jtevol1
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
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I am interested in upgrading from my Grado SR80, and I asked this guy who has an audio store and sells the entire line of Grado and Sennheiser. I know he likes the Grado sound, but I asked him if I should upgrade to the Sennheiser HD650, because I've heard so many glowing reviews about this headphone, so I wanted to know his response, since he has both of them. Here was his response:
Thanks for your inquiry! We'll that's more of a tough question than you might think. You see, those who rave about the Senn sound often think the Grado's are too bright. And those of us who rave about the Grado sound think the Sennheiser's are too muffled. Once you get up to the level of a Senn HD580... the HD600 and HD650 barely sound any better than the HD580. Too those who are truly into good recordings and careful listening, they can often hear the slight improvements in sound between those three Senn models. Same is somewhat true of the Grado's.
Yes, the models in the Grado line more spendy than the SR80's do sound better... but we're talking minor steps up. The SR125's and 225's are just the SR80 tweaked for slightly better sound. The SR325i is larger with a different body material and is a bit more noticeable improvement over the 80's than the 125's and 225's. And the RS1... well yes, it sounds even a bit better than the 325i... but only by a little bit.
We're in audiophile territory here... you pay a lot for little improvements.
Bottom line. Given I love the detailed Grado sound for the type of music I listen to, even an SR80 sounds better to me than a Senn HD650.
Hope this helps some. FYI, I listen to a lot of acoustic music with few instruments. If you listen to full sounding music with lots going on, you may find you like the Senn sound which is a bit more distant and fuller sounding?
Do you agree with his comments about the improvements along the Grado and Sennheiser line? But most importantly his comparison of the Grado SR80 and the Sennheiser HD650?
Thanks for your inquiry! We'll that's more of a tough question than you might think. You see, those who rave about the Senn sound often think the Grado's are too bright. And those of us who rave about the Grado sound think the Sennheiser's are too muffled. Once you get up to the level of a Senn HD580... the HD600 and HD650 barely sound any better than the HD580. Too those who are truly into good recordings and careful listening, they can often hear the slight improvements in sound between those three Senn models. Same is somewhat true of the Grado's.
Yes, the models in the Grado line more spendy than the SR80's do sound better... but we're talking minor steps up. The SR125's and 225's are just the SR80 tweaked for slightly better sound. The SR325i is larger with a different body material and is a bit more noticeable improvement over the 80's than the 125's and 225's. And the RS1... well yes, it sounds even a bit better than the 325i... but only by a little bit.
We're in audiophile territory here... you pay a lot for little improvements.
Bottom line. Given I love the detailed Grado sound for the type of music I listen to, even an SR80 sounds better to me than a Senn HD650.
Hope this helps some. FYI, I listen to a lot of acoustic music with few instruments. If you listen to full sounding music with lots going on, you may find you like the Senn sound which is a bit more distant and fuller sounding?
Do you agree with his comments about the improvements along the Grado and Sennheiser line? But most importantly his comparison of the Grado SR80 and the Sennheiser HD650?