Well, when is the last time Grado came out with a new model? Their reputation hasn't suffered, people are just talking more about new products. The HF-2 isn't new, it is the exact same concept and even physical shape as other Grados. They really need to release genuinely new headphones instead of using the same 3 drivers and same 3 housings in different combinations. They need to cut down the number of headphones in the SR line and reduce the ridiculous prices of the RS, PS, and GS lines. Their markups to distributors are about 50%. Senneheiser sells to distributors at about 20% markup. And what's worse, Grado requires its distributors to sell at another 50% markup to the consumer! Yes, this information is accurate, I got it from a person who as been retailing Grados and other headphones for more than a decade. And the markup is even higher than that outside the USA! John Grado may be making enough money now to live comfortably, but if he wants his company to be around in 10 years, he needs to design truly new products at more realistic prices.
-edit- Oh yeah, they need to have more polite customer service reps, which costs absolutely nothing, and stricter quality control, which costs relatively little. But those are well-known problems.
