[mmcgeeve]

Hi,

Just another quick question before I go back to Australia... with that 15% off deal from Cambridge for Grado's I can get Grado's for roughly half what they would cost me in Australia so I am thinking of buying a pair before I leave in a few weeks. The only trouble is a lot of people recommend MS-1's over the Grado's and these are roughly the same price in Australia as they are here. I am thinking of these for a home headphone, and given I already am getting Ety's and will order some A900's when I get back, I don't really want to spend more than USD$125.

So, would you recommend that I get SR-125's for USD$125 (Australian retail is AUD$399!) or MS-1s (here they cost USD$99, in Australia they sell for just AUD$150, which is just about the same!). i.e. is it worth the extra $25 for SR-125's in which case I would definately get a pair before I leave and can always sell them if I want to when I get back to Australia.

And if I do get the SR-125's, I understand these can be driven unamped OK too, in which case I would need a 1/4 to 3.5mm adaptor plug... I looked in Fry's etc. and they sell GE/Philips/RCA ones for $2.00 or so - are these OK or do I need to spring for something more expensive/higher quality if I do not want to degrade the sound quality too much...

Thanks again in advance for your help.

Cheers,

Mikey.

 

[MuZI]

I would go for the MS1`s, if you like the Alessandro flavor.
It is more neutral...

 

[blessingx]

Alessandro with mini. Save even more.
Haven't ABed them with the SR125, but have yet to hear anyone state the SR125 was worth the extra cash. If you find the SR225 on sale, maybe it's worth the difference, but not the SR125.

 

[BigDave]

I personally have the sr125's and went to headphonics in Perth Australia, mmcgeeve, to try out the alessandro range. With some a/b testing, I felt that my sr125's were better than the ms1's (marginally, I just liked their bass response more) but the ms2's were better than my sr125's and the mspro's just blew them away (as they should). my sr125's work great out of my ipod, but I would love to try a pair of modded senn 414 pads (as I only have the bowls). I did buy the adaptor cord from grado, which is 15 bucks extra....that may sway you in your choice. I just wanted to hear the diff between it and the radioshack adaptor plug I had - no diff (to my ears). It was just easier with the cord, not so much pressure on the jack of my ipod. I gotta tell ya that the comfort factor is an issue for me, as they are not the most comfortable phones. gotta give em credit for their sound, though.