[mBkS]

Quote:

 
 
Some of my favorite uses for my Grados - even my PS500s - are to plug them directly into my laptop or Kindle Fire. And many of us use one of the most inexpensive amps on the market - the Little Dot I+ - and have no desire at all to upgrade. That's one of the most attractive aspects of being a Grado fan...if you don't want to drop big money on an amp, you don't need to in order to get fantastic sound. 

They are certainly a prize to play every time. I like saving them like they are a gift every time I listen to them

 

[bassboysam]

I seem to enjoy tormenting myself. Did some more listening tests this evening. What I found out was that some of what I was hearing WAS due to the amp (LD MkIII), if it is an impedance thing or just the general design I don't know. I found my SR325is had much better bass and were much less treble happy on my Headroom SS amp than on the LD, to the point I didn't really like listening to some songs with the Grado's on the LD MkIII. I did notice that I could listen to a song using my Senns and it would sound good on both amps, but different. The Headroom seems to have a mid-bass boost to it, which makes the HD600's sound almost boomy, but really helps the Grados. The real question is...and always is...which is correct. Does the Headroom have a particularly warm sound to it, or is it neutral and the HD600's have a bit of mid-bass boost. Are the Grado's bass shy or is the MKIII a little lacking in the bass area.  The really funny thing, that had me chuckling to myself is that tube amps are supposed to be the warm sounding amp and in this case the SS amp sounds warmer than the tube amp. Just goes to show that any amp can sound pretty much how the designer wants it to, just a matter of what you like.
  Just to end this on a Grado positive note, first time through I was listening to the Grado 325's on the Headroom amp. Got so lost in the music the entire cd played through before I remembered to try the Sennheisers I will say the more I compare and listen the more I really want some RS1i phones. Seems to me that might be close to my ideal phone. Little more bass and a little smoother treble than the 325's but still keeping the Grado sound.

i don't find the MKIII lacking bass but it does sound a bit brighter to me than any of my other amps, none of which are tube. i don't think it is an impedance thing though because even with my 250 ohm adapter the grados can all be too bright at louder volumes with the MKIII.

 

[HPiper]

Quote:

i don't find the MKIII lacking bass but it does sound a bit brighter to me than any of my other amps, none of which are tube. i don't think it is an impedance thing though because even with my 250 ohm adapter the grados can all be too bright at louder volumes with the MKIII.

As I said it may not be that the MKIII is lacking bass, it may very well be that the Headroom has some mid-bass boost. I was just noting that the Headroom had more apparent mid-bass, but it is all relative. If you believe that the HD600 have a very flat bass, then the amp was at fault, if you believe that the SR325 has a very flat bass then the HD600 was at fault. That kinda was my, not very well stated, point. Who is to judge what is correct or incorrect sound, there are so many factors. Ultimately it comes down to what do you like. I have been told that changing the tubes in my amp will significantly improve the sound top to bottom, so there is that to consider as well. In fact I think that the Headroom amp does in fact have a bit of bass boost to it to make it warmer, just my opinion, but it is quite noticeable as compared to all three of my tube amps (yes I do have 3 tube amps....don't ask me why <g>)

 

[SHAHZADA123]

Quote:

I seem to enjoy tormenting myself. Did some more listening tests this evening. What I found out was that some of what I was hearing WAS due to the amp (LD MkIII), if it is an impedance thing or just the general design I don't know. I found my SR325is had much better bass and were much less treble happy on my Headroom SS amp than on the LD, to the point I didn't really like listening to some songs with the Grado's on the LD MkIII. I did notice that I could listen to a song using my Senns and it would sound good on both amps, but different. The Headroom seems to have a mid-bass boost to it, which makes the HD600's sound almost boomy, but really helps the Grados. The real question is...and always is...which is correct. Does the Headroom have a particularly warm sound to it, or is it neutral and the HD600's have a bit of mid-bass boost. Are the Grado's bass shy or is the MKIII a little lacking in the bass area.  The really funny thing, that had me chuckling to myself is that tube amps are supposed to be the warm sounding amp and in this case the SS amp sounds warmer than the tube amp. Just goes to show that any amp can sound pretty much how the designer wants it to, just a matter of what you like.
  Just to end this on a Grado positive note, first time through I was listening to the Grado 325's on the Headroom amp. Got so lost in the music the entire cd played through before I remembered to try the Sennheisers <LOL> I will say the more I compare and listen the more I really want some RS1i phones. Seems to me that might be close to my ideal phone. Little more bass and a little smoother treble than the 325's but still keeping the Grado sound.

That would be the PS500s, not RS1s.

 

[markm1]

Quote:

That would be the PS500s, not RS1s.

I've always heard so much about the RS1 being the ultimate rock headphone...other genres too....but especially guitar/blues based rock, etc. Is the PS500 less so? I'm about 80% rock/metal/alternative 20% classical/jazz/folk/easy on the ears genres.
 
I own a 225i.....I suppose an RS1i would be doubling down on the same characteristics....just higher end/better....is that fair?

 

[bassboysam]

I've always heard so much about the RS1 being the ultimate rock headphone...other genres too....but especially guitar/blues based rock, etc. Is the PS500 less so? I'm about 80% rock/metal/alternative 20% classical/jazz/folk/easy on the ears genres.
 
I own a 225i.....I suppose an RS1i would be doubling down on the same characteristics....just higher end/better....is that fair?

 
i have both the RS1 and PS500. Both can do rock brilliantly. the PS500s are more foregiving of poor sources/recordings and sound better with the more "harsh" sound of 90's grunge/lo-fi sound. but we're splitting hairs at this point. The RS is a continuation/improvement over the SR series for sure, the PS500 is a different headphone though. still very much grado but a tiny bit warmer and more open soundstage.

 

[SHAHZADA123]

Quote:

 
i have both the RS1 and PS500. Both can do rock brilliantly. the PS500s are more foregiving of poor sources/recordings and sound better with the more "harsh" sound of 90's grunge/lo-fi sound. but we're splitting hairs at this point. The RS is a continuation/improvement over the SR series for sure, the PS500 is a different headphone though. still very much grado but a tiny bit warmer and more open soundstage....

....and a good amount of punchy bass

 

[markm1]

Quote:

I've always heard so much about the RS1 being the ultimate rock headphone...other genres too....but especially guitar/blues based rock, etc. Is the PS500 less so? I'm about 80% rock/metal/alternative 20% classical/jazz/folk/easy on the ears genres.
 
I own a 225i.....I suppose an RS1i would be doubling down on the same characteristics....just higher end/better....is that fair?

Cool-thanks! Do you prefer one over the other?

 

[whirlwind]

Quote:

 
 
Some of my favorite uses for my Grados - even my PS500s - are to plug them directly into my laptop or Kindle Fire. And many of us use one of the most inexpensive amps on the market - the Little Dot I+ - and have no desire at all to upgrade. That's one of the most attractive aspects of being a Grado fan...if you don't want to drop big money on an amp, you don't need to in order to get fantastic sound. 

Yeah, a great perk if you love the Grado sound.....do not need a high dollar amp.

 

[Zarathustra19]

Way late into this thread, since I've been on since '06, but I just got my first pair of Grado's (SR-80) and I'm in love.  I've only had them for a few weeks, but even with the limited burn in time, I'm enamored with the crispness of these cans.  Grado fan in progress.
 
Cheers.
 

 

[stacker45]

Quote:

Way late into this thread, since I've been on since '06, but I just got my first pair of Grado's (SR-80) and I'm in love.  I've only had them for a few weeks, but even with the limited burn in time, I'm enamored with the crispness of these cans.  Grado fan in progress.
 
Cheers.
 

 
I'm not surprised that you love your SR80, i have the SR80i, and they sound great, especially when you replace the S-cush with the L-cush.
 
I just recieved my new Little Dot+1 today. The main reason why i bought it was because i found the headphone output on my old Yamaha CA610II a bit noisy. Well, i'm happy to say that the Little Dot is dead quiet, and since i listen to a lot of female vocals, the blacker background makes for a more realistic listen, and give the music more contrast, so to speak.
 
Tonight i used my SR80i with the L-cush, and since i used the tone controls and the loudness to taylor the sound to my liking, bypassing the tone controls was a bit disconcerting at first, i had to get used to the ''new sound'' i was hearing, but after a few songs, i started to appreciate what the Little Dot was brigning to the table. The bass, although no as deep, was much tighter and the sound was cleaner and clearer, overall.
 
So far, i'm impressed with this little amp, especially considering how little it cost. It might even give my four times more expensive Musical Fidelity X-Can V2, a run for it's money.
 
Tomorrow it's going to be the GS1000's turn to partner with the Little Dot, so, to be continued...

 

[HPiper]

Quick question as a lot of you use the LD 1+. Does that amp have a gain switch or is it fixed? If it is fixed about how far do you have to turn it up to get 'normal' volume with your Grado phones? Just wondering because I just adjusted the gain on my MKIII tonight and it made a pretty big difference in both how far I had to turn it up and as odd as this sounds, it seems to me like it sounds better now than it did. That sounds crazy, even to me as gain is just gain, I don't see how that would or should affect the sound, but it sure seemed like it did to me. As cheap as it is I may just go ahead and get a 1+ for my Grado's. Of course that is all I need...another tube amp<LOL>
 Anybody have a solid state amp they think really works particularly well with Grados?

 

[Focker]

Quote:

 
 
Tomorrow it's going to be the GS1000's turn to partner with the Little Dot, so, to be continued...

 
If you're running stock tubes on the LD, you may find that the GS1ks expose them pretty quickly. Some better quality NOS tubes will remedy that, though. 
 
Glad you got hold of one to play around with! 

 

[Focker]

Quote:

Quick question as a lot of you use the LD 1+. Does that amp have a gain switch or is it fixed? If it is fixed about how far do you have to turn it up to get 'normal' volume with your Grado phones? Just wondering because I just adjusted the gain on my MKIII tonight and it made a pretty big difference in both how far I had to turn it up and as odd as this sounds, it seems to me like it sounds better now than it did. That sounds crazy, even to me as gain is just gain, I don't see how that would or should affect the sound, but it sure seemed like it did to me. As cheap as it is I may just go ahead and get a 1+ for my Grado's. Of course that is all I need...another tube amp<LOL>
 Anybody have a solid state amp they think really works particularly well with Grados?

 
It's fixed in terms of the controls on the face of the amp, but Im pretty sure if you go under the hood you can adjust it. Supposedly it's pretty flexible in terms of swapping out opamps, accepting different types of tubes, and potentially adjusting the gain setting. I haven't messed with mine yet, so can't be of much help. 
 
As for the volume, I typically have my LD turned up about 40% of the way, except for the GS1ks which usually need about 50-55% of the dial. 

 

[Focker]

Quote:

Way late into this thread, since I've been on since '06, but I just got my first pair of Grado's (SR-80) and I'm in love.  I've only had them for a few weeks, but even with the limited burn in time, I'm enamored with the crispness of these cans.  Grado fan in progress.
 
Cheers.
 

 
Nice! Welcome to the club  The 80s can be absolutely captivating...I fell in love at first listen.