Grado Question: SR125 amped vs. SR225i/SR325i
Jan 14, 2010 at 1:29 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 5

cruizin caleb

100+ Head-Fier
Joined
Sep 25, 2009
Posts
300
Likes
15
I have SR125 and was thinking of getting an amp for them.
but my questions:

SR125 + nuForce uDAC
VS
SR225i

SR125 + iBasso D2
VS
SR325i


And then this for when i'm at home:

SR125 + nuForce uDAC
VS
SR225i + what i'm currently using: vintage "Alien 426 Receiver"

SR125 + iBasso D2
VS
SR325i + what i'm currently using: vintage "Alien 426 Receiver"


not sure if i'm going to get the amp, or upgrade to SR225i/SR325i
i love my 125s - they were my introduction to grado headphones - but i'm a greedy person.
 
Jan 15, 2010 at 2:41 AM Post #2 of 5
I've only had the 225i's and I love them. I have them amped with an X-Head and they sound significantly better than unamped out of my Cambridge Audio azur 640a integrated.

Don't know if that helps, but I just wanted to say as a vintage receiver lover (at least for some setups), that's one cool looking Allied!
 
Jan 15, 2010 at 9:22 AM Post #4 of 5
I don't know if I can help out much, as while I've owned a set of SR60s for over a dozen years, I just picked up a set of 325is cans a few weeks ago and am definitely a bit of an headphile noob!

I won't be able to answer your amp / dac questions from personal experience, but I can add this:

I have been thinking about upgrading my SR60s for a few years now: I ended up purchasing BOTH the 225i and the 325iS within a few days of each other, just after X-mas. I originally bought the 225is first, for fear of the supposedly shrill upper end of the 325iSs (and the 50% cost increase). Once I had the 225is, I knew that they were not for me: VERY dark. I bought the 325iSs a few days later and had them both H2H for a few days. Right away I knew that the 325iSs were the far superior headphone IMHO. Again, this is all relative to my personal preference.

Anyway, now I'm much happier with the 325iSs; the 225is were returned. I know that I want to get an amp or two for these headphones, and that is probably the one main disadvantage of the 325 compared to the 225 is that they definitely will benefit from an amp. But one thing at a time I guess and I still way prefer the un-amped sound of the 325iS cans to the un-amped sound of the 225is.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that find the right can first, and then find the amp for it. If budget constraints kick in, then I personally would probably wait and buy the amp in a bit and get the best starting point possible (i.e. cans). Anyway, that's my opinion and how I'm going about it.

Cheers and let us know what cans / amp / dac you end up getting!
 
Jan 15, 2010 at 9:25 AM Post #5 of 5
the 125is and uDac are a match made in heaven. I'm not a fan of 225s and I have the pre "i" version stored away, unused. But uDac + 125i is a great combo. It my new travel partner.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top