[Derp]

I'm a noob audiophile. With regards to guitar equipment, I ALWAYS strived to have the best tone possible, so I figured why would I not do that when listening to music? Last christmas, I got myself a pair of Grado SR225is. Such an amazing step up from my previous in ear skullcandy pos. I could go on and on about my positive experiences with my Grados, but I recently became interested in buying another set. The Gs1000is. But is it really worth it? I'd love to have two Grados, each that have different qualities. I was really interested in the GS1000is because of the proclaimed huge soundstage, I really like that about my current Grados. But I read more about headphone amps and I'm wondering if it would be better to just get a headphone amp instead of another set of headphones. I'm in college now and with my laptop I have noticed a tiny bit of dynamic compression when listening to music. Would an amp fix that? What other benefits does an amp provide?
 
 
Btw, I listen to Ambient, Prog, Jazz and MESHUGGAHHHH!!!

 

[Uncle Erik]

Amps are nice, but I often run Grados without one. They sound pretty good out of an iPod.

I'm not sure about the GS-1000. I don't hate it, but I've never been able to bring myself to buy one. Who knows, it might turn out to be your favorite, though. Have you heard a pair yet? If not, see if you can find a pair to listen to before buying. Either that or find a used pair for sale. I see them going for $600-$700 used, so if you bought a new pair and didn't enjoy them, you'd take a pretty good hit.

Have you considered the HF-2? They're a really fun pair of headphones and they're back on sale for a short time. It might be worth picking up a pair. They will sound different from the SR-225, and the used prices seem to track the original price or a little higher.

 

[Soymilk]

if you can solder you could buy a cmoy kit for like 20 bucks i think, it's a great entry point to amplifiers.

 

[Abovetheair]

I sampled some HF2's and some GS1000's and enjoyed the the HF2's more. Also Hf2's I recall are limited edition, which means they likely will hold their value,

 

[Derp]

So it looks like I'll be getting another pair of Grados soon. The HF2's sound reallly enticing, but I can't seem to find many available online used.

 

[Dubwicht]

I feel that you will get your best bang for the buck with a better set of headphones.  Amps can make a difference but it is usually subtle.  From my experience with many speakers the presentation can vary substantially from one design the next and it appears to be the same for headphones.  I am currently auditioning the Denon D2000, Akai 702, Beyerdynamic 990 and the Ultrasone Pro 750's.