Little J040
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2005
- Posts
- 1,075
- Likes
- 10
Yes, yes, as suggested by a fellow head-fier, i went out and about yesterday in boston looking for the few hi end audio stores that carried the juicy grado name. Considering it was a holiday yesterday me and a friend called up to make sure the 5 around Cambridge were open, they all said yeah.
Long story short, only one out of 5 were open, but luckily they had the whole range of Grado headphones for me to oogle over. For about an hour or so, (oh yes i came prepared with ipod, pocket dock, and Supermacro) I tested out the grado's that ive been yearning for. ---The chump that worked there seemed to be impressed with all my gear, probably thought i was just some stupid college student---
So I immediately grabbed the 325 because i noted there nice aluminum cone. Ah yes, hooked it up to Ipod and first listened to Tool, Aenima. Right off the bat i was surprised by the impact the drums had on these (what seemed like little drivers) compared to my 595s. The track moved on and i slowly but surely noticed how indeed narrow the sound stage was. Fairly dissappointing compared to my 595s, but the music seemed like it was in my eyes, and not the back of my head like the senns. So i continued on with the song, enjoying a good 3-4 songs from the Aenima album with the 325. Ok, Ok, put them down now i thought and i went for the lower end...
Sr60, well the one they had at the store had the flat pads, which immediately made me say S*** these are uncomfortable. Yes i know it seems most dont like the bowl cups, but the flat pads to me were much more unbearable. No room to get air in my ears. Anyways i decided to change genres for these cans and went on to something more laid back, Tom Petty Free Falling, Running Down a dream, and lastly You dont know how it feels. The guitar riffs in all the songs were astonishing, it seems like its true the highs are very crisp and clear, even in the Sr60s which i was shocked. However, due to the lack in soundstage, i was quickly regretting putting those warm pads on. The music was engaging but it sounded so thin compared to the "thickness" from my senns are used to. Overall the difference between the 325s and the Sr60s was mainly the low end, and the mids werent as punchy on the Sr60s. Overall, however for there price, for newbies they do do music quite well, just something that i dont think competes with 595s\325 obviously.
Next i listened to the SR 125s. Having heard lots of praise about these i was excited to see how they sounded. Again i switched up the music, to Dj tiesto, one of my favorite Trance djs. Talk about in your face! Every bass drop every snare or drum synth seemed to come out and literally smack you upside the head. Very cool. Compared to the 325s there was a fair difference in bass impact, a step up from the SR60, but not as good as 325. The mids, i thought sounded better than the 325s. They came out in one song, Just be, were there is a female vocalist, and her voice sounded very smooth with no articulation.
Then came the renown 225s. Again, the bowls along with the Sr125 and 325, i found them actually quite comfortable. After reading everyones oppinions on the bowls i thought they would be horrid. Not to me, maybe its a difference on size of peoples ears. Mine almost fit completely into the cup itself, so it wasnt too bothersome. The 225s got to strut there stuff to some Guns N' Roses, namely Knockin' on heavens door, Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Old child o mine. The 225s Were almost kick fro punch hand and hand with the 325s. The only major difference that i noticed was the 225s didnt go as high into the upper frequencies. Despite this i could not hear much of a difference between the two. Soundstage was slightly greater than the 325s but it may have just been the recordings, still NIL compared to Senn's
Lastly were the Rs-1 which i was surprised to see that they had. An old guy looked at me with wide eyes (almost saying to himself, damn this kid knows headphones) He went in back and came back with a fairly dusty box, which pissed me off, that they werent being used.
Ah mahogony? Nice very nice. They looked cool placed em on and listened to some Pink Floyd. Welcome to the machine, Have a Cigar, Shine on you crazy Diamonds. Oooh, mids = killer, low end impact = killer, highs = not as high and crisp as 325s. Despite my liking of highs, the Rs-1s defintaly take the cake. If i were to choose to add to my collection RS-1 would be on top of the list. But ouch 6 bills. eeck. 325s are good, but at 250$ i think id go for 125's instead. I favored the 125s over the 225s. The Sr60 and Sr80 were very good value, and there flaws really werent all that horrid.
I think i might have to get me some now!
Cheers!
Long story short, only one out of 5 were open, but luckily they had the whole range of Grado headphones for me to oogle over. For about an hour or so, (oh yes i came prepared with ipod, pocket dock, and Supermacro) I tested out the grado's that ive been yearning for. ---The chump that worked there seemed to be impressed with all my gear, probably thought i was just some stupid college student---
So I immediately grabbed the 325 because i noted there nice aluminum cone. Ah yes, hooked it up to Ipod and first listened to Tool, Aenima. Right off the bat i was surprised by the impact the drums had on these (what seemed like little drivers) compared to my 595s. The track moved on and i slowly but surely noticed how indeed narrow the sound stage was. Fairly dissappointing compared to my 595s, but the music seemed like it was in my eyes, and not the back of my head like the senns. So i continued on with the song, enjoying a good 3-4 songs from the Aenima album with the 325. Ok, Ok, put them down now i thought and i went for the lower end...
Sr60, well the one they had at the store had the flat pads, which immediately made me say S*** these are uncomfortable. Yes i know it seems most dont like the bowl cups, but the flat pads to me were much more unbearable. No room to get air in my ears. Anyways i decided to change genres for these cans and went on to something more laid back, Tom Petty Free Falling, Running Down a dream, and lastly You dont know how it feels. The guitar riffs in all the songs were astonishing, it seems like its true the highs are very crisp and clear, even in the Sr60s which i was shocked. However, due to the lack in soundstage, i was quickly regretting putting those warm pads on. The music was engaging but it sounded so thin compared to the "thickness" from my senns are used to. Overall the difference between the 325s and the Sr60s was mainly the low end, and the mids werent as punchy on the Sr60s. Overall, however for there price, for newbies they do do music quite well, just something that i dont think competes with 595s\325 obviously.
Next i listened to the SR 125s. Having heard lots of praise about these i was excited to see how they sounded. Again i switched up the music, to Dj tiesto, one of my favorite Trance djs. Talk about in your face! Every bass drop every snare or drum synth seemed to come out and literally smack you upside the head. Very cool. Compared to the 325s there was a fair difference in bass impact, a step up from the SR60, but not as good as 325. The mids, i thought sounded better than the 325s. They came out in one song, Just be, were there is a female vocalist, and her voice sounded very smooth with no articulation.
Then came the renown 225s. Again, the bowls along with the Sr125 and 325, i found them actually quite comfortable. After reading everyones oppinions on the bowls i thought they would be horrid. Not to me, maybe its a difference on size of peoples ears. Mine almost fit completely into the cup itself, so it wasnt too bothersome. The 225s got to strut there stuff to some Guns N' Roses, namely Knockin' on heavens door, Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Old child o mine. The 225s Were almost kick fro punch hand and hand with the 325s. The only major difference that i noticed was the 225s didnt go as high into the upper frequencies. Despite this i could not hear much of a difference between the two. Soundstage was slightly greater than the 325s but it may have just been the recordings, still NIL compared to Senn's
Lastly were the Rs-1 which i was surprised to see that they had. An old guy looked at me with wide eyes (almost saying to himself, damn this kid knows headphones) He went in back and came back with a fairly dusty box, which pissed me off, that they werent being used.
Ah mahogony? Nice very nice. They looked cool placed em on and listened to some Pink Floyd. Welcome to the machine, Have a Cigar, Shine on you crazy Diamonds. Oooh, mids = killer, low end impact = killer, highs = not as high and crisp as 325s. Despite my liking of highs, the Rs-1s defintaly take the cake. If i were to choose to add to my collection RS-1 would be on top of the list. But ouch 6 bills. eeck. 325s are good, but at 250$ i think id go for 125's instead. I favored the 125s over the 225s. The Sr60 and Sr80 were very good value, and there flaws really werent all that horrid.
I think i might have to get me some now!
Cheers!