[kelly]

After all these months, I'm *still* somewhat confused about the different Grado HP-1000 models. Apparently all three of them say HP-1000 on the outside. The HP-1 has phase switches and the other two do not.

How can one tell by looking which is an HP-2 and which is an HP-3?

Was the reference cable always sold sperately or was it included with the HP-2?

Are all three models 40 ohms?

 

[Hirsch]

AFAIK, the Reference cable appears in later versions of all of the HP-1000 variants. Once Grado developed the Reference cable, I believe it was sold on all of the HP-1000 series, and was available for awhile as an upgrade to earlier headphones.

If it has phase switches, it is an HP-1, which may or may not have the Reference cable.

The HP-2 and HP-3 are identical, except for driver matching of the HP-2. You could conceivably get lucky, and wind up with an HP-3 that accidentally has drivers as closely matched as the HP-2. I have no idea how to tell an HP-2 from an HP-3 without the box.

The drivers should be identical, except for closer matching tolerances on the HP-1 and HP-2, and all should be 40 ohms.

 

[kelly]

So again, how does one visually determine whether it is an HP-2 or HP-3? Anyone else know? If there's not a way, I'm going to buy HP-3s and sell them to HeadFiers as HP-2s. Muahaha.

 

[erix]

Actually, I think the HP-3's are the more rareer of the two...

ok,
erix

 

[Vertigo-1]

The only way you could tell is through the box. There's a sticker on the box that says HP-1, HP-2, or HP-3.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by erix Actually, I think the HP-3's are the more rareer of the two...

Well that squats and pees on my plan, don't it?

So are HP-3s worth as much as HP-2s then?

 

[yidimsum]

The HP-3s retailed for $100 less than the HP-2.
The retail prices were as follows:

HP-1: $595
HP-2: $495
HP-3: $395

Of these three, I've had experience with the HP-1 w/ ref. cord,
HP-2 w/ ref cord, and HP-2 w/ regular cord. The HP-2 seems to be the most common of these three models. On a advertisement for the HP-1000s, it stated that the HP-3 was available for a limited time. They all sound very similar although the HP-1 sounds the best imho. Another way that you can tell whether the HP-1000s is one of the newer models is by whether the turned aluminum is dull or shiny. The older HP-1000s are dull like the SR 325 while the newer versions are shiny (like wet chrome).

Hope this helps,
Yi

 

[TimSchirmer]

Hehe...these are the best american headphones ever made.