Grado-rama: A Guide to Grados

Before I reply to some of of the posts, I want to remind readers:

PADS PADS PADS PADS PADS ...

... are crucial before any discussion of Grados. This means newer model or older model Grados or new pads or old pads falling apart. There is a huge variety of pads out there, from the Gerrod, TTVJ, and Grado themselves. Some combinations work. Others do not.

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...ma-a-guide-to-grados.13791/page-4#post-416228

---

Yeah, HF-1 was bright with the L cush.

HF2 had Grado mids but was tuned to sounded warmer and less bright. I regret selling mine, although TBH I hadn't used it for a while when I had sold it. I'd love for Grado to release another Prestige line product with a metal outer cup and wood inner cup again. The SR325X has a metal outer cup and plastic inner cup, so it's not quite the same.

SR60 with the included S cush.

Pick the right model with the L cush, and we can still get that classic "John" Grado sound for lack of a better term. SR80X to SR225X still sound like the old Grados of the past with the classic L cush bowl pads. I think Grado may have tuned the SR325X driver to be a bit bassier (despite the F cush), I actually do not mind SR325X with the L cush. I know many found the the older iteration, the SR325i with the L cush bowl pads to be far too bright and aggressive. It's hard to say because we have much better gear (amps and DACs today).

The commonality with Grados is their low impedance and super sensitivity. Craig at Eddie Current has a pair around to listen for hum on his tube amps designs. No audible hum, then good to go on the point to point layout. Grados are similar to high-efficiency single driver type speakers in that they are lively and fast sounding.

The second commonality would be their mids, although the F cash pads pull back a little bit on this effect, and the 1000/3000 woodies pretty much do away with it.

Different flavor. I'm using Gerrod pads which are like well used squished L cush pads on the RS1X to give me a bit more mid-bass. The Grado mids are definitely very noticeable. Think of it was a different flavor. I don't necessarily want everything to sound neutral all the time, and I've also been known to like woodies with "weird" mids (Audio Technica W3000).

Again, not trying to get anyone to buy anything; but sometimes I feel Grado gets forgotten or ends up pigeonholed. People used to bitch at the price of the RS1 and RS2. Today, look at all the me-too dynamic headphones from $500-1250 over the years, most of which have been forgotten.

I am surprised at the number of people who responded to this thread. I thought I would write a few posts any no one would respond. (And I get it, Grados aren't for everyone, like how some people don't eat fish).

Winsdor is such bullshit. They made it up, but not after first changing their name to Mountbatten. Originally it was Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg from Philip. Dang, what a bunch of grifters, of an entire nation.

 

Folkvangr <- Bifrost 2/64. Loved the G3000. Loved the Hemp (L cush). I'd probably tend toward the L cush rathan the F cush for most of the Reference/ Prestige line on this setup.

There are many approaches to amping Grados:

1. Old school Grados with the L cush bowls: Because they were bright with crunch mids, one would pick a bloomy, lush, wet, phat (any combo thereof) sounding amp to help take the edge off. The higher output impedance of many tube amps also added some bass and punch. Some solid state worked. That little Grado amp, although mocked with some character assassination because it was essentially an CMOY (and not all CMOYs sound the same), was actually an excellent pairing with the Grados of that time. There was actually some thought and experimenting to that little amp.
2. Minimalist: To get the most of out it. This is where I am coming from: with a majority of sources, usually portable, I have rarely found any additional amplification that made Grados sound better. We can take a Sony Walkman, Sony ZX2, a iFi Go Bar, Shanling M6, whatever. Put an amp in front, 95% of the time the Grado sounds worse, less resolving of fine detail, less immediacy.

 

Yes, this is why I like Focals too. Focals have that efficiency too. The Utopia still belongs in my top 5 headphones list. Downsides to the Utopia? $4000. Also some people will always dislike the Focals because of their metallic timbre, although this has always been big part of the Focal sound among their pro monitors and higher-end car and home speakers.

It's been said that there isn't a huge difference from SR60 to RS2/RS1. Grab a SR80 or SR125 on the entry level with a variety of different pads to play around with. Throw that SR80/125 into the street and have a car run over it. Most likely the headband will be destroyed, but drivers embedded in those plastic cups will survive. Take those drivers and put them into homemade for third-party cups and a spare headband / gimbal assembly. (Note this is essentially what I shipped to you). This would not be possible Focal, especially Focal.