due to the stock soldering having disconnected the wire to the driver terminal. Granted it involved a bit of soldering/disassembly/reassembly on my part but if an idiot like me can do it with RS1Xs, I'd assume anyone could do it with 225s (which should be easier to disassemble.) Just have to be careful and patient.

What are you talking about? These are Symphones V9 drivers mounted in Grado cups. Here is my "RS1x":

Can you tell the difference between the two?

 

[TinearedOne]

It used to be that manufacturers would describe things as being hand-built as being some indicator of quality. I think they do this less now as the public has come to learn that, actually, machines are far better.

My European cans are all remarkable intricate designs. The most recent being the Focal Azurys are very much in the school of moulded plastic but it is just remarkable how good it is, how detailed it all is, how fine the design is. I'm sure there are dedicated machines at the factory that press these various pieces together and then put the tiny little screws in, probably all at the same time. There is probably a human operating the machine, but the machine is doing the essential aligning and all that fine stuff. I also think probably it is all taking place in China or India but this final aspect is the least important issue for me.

I think that manufacturers like Focal design their cans to be built by machines and they design the machines that build them at the same time. The cans could not be reliably assembled by humans.

Grados are built by hand and so they are designed to be built by hand. The design is extremely simple, I think a major reason for the captive cables is that it makes assembly simpler and for Grado the time spent assembling each unit will be a major factor in price.

Things that are built by hand will be designed differently and actually, I think that people respond positively to this, even if they aren't thinking about this issue. My three Grados actually appeal to non-audiophiles as objects in a way that none of my other cans do. People want to pick them up and hold them, maybe try them on. There is something about that wood and the way they are constructed that people just like.

My other activity in life that involves messing with equipment is bicycles and I see something similar with old hand-built steel framed bicycles. People just love them. Even if they have no knowledge about bicycles they gravitate towards them, they want to touch them, maybe sit on them. You know when you see one that it was built by someone, it has such a different vibe about it from a contemporary aluminium framed bicycle.

In truth, functionally, the manufacturing machines are better. They don't make mistakes, they are extremely accurate and my guess is that machine built headphones will, on average, be more reliable.

Everything says that I should want the machine built cans, but I want the hand-built ones.

Yes, I like Grado for what it represents. That has made me a customer. I also took immediately to the sound signature of the SR325. At the moment, I’m stuck with the HD600s while I wait for my Grados to be swapped and am finding them boring.

 

[jonathan c]

Yes, I like Grado for what it represents. That has made me a customer. I also took immediately to the sound signature of the SR325. At the moment, I’m stuck with the HD600s while I wait for my Grados to be swapped and am finding them boring.

.... what HD-600 (300-ohm) needs, from a h/p/a, to "come on song" is quite different from what a Grado (38-ohm) needs. Think high voltage swing capability / high output impedance. What's good for the one may not / is not good for the other ....

 

[jleewachter]

What are you talking about? These are Symphones V9 drivers mounted in Grado cups. Here is my "RS1x":

Can you tell the difference between the two?

well, I left out the part where I stupidly fried one of the stock drivers by trying to re-solder the disconnected wire to it. Long story short, they started as a stock pair of RS1X. Shortly after buying them, one of the channels stopped working due to the soldering defect I mentioned and rather than doing the smart thing and sending them directly to Grado for repair, I decided to try to fix/resolder them myself, which resulted in me accidentally getting the soldering iron too close to the stock driver for too long; hence the stock driver stopped working. At that point, Grado said they wouldn't touch them since I had already opened/modified them. With no other options other than trashing them, I decided to buy the Symphones V9s to transplant into the housings. I was much more careful/steady with those drivers and the mod was a success. And as a bonus, I actually preferred the sound of the V9s to the stock 50mm drivers. Granted both were awesome, I just preferred the V9s.

Morale of the story, if you can, send them to Grado for repair, lol.

 

[TinearedOne]

.... what HD-600 (300-ohm) needs, from a h/p/a, to "come on song" is quite different from what a Grado (38-ohm) needs. Think high voltage swing capability / high output impedance. What's good for the one may not / is not good for the other ....

I think the Jot 2 can swing enough voltage. The two headphones are just quite different in their presentation. The "zippier" Grado just seems more to my liking lately. That's not to say my ears won't want the HD600's smoother presentation at another time. I'm not planning to get rid of them.