Alessandro MS1 headphones

[GeoffreyW]

I have a question for others who use these headphones. Having recently purchased them, mine came with foam pads, and they sit on the ear, rather than the foam rings on my Grado SR80s, which go round and enclose the ear. I swapped them round, putting the rings on the MS1s, and the pads on the 80s. This improved the MS1, removing the filtering/veiling effect of the pads, giving more of the openness characteristic of the 80s, whilst retaining the improvements achieved by Alessandro. The pads also calmed down the 80s a bit, but I prefer them as normal.

Has anyone else tried this? And what were your findings, please?

 

[Anonymous]

How old are your SR80s?

I bought a new pair about a year ago and they didn't come with rings, just flat pads which sat on the ears.

They were so uncomfortable that I sold them and bought a pair of Goldring 150s which are much better value in my opinion.

 

[if...]

Did the exact same thing with my Alessandro headphones - the foam rings seemed to open out the sound to me so prefer these to the supplied pads.

 

[GeoffreyW]

Hi, Willie, my SR80s are about three years old. I bought them shortly before I saw the new 80i's, but as I never got to compare them, I've been happy.

I found the pads on the Alessandros didn't feel right, more unsafe than uncomfortable, as well as not sounding as good as expected. I've now bought a pair of rings, so don't have to keep swapping between sets, though all my listening now is through the Alessandros. It's a pity you couldn't try the Grados with the rings, you might have enjoyed the wide soundstage, provided you like some brightness. How many others did you try, before settling on the Goldrings?

BTW, who's the racer in your avatar - you? Looks a bit like Mike the Bike, or Ago?

 

[GeoffreyW]

Hi, if..., completely agree, much wider soundstage and restoration of lost harmonics with rings. Now I've bought some new rings, I'm tempted to cut the centres out of the pads, just to see...........

 

[Anonymous]

...... It's a pity you couldn't try the Grados with the rings, you might have enjoyed the wide soundstage,.......

Hi, before selling them i contacted the Grado distributors who were sympathetic and sent me a new set of pads with the centers cutout but they made no difference and the dis-comfort continued.

It was really aggravating as I had previously owned a set of SR60s for years with no problem and the pads on the new SR80is looked very similar to those.

The Goldrings are fine and much better value than the Grados which are 3 times the price!

By the way, it isn't often that I get mentioned in the same sentence as Mike The Bike & Ago, so thanks for that!

Bob A.

 

[GeoffreyW]

Hi, Bob. I must admit that I much prefer the comfort of the rings, as they don't touch my ears, nor do they get too hot, and I don't really expect the pads with holes in the middle will actually be preferable.

This was also the concern I had when I briefly tried B&W P5s, which also sit on the ears.