Just got mine today.
Ordered 6/3
Shipped 8/14
Received 8/17
#298
Initial Impressions:
Build Quality: Glue Slopped all over them. I've put Grados together, taken them apart and mod'd them, there is no glue visible on mine, and I'm not a
professional like Grado.
Quite a few nicks and bang marks on the Aluminum cups. One nick is pretty bad. The Aluminum has the Grado AL splotching problem mentioned by others on the 325s. Not bad, but evident in one spot.
Then there's the misspelling, nothing else to say there.
Build Quality Grade: D-, aka Typical Grado
Distribution: aka Todd. I got a notification with tracker that it shipped. But, and there's always a but, they didn't ship my salad bowls that I paid for in June when I ordered them!
Grade B+
Sound: If you've never liked Grado before because they were too forward and had highs that gave your Tympanic Membrane a 3rd degree "Soundburn", you really should try these. They are a row or two back from sitting on the stage. You are still up front, but not sitting on the neck of the Guitar or the hanging off the slide of the Trombone. You're sitting in the
Best seats. The sound stage seems wider to me than the rest of the Grados I've heard, not a hard mark to hit, I'll admit. The highs are smooth and the exaggerated sibilance I usually hear with Grados is now just the Sibilance that is present if there is any. Tape hiss, which Grados excel at reproducing, is not the irritant it usually is. Yet the resolution of detail is superb and much better than my GS1000s and a number of others. The bad stuff is not there and the good stuff is. The bass is adequate. No Grados have been bass cans to me including my GS1000s which I feel are "adequate".
I like Grados, but they've always been like Cotton Candy to me. Eat more than a few mouthfuls and you're sick to your stomach. These, at first blush, don't seem like that. I can see how you could listen to them for long periods and not get those Grado irritated nerves in your head that the rest of the line can produce. I have not heard RS-1s though, they're on my list.
That being said, that means that the super-sparkle, or glare to some, is missing to a certain extent. This gives them a very smooth detailed sound. I'll say it again, if you never liked Grados in the past, you "might" like these, a lot. I can see an HD650 lover loving these canz. I wouldn't call them dark, just a shade or two darker than your average Grado. They Sparkle, but don't Glare.
But every once in a while, Cotton Candy is kinda
fun, therefore I'll have to keep some of the
sizzlers in the stable for those periods when you want some serious sizzle with that steak!
On a side note, if I don't like mine and end up selling them, I'll sign "Les Garten Edition" just below JGs sig. Now those would be rare indeed!
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