Help with Grado selection - please?

[russyj]

Hi all,

I've moved into a flat recently, where my appreciation of very loud music is not one shared by my neighbours (), so I've started looking at the world of hi-fi headphones.

After spending quite a bit with the "start low and upgrade" mantra on my proper hifi in 9 months, I'm loathe to do it again with headphones, so wanted to start with something semi-decent. I'm not looking at spending much more than 150 quid, and I want to go Grado, so the following list are all in my sights:
SR-60
SR-60i
SR-80
SR-80i
SR-125i
SR-225 (at a push)
Alessandro MS-1

My question is, having trawled through all the reviews, at what point do I stop seeing a return for greater investment? Has anyone had a similar problem to me? Apparently the i is better than the old model, but is it that great a difference? And what are we looking at between 60-80-125-225? With speakers the upgrade between models seems a lot easier to quantify than with headphones.

Any help appreciated.

Regards, Russ

[tudj]

What made you choose Grado? There is said the be a "Grado sound" and you may hate it.

My advice would be to try and arrange a demo of some headphones. SuperFi will set up a CD player/amp for you to demo some headphones with music you know. There's quite a few options in that budget and you should try and listen to as many as possible before buying!

[LFC_SL]

Diminishing returns I suppose has to be set against your personal circumstances and j.o.b. I have had the pleasure of demoing both the Senn HD800 and Grado RS1 and it confirms what has remained consistent in my mind - buy the best within the budget that you have

I loathe to tell you this, but I have been playing with headphones since I was 15 and well upgrading each component in the chain has only eeked out more performance. I am currently on the Senn HD600 as my home headphone of choice and they are a keeper. Like a fine wine, I have found upgrading the DAC and amp to make them shine even more. Trouble is, at the beginning you have no comparator. As soon as you do, that is when your wallet hurts

Super-fi is one of the few UK outlets that stock Grados. I agree that you should ask your local store whether they can accommodate you and allow you to demo

[Drubbing]

I think the biggest difference in sound is in the iBud-$300 range, diminishing returns kick sometimes shortly after that.

Debates rage over whether the i models offer anything more. For around 10 quid difference, you'd have to say probably not.

Having the MS1 and read a lot about the Grado's, I'd suggest its the best VFM one of the lot. The more you read about Grado's, the more confused you get, many people say they are shades of the same flavour, and others claim there are significant differences between them.

Some find the lower end ones to be overly bright or even harsh, the 125 is generally regard as the first step up from the lower ones.

THe MS1 is often described as a smoother, more refined 125 - the phone on which it is based. It's also better priced than Grado's, they even build it and send it to Alessandro for tweaking.

I found less improvement with amping, as they run pretty close to their best without, but a good source always helps as well.
A listen is best if you can.

[russyj]

Thanks for all your advice, its given me a lot to think about...

Originally Posted by tudj

What made you choose Grado? There is said the be a "Grado sound" and you may hate it.

I like the look / brand image of Grado. Can't quite explain it, I just have a thing for companies that manage to keep a solid reputation while holding on to a vintage design. Same reason I love watching Cool Runnings (other than the ridiculous stereotyping and John Candy) - Retro

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

Trouble is, at the beginning you have no comparator. As soon as you do, that is when your wallet hurts

This is what I'm VERY scared of. In my nine months since starting in hifi, I went from a "its basic but it'll do for me - I'll barely ever use it" setup to spending about 6 times the initial investment on what I consider a pretty decent setup. I'm thinking I'll barely ever use the headphones, but, based on past experience, I have a sneaking suspicion I'll start using them quite a bit, and then start wanting to upgrade once I hear something else. Which is why I want to start with a semi-decent setup, to try and keep the little wallet-hungry-upgrade-monster at bay... next a headphone amp, then a much better cd player, then a new DAC...

Originally Posted by Drubbing

The more you read about Grado's, the more confused you get, many people say they are shades of the same flavour, and others claim there are significant differences between them.

Couldnt agree with you more, headphone comparisons seem to be the least objective of all types of reviews (except for maybe HDMI cable comparisons... )

[LFC_SL]

I agree and would advocate demoing rather than buying 'blind'. Saying that, it is next to impossible to demo headphones. If you get into IEMs, then forget it completely

My favourite word for headphones is now "synergy". Each component in the chain can make up for weaknesses in another to deliver the end sound you are looking for. I suppose the logic extends to speakers as well

I'd buy a DAC before buying a headphone amp. A good DAC can keep the amp purchase at bay and have you set. Garbage in, garbage out

[Drubbing]

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

I agree and would advocate demoing rather than buying 'blind'. Saying that, it is next to impossible to demo headphones. If you get into IEMs, then forget it completely

This all depends on where you live. I'm lucky to be very near to the only headphone specialist in Australia.

Hifi shops in Melbourne sells Grado, AKG and a few others, but don't hold demo stock. I gather it must be the same in the UK, although I'd have thought there would be some good headphone shops there, given the size of market.

I'm going to the states next month, and checking out some higher end Grado's, and in LA alone, I'm falling over headphones shops with demo's of everything (except of course IEMs).

[Lyricman]

I have just purchased the SR80i and am very impressed with them.

I auditioned them against the Sennheiser 595 and the 60i and IMHO there was a significant difference in quality. In fact the Senn's sounded quite dull compared to the 80i. Hope this helps.
I used the socket in a £500 amp to test volume at about 9 o'clock and pretty loud.

[BigTone]

Originally Posted by Lyricman

I have just purchased the SR80i and am very impressed with them.

I auditioned them against the Sennheiser 595 and the 60i and IMHO there was a significant difference in quality. In fact the Senn's sounded quite dull compared to the 80i. Hope this helps.
I used the socket in a £500 amp to test volume at about 9 o'clock and pretty loud.

The SR80i are great little cans and easy to run off about any source (I run them right out of an Itouch). Senn's on the other hand like more power!