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Originally Posted by headphonejunkie /img/forum/go_quote.gif
So you are saying the 325's beat the ms2 in presentation and foot tapping power. I love my 225's but want to upgrade and was considering the ms2's but if they are more like hd580's I will be disappointed. I like that foot tapping, air guitar, rhythym that gets me going everytime.
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Right now I am waiting for a pair of SR-325i to a/b with the MS-2. Based on preliminary a/b-ing between the SR-225 and MS-2, I concede that the SR-225 have a more forward presentation than the MS-2. And from what I've read elsewhere, the Alessandro series headphones are reportedly less "Grado-ish" in that respect. If the 325i provide the added detail and harmonic texture that I hope they will, on top of what I already like in the SR-225, then at that point I may--heavy emphasis on "may"--prefer them to the MS-2.
So while the MS-2 do come across--to me--with some "restraint" relative to the SR-225, I would still position them, along a continuum from bright/forward to dark/recessed as being more faithful to the Grado sound than, say, the Sennheiser HD580. I would also posit that the midrange projection of the MS-2 is probably closer to my K701 than to the HD580.
I hasten to add, too, that with more exposure to the MS-2, I find them to be one of the most "alluring" headphones I've ever heard: tonally rich and warm, but still conveying (at least latently) that Grado-like nimbleness and dynamics. Last night I listened to Hiroshima's "Go" cd, westernized Japanese pop, and Barbara Long's voice sounded "miles deep" and luxurious. For light pop venues like this, I don't recall hearing much better in this price range.
That sense of smoothness and lushness--but not a "bog-you-down" lushness, a primary point of distinction between the MS-2 and the SR-225, does come at the (slight) cost of a perceived loss of Grado high energy and assertiveness, though. But I think the gains in detail, finesse and allure with the MS-2 offset their more "buttoned-down" sense of attack. To me the MS-2 represents a perceptable departure from the SR-225 sound in terms of forwardness that moves it towards the HD580--but certainly less than halfway. Enough to make you want to stop and smell the intoxicating scent of roses when you're not necessarily tapping your feet or skipping through the park, but nowhere near enough to induce lethargy or comatosis like the HDxxx--sorry, Senny fanboys!--: ). While the MS-2 sound more "reigned in" than the SR-225, the former is more like a bronco that, although already broken in, still retains its equine spirit intact, while the latter can be more like the mustang that you're just now beginning to break: the first carries you along, while the second seems to be always just a bit out in front of you. : )
I'm excited to a/b the 325i and the MS-2, and at this point I can whole-heartedly say that the MS-2 have in no way been a disappointment to me. They occupy a unique and special class of headphile experience that I've had to date.
Now please excuse me while I go downstairs and listen to Pat Metheny's "Secret Story" on the Alessandro MS-2. : )
