[cactus_farmer]

Sennheisers do midrange tonal accuracy better, Focal do that uber-dynamic in-your-face front row aggressive presentation better. Grado's are no longer that well detailed for the price, and most other headphones do bass and soundstage better.

I don't ask this to be condescending - I own an SR325e myself but just struggle to put my finger on what it does better than my HD650, K712 Pro or DT 1990 Pro. Indeed, the AKG K712 Pro seems to have a similar tonality to it, but has a significantly more extended bass and wider soundstage, and details are not as congested and thus easier to pick out.

 

[HipHopScribe]

Highly colored boutique headphones with a cult following, decidedly an acquired taste, so pretty much the niche they've long occupied. I don't know if this is controversial to say or not, but while I've enjoyed Grado headphones and owned a few since I first bought a pair of SR60s almost two decades ago, I'm not sure they've been competing on the merits for a long time

 

[CoryGillmore]

I always thought Grado was only for the manliest of men who smoke cigars, drink room temp whiskey, listen only in a leather chair and only listen to vinyl. Matter of fact, if you've seen any of the promotional materials for the Klipsch HP-3, when I think of who Grado is for, Grado is for THAT guy..

 

[Beagle]

Maybe y'all oughta listen to the GS3000e before typing up a dumb pointless thread.

 

[Philimon]

Maybe y'all oughta listen to the GS3000e before typing up a dumb pointless thread.

Good point.

 

[blr]

Well, you basically saying that a product cannot justify its existence because several other products can put up the sum of its qualities? I don't get it.
Grado has (and will have IMO) a cult following for a good reason.

 

[cactus_farmer]

Not sure why people are getting defensive... I asked 'what' is Grado's niche, not 'why does it deserve a niche'...

 

[cactus_farmer]

By the way, I also recently got a chance to demo the Focal Elear run off a high powered high end DAC/amp. I was not blown away by it's fabled dynamics and only found them to be maybe 5% better at dynamics than the HD650, which is already considered by many to be a smooth and not particularly dynamic headphone (however, maybe it was experiencing a performance increase in dynamics since it was being driven by the same high powered amp that I auditioned the Elear with).

I did not compare Grado's directly to the Elear, but since I always found the dynamics to be a bit better on Grado's vs the HD650, and the dynamics of the Elear were also a bit better than the HD650, maybe Grado's and Elears are fairly similar in this regard (i.e. the Focals do not blow Grado out of the water)

 

[blr]

Defensive, no. Nothing to defend against. In fact, I sold my last pair of Grados some 15 years ago.
Talking about a niche, I don't consider them to be a niche brand in the HiFi headphone world. They are one of the big players, especially in the US, where they can be priced very competitively.

 

[Beagle]

Not sure why people are getting defensive... I asked 'what' is Grado's niche, not 'why does it deserve a niche'...

What is any headphone manufacturer's "niche" if they all sound different and headphone listening/preference is a matter of personal taste?

 

[Mink]

Isn't it at thing from the past anyways, those distinct sound signatures a brand represents? Nowadays you can get any flavor you like within the same brand.

 

[Shane D]

I think it's the sound, plus the looks (with woodies), and the whole family owned, small business thing.

I liked the SR325e's, but found them a bit noisy (read bright). Stepped up to the GH2's and couldn't be happier.

They seem to be far from the most popular headphones out there and that likely also plays a part. We all want to think we are in some exclusive club.

Shane D

 

[Shane D]

Isn't it at thing from the past anyways, those distinct sound signatures a brand represents? Nowadays you can get any flavor you like within the same brand.

Do you really think so? I think my Grado's are Very different from my Meze 99 Classic's which are VERY different from my Beyer T5P.2's and so on. I just bought an electrostatic Koss system which is dramatically different from all my other headphones and amps.

To me every headphone brings a very different sound to the party. And I LOVE variety!


Shane D