[TokenGesture]

Hi All
 
Wearing them now.  After typical newbie dumbness, have started to properly burn them in.  After 20 hours straight, the harsh treble that had been starting to fatigue me seems to be smoothing down...only another 80 hours to go...

 

[avoidsthelight]

Hello
 
I got my first pair of good headphones and I have to thank Head-Fi for giving me the ammo i needed to read before making a purchase. I originally bought some Bose noise canceling models. I loved them, they drowned out my 3 year old and wife perfectly.... hehehehe. however, i was set on hearing hte Grados so the Bose went back to bestbuy. I got my Grado 325's a week later at Audible Arts in Campbell, CA.
 
i have had them a week. i loke them alot hoever, i need an amp. i only have an iphone, ipod and ipad. no real audio equipment to mention. so, these are cool but i fear they are underpowered a bit ATM. so, i will be researching amps.
 
can someone tell me what the differnece is between a headphone amp and a portable amp? are they the same?
 
here is my serial number.... # 4535.
 
thanks for reading....
 
also - one last important question. well, two actually.
 
1. i want to polish these cans out. the metal portion at least. has anyone turned there cans into polished goodness? the aluminum ones on the 325s? i want to see a good pic before i do this.
 
2. i want better cables. these always twist and tangle inside of thier rubber houseing. i dont like that one bit. i want cables that wont twist or tangle and are material not plastic. where can i get this done guys? does it void the warrenty? will Grado mod them for me with better lines? if i pay?
 
thanks in advance for the info guys. have a great weekend
 
paul
www.paultroia.com
www.troiasimage.blogspot.com

 

[rasmushorn]

Hi avoidsthelight - welcome to the club.
 
What a great choice to start with - the Grado SR-325is! They are truly HIGH FIDELITY and they are headphones I will never part with. 
 
A portable amplifier is still a headphone amplifier - just a smaller portable one which runs from battery power. You can get VERY good results with portable amplifiers today so if you ever consider bringing your SR325 outside the home and want to carry a small amplifier with you then consider a portable amplifier. I recommend the iQube a fantastic match for SR325 when going portable - specially if you like the crisp, punchy forward sound of the 325's. But many other cheaper models will do a great job too. 
 
I don't recommend starting the polishing job - unless you really know what you do. Just a very small metal grain in the driver will destroy the sound! Regarding changing the cables I have no idea how you disassemble the housing without destroying it. It has been glued as far as I know and it takes some special witchcraft to disassemble it without breaking the plastic-parts. 
 
Enjoy the music!

 

[Po11ux]

Hi,
 
New owner of a pair of used SR-325is (#1985) here. 
 
Brief listening impression: These are my first quality headphones. The first time i used them with just my Samsung P2. The first thing i noticed was the lack of bass (I'm used to listening to music with a fairly big subwoofer) even though i was accidentally using a very bass heavy equalizer on my pmp. Soon after i noticed the clarity and the level of detail in the higher frequency ranges. Pretty amazing stuff . In every song i listend to i discovered a number of details i never noticed before. The longer i listened, the more i stopped missing the bass even when using a neutral equalizer setup. At this point i was pretty impressed but not blown away by the overall sound quality, so i decieded to try the headphones with my aproximatly 25 years old kenwood tube amplifier. The sound was totally different. Suddenly the bass was really full, strong and extending to depths i thought where only possible with a fullsized subwoofer, but the clarity and detail in the mids and high was still there.
 
So the more i listen the more i begin to understand what these headphones are about. I hope the bass deficiency issue will resolve itself once i get my Audinst HUD-mx1 amp/DAC.
 
One last thing, the headphones are uncomfortable. I didn't notice it directly but after half an hour the outer area of my ears did hurt when adjusting or taking off the headphones. (I'm using new, standard earpads). As of now though i think the audio quality is worth the pain .

 

[rasmushorn]

Hi Po11ux - You must be a really bass-hungry person 

I have the same issue with the comfort. You might want to try the yellow Sennheiser HD414 pads. They are softer on the ears and they will also give you more bass - ...and take away some of the edgy sound. So it might be a compromise you will like? 

 

[Jukkis]

#3317 signing in

 

[Po11ux]

Quote:

Hi Po11ux - You must be a really bass-hungry person 

I have the same issue with the comfort. You might want to try the yellow Sennheiser HD414 pads. They are softer on the ears and they will also give you more bass - ...and take away some of the edgy sound. So it might be a compromise you will like? 

Yeah i might try that thx

 

[Bencrest]

If you can put up with a looser fit from the SR325is, it's well worth 'bending' the headband. However, you do so at your own risk!
 
I have a HUGE head (well, ok, bigger than average), and found that after a few minutes of experimenting, I'd managed to bend the headband so that it doesn't apply excessive pressure to my ears, but I don't lose any sound quality, and they don't just fall off whenever I move.
 
Even with the fitment issues, they are definitely keepers. I'm using two pairs of Sennheiser HD380 Pro for the times I need closed cans, and my 325is and case for the best in music quality.
 
As for amplification, I really don't think any Grado model of this nature improves to a drastic extent, I'd be inclined to say try a cheap, simple amp, and if you don't notice an improvement, don't bother. I currently run them straight from my iPhone / Alienware M11x laptop, and PC when I'm doing some serious gaming. 

 

[Po11ux]

Thanks for the input Bencrest!

I am actually ok with the clamping force of my headphones (perhaps the previous owner has tweaked it to some extent). My problem is, that my ears touch the hard driver cover and not the earpad itself because i have quite small ears and when i wear them so that the earpad rests on my ear, the driver is no longer positioned directly over my ear canal which sounds and feels awkward. I may have to try earpads without an opening in the middle.

As for aplification I did find that there was a substantial improvment when using a fullsized amp, especially after fiddeling with the bass and treble. Also my computer, which is my primary audio source uses an onboard soundcard which is quite inadequad considering my new hardware : ). So i still think an amp/DAC is going to be a worthwhile investment that will complement the Grados nicely.

 

[Broslowski]

I bought these headphones because it is beatiful and I liked them very much. The sound ist very musical (THE MOST MUSICAL I HAVE EVER HEARD). I am really surprised that there is something like this owner club which I would like to join with my 325i headphones. The serial number is 9421. Bought in Slovak Republic.
I am going to post some pictures of it soon.

 

[rasmushorn]

Quote:

I bought these headphones because it is beatiful and I liked them very much. The sound ist very musical (THE MOST MUSICAL I HAVE EVER HEARD). I am really surprised that there is something like this owner club which I would like to join with my 325i headphones. The serial number is 9421. Bought in Slovak Republic.
I am going to post some pictures of it soon.

Welcome to the club - I am looking forward to the pictures. 

 

[ClieOS]

SN#: 9105 for the SR325i here. I won mine from Ken @ ALO last year for the logo design contest of his shop.

 

[rasmushorn]

Members keep signing in - but I do not think the OP updates the first page anymore.... 

 

[Broslowski]

 

 
Here there are, my little babies

 

[priest]

^ Those are some beautiful photos.