[Zombie_X]

Looks like an HF2 to me. Maybe it's the exact same phone but now for a permanent production run? If so I think I might get one.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Looks like an HF2 to me. Maybe it's the exact same phone but now for a permanent production run? If so I think I might get one.

They are tempting...and here I sit without a Grado in my collection. Now if they are voiced like a Joe Grado headphone, I would be all over them.

 

[dyl1dyl]

Quote:

Looks like an HF2 to me. Maybe it's the exact same phone but now for a permanent production run? If so I think I might get one.

If it's the same as the HF2, I am definietly getting one. Looking forward to reading some reviews on these.

 

[Nick01]

Quote:

You never know, Audiophile might do you a good deal.
 
http://www.audiophile.com.au/
 
Plus, being the sole dealer in Oz if something goes wrong. Perth to Melbourne for exchange or repair is a lot closer than New York city.
 
 
 

High prices & very low stock and also very long wait for new stock, I had to wait nearly 2 months for my GR10 from them.
 
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

 

Bravo!!!! You said exactly what was on my mind.
To all those who said that this new one looks like a HF2 rebadged. Then I say the SR225 is a just a rebadged version of the SR60. Or the RS1 is a rebadged elongated version of the RS2, or the GS1000 is a re-moulded and re-bowled of the RS1, HD650 is a re-colored HD600, T1 is a re-magnetised of the DT880...on and on....
 
 

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but go read how Grado sorts its various cartridges. On the Grado site.

You'll notice that the same thing is repackaged as different models depending on tolerance and a few other things.

I'd wager that the drivers for the SR line are the same thing with different tolerances and housings. They sure sound that way and have similar frequency response charts. I think there's a lot of overlap with the other models, too.

 

[buffalowings]

IMO, the sr325 is a scam, why? because it appears that grado added the aluminum cups for better/different sound from the 225, but the aluminum cups dont actually play a part in the sound, why? because within the phones, there is another plastic section that covers the whole exposed aluminum pieces, thus, the aluminum never even played a part in the sound because the sound waves bounce off the inner plastic enclosure instead (no, I'm not talking about the plastic section that contains the driver, there is another plastic piece completely covering the insides of the aluminum cups so i am convinced that the difference is all about the driver selection versus construction differences. also, when i compared the 325 with my 80, I could barely tell the difference between the two. as you go up the grado lineup, you'll quickly find that they sound very close to each other, heck, I doubt anybody can actually tell the difference through blind testing 

 

[Nick01]

Quote:

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but go read how Grado sorts its various cartridges. On the Grado site.

You'll notice that the same thing is repackaged as different models depending on tolerance and a few other things.

I'd wager that the drivers for the SR line are the same thing with different tolerances and housings. They sure sound that way and have similar frequency response charts. I think there's a lot of overlap with the other models, too.

You kinda missed my point, which was in defence of Grado. If other brands can tweak their old models a bit and called a new one, then so can Grado. I think that people who are already summarily dismissive of the PS500 just because it looks like a HF2 are lame and double standard.
 

 

[koolkat]

Interesting comment.. 
 
Maybe some long-time Grado owners could get together for this.
 
 
 
Quote:

I doubt anybody can actually tell the difference through blind testing 

 

 

[anetode]

How about they go the other way and make a custom run of the GS1000i's as the HF3?

 

[buffalowings]

Quote:

Interesting comment.. 
 
Maybe some long-time Grado owners could get together for this.
 
 
 


 

I owned both the 325is' and the 80i for a rather lengthy period of time (at the same time) the sr80i and the 325is' were so close as to be trivial to my ears
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

I owned both the 325is' and the 80i for a rather lengthy period of time (at the same time) the sr80i and the 325is' were so close as to be trivial to my ears
 

 
They all sound close. The SR-80 is 85% of the RS-2 to me. The SR-125i and 225 have a huge gap to my ears though. I guess it depends on what you listen to as well.

 
Quote:

Interesting comment.. 
 
Maybe some long-time Grado owners could get together for this.
 
 
 


 

They're the same drivers. They're just sorted out using a "binning" process similar to other mass produced electronics. The "matched" drivers are matched to each other and are "within" spec, I feel the "throwaways" become the 60's and 80's. The "factory" tour photos show pictures of boxes of drivers and I guess those are the bins lol.
 
The same process is used for their phono cartridges. Their reference line vs their entry level stuff (both are highly revered among the audiophile circle) is just which one is tested within spec from the factory. In comparison LED technology (which I am pretty heavily involved in) is the same way, you wouldn't accuse Cree or Luminous of being a two-bit company, yet the different between a top binned Cree XP-G and a lower binned one is about 3x the cost. Heck, when you buy meat and fish, aren't the steaks binned as well, yet they're the same?
 
Considering that I still believe this to be true, I still listen to Grado simply because it sounds good. . I don't care for the build quality, headband, pads, cable, packaging, or how much they charged me to upgrade an SR125 to an SR125i, but if they honestly didn't sound good to me, I wouldn't have had so many models over the years. I have a bookshelf which is nearly end to end with the empty boxes haha.
 
All this aside, I'm still one of the bigger Grado fans on the board, weird eh?
 

 

[willmax]

Quote:

Looks like an HF2 to me. Maybe it's the exact same phone but now for a permanent production run? If so I think I might get one.

 
 
Without listening to the PS500, it looks like a rebadged HF2 and if that is the case I think it is a bit overpriced, it should sit at the RS2 price level IMHO.
On the other hand if it is a tweaked down version of PS1000 then it will be interesting to see, but again at the current price range it is a bit of a give away of what it really is.
 
I just wish Grado would get out of their comfort zone and have a look at what Head-fiers have been up to in the "SR60 Mod" and "MS1000" threads, I've seen some amazing stuff coming out of those threads and would love to see some of it implement into a HF3 headphone sort of speak.
 


 

 

[koolkat]

Your enthusiasm was what inspired me to get the Grados.
 
lol.
 
Quote:

 
All this aside, I'm still one of the bigger Grado fans on the board, weird eh?
 

 

 

[willmax]

Has anyone noticed how many HF2 classifieds have popped up in the headphones For Sale threads in the past couple of days?
 
Any ideas if the PS500 will be shipped in the same old printed Grado pizza box?

 

[idletime1213]

^ Most likely. Even the RS1i ships in a pizza box.