#4622
I see it etched right where everyone says it is. Wow.
I finally went and bit the aluminum/alloy/something Grado wants to say is unique metal/ bullet.
I am very happy... no more having to fix one issue after another with the old 325s and they sound amazingly better, Better with each hour of burn-in. I have a very warm system, so they aren't too bright, and what suprised me the most was the low end... There is actually a full bottom end on these guys. Before it was fairly hard to tune, even thenoffere it seemed the driver just could not move enough to hit the deeper octaves, so it captured the punch but not the low end ambiance and decay.
IT was the first thing I noticed, since I played a percussion heavy track, when the drums began to come in with a holographic feel, and the toms and kick just offered a smoothe full sound that I had not previously heard from Grados. I was sitting in the store having to pick up my jaw so I could go buy them. Only 3 months ago, a store opened up that became the only dealer within this entire area. I did not listen to the RS2s, because I would have ended up spending entirely too much
The 325is are great, and there is an improvement in the sound in a rather day and night kind of way, although the forks and headband seem, somehow less well built, the 'phones themseves are all Grado. The good part too.
EDIT: They aren't nearly as metallic as I first envisioned. I see in this thread that there is a new new 325, as in sr325>sr325i>sr325i(with updated "stuff"). Someone called them the IS, as in the sr325IS, I think. Maybe I read it wrong. I want to know if I ever get around to performing any modifications on these guys, would placing the original sr325 aluminum, non-bevel barrels in place of these "mushroom bevel" barrels ruin what is trying to be accomplished with the new new sr325s? I always thought most of the changes were in the driver... and I guess, the headband, since it is a bit wider and vinyl, not leather like my old pair. I am considering using the old headband, simply because I liked the leather, but the rods were too loose, and I didn't know how to increase the friction. Anyway, that is a cosmetic change, but the aluminum barrels makes me question just how much different the new beveled designs are from the standpoint of the headphone. It would be so easy for me to soften the glue and then open them up, but then I am going to want to do a little mass dampening too, and just obsess over these, which I did not set out to do.
One thing I am happy to hear is that the feedback seems to place them closer to RS1s in many ways, because I was so close to spending too much money on RS2s today, instead of the 325s. I set out to buy 325s, since I have been missing the grado sound, in general, among my collection, and never really got to enjoy the older set on some newer equipment. Still, like I said, they are not nearly as metallic, or edgy as I expected, and the demo pair at the store were even better, so I know burn-in is only going to bring me closer and closer to having the band in the room with me like I did earlier this afternoon, even just having the punch to render drums with such a forward, yet, dimensional sound, because they could hold onto the decay of a tom or snare, even a cymbol that would normally be ear shredding, to lengths beyond what I normally hear. Ususally, such detail does not hang in the air when heavy bass guitars hit the mix, for example, but it was nice what they could do while doing something else. Holding onto that room ambience while the layers begin to add up with such a velocity is something, that, so far for me, is unique to these headphones I am wearing right now. The old ones breaking for good was a blessing in disguise.
When many other phones go for this type of performance, it often comes off as too bright, though these seem to be breaking into a less bright state. Not dark, but where the decay of a cymbol hangs in the air, not shreds an ear.
