Grado SR325i's
Dec 27, 2007 at 3:32 AM Post #31 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I find the SR225's significantly better than the RS-1's. That's just me though.

I find the lack of 325i negatives in this thread disturbing, it is the brightest and heaviest headphone Grado offers. That is an earful of its own. Specifically to somebody that hasn't tried ANY Grado's yet, recommending the 325i's to start is nonsense IMO. Especially if you don't know your treble sensitivities yet, such as mine that seems to hit a wall with my SR225's. In other words, I love the Grado sound, but SR225's are literally as bright as I can handle music before it gets out of control.


Zep, great choice on the SR80's! Best place to start IMO. If you go right to the top you won't enjoy the sonic evolution that makes this audio hobby so great.


Well imho the sr80 sounds like total crap and I'm surprised anyone would recomend it.

C-pad mod(which only takes some beyer pads and some basic materials to make) solves the overly bright and uncromfortable problems that come with the 325i.
 
Dec 27, 2007 at 3:33 AM Post #32 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by number1sixerfan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
This may come as a suprise to you, but the 325i(and ms-2i respectively) is kind of the sweetspot when it comes to grado. I will admit they can be bright, but they are in a league of their own in comparison to the 225 and lower. You may not like them, but most of the people who have tried them here have from what I've seen...and that's including people that had never tried grados(there are even a few in this thread).
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They totally are, I agree.
 
Dec 27, 2007 at 4:49 AM Post #33 of 50
I recently purchased the SR325i.

And I must say---I've finally hit an end to my journey of headphones. I've never heard anything so wonderful before in my life. I no longer feel the need to upgrade my headphones, which is a HUGE relief. This is having listened to them without a tube amp as well!

I've owned the SR60, MS1, and heard the SR80. No grado (Edit: that I've heard) comes close to the 325i's. When put side by side with my beyer DT880, I still prefer the Grados. The only downside (which I'm surprised not many have mentioned) is the comfort.
 
Dec 27, 2007 at 9:09 AM Post #35 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I find the SR225's significantly better than the RS-1's. That's just me though.

I find the lack of 325i negatives in this thread disturbing, it is the brightest and heaviest headphone Grado offers. That is an earful of its own. Specifically to somebody that hasn't tried ANY Grado's yet, recommending the 325i's to start is nonsense IMO. Especially if you don't know your treble sensitivities yet, such as mine that seems to hit a wall with my SR225's. In other words, I love the Grado sound, but SR225's are literally as bright as I can handle music before it gets out of control.


Well, it looks like we have different liking and/or different equipment to drive them. SR225 have too polite and rolled-off trebles, same with the RS2, but it's what I get in my rig and what I heard in a hi-end audio shop when listening to the SR225's (I wish I afforded that CDP
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)
SR60~SR225 all have the same small plastic driver housing which = no soundstage depth. The SR325i's have bigger, aluminium housings which gives better soundstage, life-like source imaging (when the rest of the equipment provides this) and deeper, more impactful bass. I agree, they are too heavy for this thin and hard headband Grado mounts in the SR325i model. Regarding peaky trebles, as Gilmore's said, it strongly depends on the rig. It cannot be shrilling and producing grainy trebles which is an overall bad symptom, BTW. There are some bumps in the SR325i's frequency response but they are not kind of nasty, they just emphasize the weaknesses of the electronic equipment in those fields, if exist.
 
Dec 29, 2007 at 1:48 AM Post #36 of 50
I have the SR60's and the 325i's. If you have no reference for audiophile headphones you could certainly get away with the SR60's for a few years. I was (and still am) very pleased with them. Though, at home, I never listen to the SR60's if the SR325i's are around.

If you already have an appreciation for good cans then I'd hop straight into the 325i's. They offer additional punchy bass and far better soundstage. I find my SR60's a bit muddy sounding and closed-in comparatively.

Some say the SR80's offer better bass than the SR60's so you could spend just a little more and add some slam if you wanted. I suspect the soundstage would also be better given the stock pad design but I have not heard the SR80's so I can't confirm.


fwiw - If I had to do things over again I might try starting with the SR80's or SR125's and then get a different brand as the eventual upgrade for the sake of variety. Then you have a baseline of quality Grado sound and other options too.
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 5:21 PM Post #37 of 50
My first reconnoiter into Grado are the SR-225, my second (quasi) incursion, the Alessandro MS-2.

With a pair of SR-325i on order, I am hoping that the 325i bring the added detail, tonality and harmonic refinement of the MS-2 but also retain the assertiveness of the SR-225 (which I obviously liked).

Is this asking for too much?
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 7:07 PM Post #38 of 50
Quote:

Originally Posted by classic_rock_69 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

C-pad mod(which only takes some beyer pads and some basic materials to make) solves the overly bright and uncromfortable problems that come with the 325i.


That is of course your opinion and mine reflects the opposite. I bought C-Pads and feel that they ruin what is special about the 325i. With C-Pads they are more comfortable but IMO they sound much different and lack that Grado snap.
 
Jan 19, 2008 at 9:21 PM Post #39 of 50
Gotta say that I really dont agree with the 325i being overly bright. Theyre bright, but not in any negative way or at the cost of lows or mids. Totally digging mine with the stock bowls.
 
Jan 20, 2008 at 5:42 AM Post #40 of 50
I now have SR 80's ,I am thinking of getting the SR325i's I will be useing the headphone amp solid state in my Pioneer PD 609CDR in MONITOR mode.Through the tape loop in my manley Stingray. My set up with the SR80's don't seem bright to me .how much differance will the 325i's make?
 
Jan 20, 2008 at 6:15 AM Post #42 of 50
I compared sr225 to rs1 and my findings are that sr225 sounds more muddy, vocal less realistic and maybe slightly more smooth as compared to rs1.
 
Jan 20, 2008 at 10:08 AM Post #44 of 50
I'd be on the SR325i's side. The SR225's were the first Grados I ever tried in a very good and expensive rig, and if I knew all Grados sounded like the SR225's, I would never buy any Grado. The SR325i's saved me. They do everything better - like Gilmore said - better, deeper and stronger bass, much better soundstage, realistic presentation. Grado SR225's are disputably better than the SR60's, especially modded or bowl pads upgraded. However I have to admit - you need a matched rig for the SR325i's but to hear what they can do a decent mp3 player is enough, i.e. iRiver, iAudio or the like. They are powerful enough. Regarding the desktop rig - rather get tubes but it is also possible with the transistors to make the SR325i's sing and rock but you might need to play with some "jewelery", decent capacitors and other elements giving warm sound with inaggressive highs.
 
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