GRADO GR10: Reviews, First Impressions Thread

[daveDerek]

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Nope, I have 262 drivers so I'd rather exercise some restraint.  I'm more concerned w/ getting those to work properly.   

you dont' trust the manufacturer to get it right, eh? 

 
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So these are metal housings huh.  Hmm, SR325 IEM?

sr325 iems - what's next, ps1, ps1000, (metal/woodie hybrids?), or better yet hp1000 iems .

 

 

[rawrster]

If he could get them to sound similar to the RE262 that would be a nice earphone

I really do like them so far. Also I imagine selling them would lower the cost of his HM602.

 

[Spyro]

Back when GR8 came out Grado emailed me saying they were close to RS1's which would seem hard to believe considering the price differential but I have not heard the RS1's so I certainly wouldn't know.
 
As far as the housing on GR10, I suppose it could be titanium or some sort of annodized (hardened) aluminum because they are very lightweight.

 

[dongringo]

 
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The housings in the GR10 are metal? If so, that's a relief, they appear to look like plastic in the pictures.

 
Ever since the GR8 came out people have thought they look cheaply made. I wrote my experience with them in another thread, but that thread is pretty much dead so I'll just paste it here:
 
"I was walking around a couple months ago listening to my amped GR8s, which I love the sound of, and stopped at a food cart for some tamales. I took them out of my ears, set them on my lap, and dug in. I quickly realized I needed hot sauce (John likes his tamales spicy), got up to go get hot sauce, forgot about iems on lap, drug them across the pavement 20 ft, and stepped on both of them crunching them into the asphalt before I realized it. One of them got a small scratch on paint, but is still blue and the other one got a small scuff on the silver ring. That's it. These things are practically indestructible. And they appear to be painted with auto paint. The end.

"
 
The scuff in the silver ring section of the housing reveals that they appear to be made of aluminum. I consider these to be of excellent build quality.

 

[alphaphoenix]

Chiming in my two cents on how the GR8 compared to Grado cans.  I think it's safe to assume that no IEM can truly sound close to their full size counterparts.  During the countless times of owning the GR8, I had the RS2 and RS1, and I can say that although certain levels of detail and transparency is shared, never once did I think or feel that I was listening to anything but the GR8.  I see the FX700  was mentioned.  IMHO, the FX700 has the closest Grado sound from all my IEM ownership.   If the FX700 added about another ft in length to the cable, I would own it again.

 

[MacedonianHero]

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Chiming in my two cents on how the GR8 compared to Grado cans.  I think it's safe to assume that no IEM can truly sound close to their full size counterparts.  During the countless times of owning the GR8, I had the RS2 and RS1, and I can say that although certain levels of detail and transparency is shared, never once did I think or feel that I was listening to anything but the GR8.  I see the FX700  was mentioned.  IMHO, the FX700 has the closest Grado sound from all my IEM ownership.   If the FX700 added about another ft in length to the cable, I would own it again.

Thank you very much...that was very helpful!

 

[Mad Max]

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...  Hmm, SR325 IEM?

I would so love that. 

 

[dongringo]

 
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Chiming in my two cents on how the GR8 compared to Grado cans.  I think it's safe to assume that no IEM can truly sound close to their full size counterparts.  During the countless times of owning the GR8, I had the RS2 and RS1, and I can say that although certain levels of detail and transparency is shared, never once did I think or feel that I was listening to anything but the GR8.  I see the FX700  was mentioned.  IMHO, the FX700 has the closest Grado sound from all my IEM ownership.   If the FX700 added about another ft in length to the cable, I would own it again.

I agree. In fact, I finally got a chance to audition the eq-7 today at 32 Ohm store and after an A/B with the GR8 for over an hour the sales person asked what I thought. I told him the eq-7 sounds more Grado than the GR8. The mids of the eq-7 were way more upfront than the GR8 and not nearly as smooth. Also, the GR8 has a much more refined and apparent bass, while the eq-7 is more transparent and revealing overall with an emphasis on the mids, in essence, more Grado headphone like. My ears felt fatigued after only an hour of on and off listening to the eq-7 yet I've never experienced any fatigue from the GR8 even after countless hours of non-stop listening. After several months of listening to the GR8s I have to say I'm hooked on the sound. If the GR10 is significantly better than the GR8 as the reviews seem to indicate thus far, then I can't wait to hear them. To bad they didn't have them in stock yet. I asked them to email when they arrive. Looking forward to it.

 

[Anaxilus]

Ditto, GR8 is nothing like the RS1.  Or any Grado I've heard for that matter.  The GR10 might actually sound like a Grado from all appearances.  Although that's tough being a closed IEM despite a similar FRC.

 

[daveDerek]

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 These things are practically indestructible. [snip] I consider these to be of excellent build quality.

man, i need a set of these for my wife! 

 

 

[james444]

For those interested in moving armatures, my four-way comparison is finally finished (no GR10 I'm afraid).

 

[findmyname]

Bought GR8 a few days ago

, the airness  and transparency sound great to me and it seems  GR10 goes further on this road.

 

[daveDerek]

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For those interested in moving armatures, my four-way comparison is finally finished (no GR10 I'm afraid).

that's a very nice piece of work, James. using photos for a visual analogy was a particularly nice touch. i look forward to reading your take on the grados in comparison.

 

[james444]

^ I liked the idea to present an easy visual analogy for the newbies, but wasn't sure how it would be received by the pros, so thanks for your kind words!

 

[Spyro]

These IEM's are absolutely fantastic.  They seem to handle all genres of music just fine but with acoustic jazz and vocals, they easily surpass anything else I have ever heard.  I am very happy with them.  The clarity and smoothness is superb.