grado

Can $2,000 buy bona fide high-end audio?

You have two grand to spend on a fantastic stereo system. Can your cash get you there? Yes, it can!

In this case, we're talking about a headphone-based system, but I will in the coming months cover speaker-based audiophile-grade systems for less than $3,000.

For the headphone system, I'm recommending the Woo Audio WA6 Special Edition vacuum tube headphone amplifier ($1,050) I reviewed in yesterday's blog, along with Grado RS-1 headphones ($695), and Oppo's DV-981HD SACD/DVD-Audio player ($229). All prices are manufacturer's suggested retail price.

Mind you, the Woo and Grado are … Read more

Feed your head: Listening to the world's best headphones

As we all know high-end speakers are really expensive, some cost as much as a nice car. But high-end headphones, even the very best ones are within reach of anybody who loves great sound.

A while back I tested three of the top contenders for Home Entertainment magazine: AKG's K 701, Grado's RS-1, and Sennheiser's HD 650. Each is, in its own way, remarkable. You can read the complete review here.

The AKG K 701 is a very large over-the ear headphone. Its remarkably open sound will be hugely appealing for those of you who use headphones while watching DVDs. I find the K 701 produces a less in your head, more speaker-like sound than the Grado or Sennheiser. As big as they are, the K 701's creamy soft ear pads are so darn comfy it is easy to forget I'm wearing headphones. No wonder some headphone addicts lauded the K 701 as the best there is. The K 701 will continue, but the K 702 will debut in August.… Read more

High-end headphone mania hits New York

On Sunday, I went to a meet organized by Head-Fi, a national headphone club.

The vibe at the Bayside, New York, event was relaxed as I sampled the mind-expanding sounds of Grado, Sennheiser, AKG, and Stax headphones, driven by awesome headphone amplifiers, some of which were commercial products. Some were one-offs, built by their proud owners.

A few of the amps were portables, and the standout was the superslim MiniBox D ($79) from Head-Direct. This little thing pumps up the power of iPods with amazing gusto, and while listening to Head-Direct's Yuin PK2 earbuds ($79), the sound was remarkably … Read more

The future is here, and all I got were these awful little speakers

When I was a kid in the 1960s I was obsessed with the future. The space program was in all its glory, the moon landing was within our grasp, and that, combined with rock music being at its creative peak, what more could a teenage boy ask for? The future looked bright, science would soon feed the starving, cure all disease, and technology would bring prosperity to the entire world. Once those humdrum needs were satisfied we could get to the fun stuff and develop personal flying gear, teleportation machines, and start colonizing other worlds. For kids, at least nerdy … Read more