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Grado HF-2 Impressions Thread


tkam

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#163 was waiting for me when I got back from vacation the last week of July. I have spent a lot of time with them since then, as I find myself craving listening sessions. postjack's comment ("[p]ure Grado midrange crunchy radness") is spot on. In addition to guitars, a lot of vocal performances (Al Green!) have really shined.

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My HF-2 is due to arrive within the week, so of course I'm in a state of pre-ownership obsessive curiosity.

I'm a big believer in audio-chain synergy. But I'm also chronically lazy. So lend me your hard work and tell me what configuration yields the most win!

Are they better suited toward the tubey warmth and verve end of the spectrum, or toward solid-state hyper detail and speed?

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But I'm also chronically lazy. So lend me your hard work and tell me what configuration yields the most win!

That's a bad Kevin! :chair:

I found them to be less tolerant of high-output impedance designs compared to their HF-1 brethren and thought they sounded outstanding out of a beta22. I haven't tried them on many tube amps so I can only tell you bad things about that experience. I suspect that something with perhaps a trafo-coupled output would be nice.

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This isn't a great forum on which to be lazy. Lazy people tend to attract this kind of attention: :dotu: No matter what advice you get in this thread, you'll still have to do the work to decide for yourself what works best. So do the work once you get them.

That being said, I agree with Nate that they sound wonderful being driven by a B22. However, for me they also sound good being driven by my SP Platinum Extreme with 6as7g output tubes. So a "high power" OTL tube amp also works.

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Wow, look at all that laziness criticism coming from people who are probably surfing this forum at their day jobs (and yup I'm one of 'em) :eek::D

Nah seriously, thanks for the impressions. Actually, I get obsessive about trying different combinations, which lead me to build ~seven different DIY amps and try ~seven different Grado pad configurations.

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My HF-2 is due to arrive within the week, so of course I'm in a state of pre-ownership obsessive curiosity.

I'm a big believer in audio-chain synergy. But I'm also chronically lazy. So lend me your hard work and tell me what configuration yields the most win!

Are they better suited toward the tubey warmth and verve end of the spectrum, or toward solid-state hyper detail and speed?

I like them with Millett SSH or Head-direct EF1 and EF2 tube hybrids with Pico DAC-only, or Apogee Duet, Woo WA6 and EC ZDT.

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Initial impressions. Always using Headroom Overture as source.

Clearly shares DNA with the HF-1. I feel the bass in my feet, as if it was traveling floorboards.

Observing the aged HF-1 present a more effortless sound even while the newborn HF-2 outclasses it makes it clear that burn-in matters.

Millett Hybrid mates well, but is hiding detail. Diamond buffers will likely help this. Pimeta is surprisingly similar.

PPAv2 results in same experience as with all Grados. IT BURRRRRNS!

The Dynalo, on the other hand, is HF-2's soulmate. Now I need a change of pants. Also a B22 :)

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