Grado GS1000i

[MacSpot]

Hello all,

I don’t post on the forum very often, but do enjoy the many threads. However recently I have been the recipient of some very good fortune, which I must share with you. I won the January competition, which means I am the proud owner of a pair of Grado GS1000i’s.

What are my first impressions? Well for those of you who are interested, they certainly are not beautiful, however they do have and understated elegance and they ooze quality. Although they look bulky, they are very light and very comfortable to wear. The open back design means you won’t be the only person listening to your sounds.

As to the sound, well its early days, but the detail these headphones find is astounding and the sound stage that is created is excellent, listening to Passion Grace & Fire (John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucía & Al Di Meola) I could clearly identify each guitar and I was hearing sounds and detail I hadn’t heard before. I’m going to have to listen to my whole music collection again – magic.

I am not qualified to say how good these are, my current headphones are/were a pair of Sennheiser HD480 and I use a combination of Sennheiser PX100’s or CX300’s on my iPod (depending on the weather), but the Grado’s produce a sound that is streets ahead of anything I’ve heard before. Now I’m going to treat myself to a headphone amplifier, but don’t tell the wife.

A big thank you to the What Hi-Fi? Sound & Vision team for such a wonderful prize, I will treasure them for a long time.

Alec.

 

[idc]

MacSpot:

....I'm going to have to listen to my whole music collection again - magic.......

I am not qualified to say how good these are, my current headphones are/were a pair of Sennheiser HD480 and I use a combination of Sennheiser PX100's or CX300's on my iPod (depending on the weather), but the Grado's produce a sound that is streets ahead of anything I've heard before. Now I'm going to treat myself to a headphone amplifier, but don't tell the wife.

Nice one Alec. I am going to have to pay more attention to these competitions! What is powering the headphones at the moment? What are your thoughts on the headphone amp you will get? You so need a good amp to bring out the best in those Grados.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Congrats on winning the Grados, Macspot!

They do improve greatly after a good run-in, and in conjunction with a decent headphone amp. Depending on how much you've got to spend on one of them, we've reviewed a cracking £750 one in our July issue, out next week....

 

[MacSpot]

Thanks for the congratulations.

My current system is all Cambridge Audio, Azur 540A amp, Azur 640C CD player and Azur 540T tuner. My speakers are Mordant Short Avant 902i. So as you can see I'm on a tight budget, although I do harbour thoughts of upgrading (don't tell the other half), and £730 for a headphone amp is well out ofmy league.

I've had a quick look at the available headphone amplifiers and my initial thoughts were the Pro-ject Headbox MKII, however I may bide my time and put some funds together for the Graham Slee Novo. Unless somebody knows better.

Alec

 

[Clare Newsome]

The Graham Slee is definitely worth saving for. If you buy with care (ie make sure all is working well), you may even be able to pick up a second-hand bargain where someone's upgraded....

 

[Steve Reichert PR Manager ArmourHome]

Hello MacSpot,

May we add our congratulations!

Can we also say how delighted everyone here at Armour Home/Grado Labs is that these wonderful headphones have gone to someone who is actually going to enjoy them -- rather than a 'professional competition enterer' who would have put them straight on eBay.

Congratulations and very best regards

Steve Reichert (PR Manager - Armour Home)

 

[MacSpot]

Thank you Steve,

My Grado's will definitely get a workout. My past record with competitions is not good, 4 cans of larger (in 1974) and a couple of tenner's on the lottery about sums it up for me. So winning the Grado's has been a big event in our house, and its left my son green with envy (I'll have to hide them when I go on my holidays

).

Clare, thanks for your thoughts, I will hold on a little while and go for the Graham Smee amp.

Many thanks again,

Alec

 

[idc]

Alec. Please don't take the word of one (all be it very experienced

) reviewer and buy an amp on the strength of that. These headphones deserve to be auditioned. Can you do a phone around and see what amps are avilable to audition and take the Grados along? Even if you cannot audition Slee vs Project you can at least get an idea of what sound you prefer.

 

[Anonymous]

And consider amps from HeadRoom, Headamp, Meier Audio, Grado Labs themselves, Ray-Samuels, Cary Audio, Lehmann Audio, Harmony Design, Larocco Audio (the Pocket Referrence II mk2 in particular). Check out the following thread for a portable amp:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/review-portable-amp-roundup-37-portable-amps-reviewed-compared-214588/

Take a look at Head-Fi.org and you'll find there is a whole world around headphones and amps. Lots of help and access to products direct from the makers, that simply aren't sold in stores in the UK. Headphone amps are quite specialist and the best ones are often hand made to order. You'll have to go by the reviews on the site, but you can pose the question of what would work best with the GS1000i and I have no doubt you'll receive a lot of knowledgable feedback. Good luck! (And take your time over it!!!!)

 

[idc]

There are loads of portable headphone amps out there as Will states. But it should only be stop gap as you save for a more substantial one such as those reviewed in the magazine a couple of months ago. Also consider second hand Musical Fidelity X-CANS, V2 and V3, all of which will drive the Grados with ease.

This, the Blue Jelly C-Moy mini amp comes highly recommended and would get you going meantime.

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, the amp manufacturers I've mentioned all make full sized home amps. Not just portable ones, though I have linked to an excellent thread comparing the portables on offer. I would urge anyone with good headphones to read them.

I have nothing against the big manufacturers such as Musical Fidelity, but there is a lot more out there than these mainstream, dealer stocked brands. Headphone amps are much better considered a cottage industry and researched and enjoyed as such.

 

[survivor]

Congratulations MacSpot! The lower end Grados sound good so goodness knows how great these will sound once they`ve been run in. Think if I was you I`d not rush into buying a headphone amp just yet. They are a high end headphone and so saving up for a good quality headphone amp would be my advice. Anyway, congratulations once again.

 

[Big Chris]

I'd hold off buying a headphone amp. Wait until there's a competition for one, and you'll more than likely win it!

;-)

Congratulations. I, like you, never seem to win anything. So when it does happen, it's all the sweeter for it.

 

[MacSpot]

Sorry I haven't been replying, we have been away for the weekend, enjoying this glorious weather and doing some serious walking.

Thank you for all the advice and information. I must admit that until I won the Grado's, I had never considered a headphone amplifier, but to do them justice I really feel I need to add a headphone amplifier.

I will consider all the advice given here and investigate all my options before making a final decision. Its not something I'm going to rush, I want to be sure what I get benefits my listening experience and suits my needs.

Cheers

Alec

 

[Anonymous]

Congrat's on the win!! I use Grado sr60's and shure se110's and have recently bought a Project headamp2. It improves the sound no end compared to just using my ipod classic 80gig,it is also hooked up to my amp via a cheepie cable and sounds tons better than using the headphone output to amp.