Tír Na HiFi

One additional caveat: if you are looking to use them in a tv room where the other half is watching to the TV, you may want to consider closed phones. In which case second hand Mr Speakers Mad dog or alpha dog may not be a bad choice for you. This is not for your benefit but hers!

Thanks everyone for your ideas and recommendations.
I was in the US this week and eventually decided on and grabbed myself a pair of Grado PS500e for a good price. Have just started to try them out at home -fantastic detail and base. They do not sound too dissimilar to my speaker (old AudioNote AN/E) set up. They don't seem to suffer from listening fatigue and can be run at low volumes and still maintain excellent resolution.

I do agree with Fran that the cups around the ears are not as comfortable as the Sennheisers. My only other issue is the cable length at approx 2m is on the short side.

I understand they take time to break-in and should improve so at this point I am happy.
Thanks
Conor

A nice purchase!!


You can get 5m extension cables with god quality connectors on ebay for fairly small $$. When I last looked it was as cheap to buy them as make them....


Fran

ConorW wrote:Thanks everyone for your ideas and recommendations.
I was in the US this week and eventually decided on and grabbed myself a pair of Grado PS500e for a good price. Have just started to try them out at home -fantastic detail and base. They do not sound too dissimilar to my speaker (old AudioNote AN/E) set up. They don't seem to suffer from listening fatigue and can be run at low volumes and still maintain excellent resolution.

I do agree with Fran that the cups around the ears are not as comfortable as the Sennheisers. My only other issue is the cable length at approx 2m is on the short side.

I understand they take time to break-in and should improve so at this point I am happy.
Thanks
Conor

Well done Conor! Yeah the sponge on Grados does take a little breaking in but it's worth it, they do have a lovely natural sound. I bought my own set in New York, given they're made in Brooklyn - it seemed the thing to do!

I have the PS500s and they are great, and probably the best value Grados. I swapped the cushions for the larger g-cush, as used on the PS1000 and that was very worthwhile. Much more comfy and improved balance of the sound.

Not quite a match for my Hifiman HE-6s but work well with portable sources, unlike the orthos.

Enjoy!