If you don’t have a lot of living space, can a pair of headphones provide a “true” high-end audio experience? From my perspective, as someone who is currently living with a lot less space and will be living in an 848 square foot cabin and 1,100 square foot apartment going forward — the obvious answer is yes.
A pair of speakers or headphones will also work in a 400 square foot cabin, but you have far greater leeway with a pair of headphones and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The “you’ll never experience a true high-end experience without full-range…” crowd can honestly get lost inside a Buc-ee’s outside of Daytona Beach and stuff it.
Speaking of Daytona Beach, if you’ve never taken the opportunity to visit the Daytona International Speedway — it’s well worth the visit and was one of my last stops recently before making it to my current destination in Florida. Don’t forget to bring your ear protection.
Rebirth of a Headphone?
Sitting in my Toyota in the parking lot across the street from the historic racetrack which is an architectural marvel (the property is larger than MetLife, MSG, Yankee Stadium, Lincoln Financial, Raymond James, and the “Swamp” combined), I decided to remove the Grado Signature S950 from their somewhat austere packaging and listen for awhile.
The weather in Florida has been rather unpredictable and I needed to recharge my batteries before getting back on the road.
Change is hard; for both organisations and people and it’s often the only way to fix issues that have been building and holding one back. If one can’t be honest that there is a problem that needs immediate attention — the world — both people and the competition will pass you by. And it will bury you in the process.
Resist decline at all costs. It is what helps one get through challenges.
Listening to the Grado Signature S950, it was clearly evident that there has been a shift in their thinking — and while not everyone will see that as a good thing — I think it was rather necessary and the early results are very promising.
Weighing in at 395 grams, the Signature S950 are a comfortable weight that is well distributed across the top of your head, with a rather average amount of clamping force.
They do not put an excess amount of pressure on your head or ears but slightly more would have been preferable on my larger head. Grado has increased the amount of padding in the headband by almost 50% and it’s noticeable if you have used any of their headphones before.
It features a stainless-steel band and adjustable height rods, allowing for a customized fit that helps reduce listening fatigue.
Grado Labs has manufactured the engraved gimbals from an aluminum alloy, and the stainless-steel height rod adds stability at the connection point. The height rod is designed to remain secure to the junction block as well, restricting the housing rotation to only 105 degrees, which should minimise some of the wear and tear if you plan on using these on a daily basis.
My one gripe with the headband is that while the additional padding certainly makes the Grado Signature S950 a more comfortable listen over longer listening sessions (my first one in the car waiting for the hard rain to stop was around 45 minutes) — there needs to be more.
My reference pairs of headphones, the Meze Audio Empyrean II and Meze 109 Pro offer a different approach to weight distribution; the flagship seemingly floats on the top of your head thanks to its unique suspension and padding-free headband and the more affordable 109 Pro’s padded headband (even less than the Grado) also benefits from the suspension to provide just enough contact while relying on the clamping force of the ear cups to keep things locked in place.
Driver…Take Me Home
The Signature S950 utilizes a version of the Grado 52mm S driver that first appeared in the new Signature HE100 SE. A paper composite cone was selected, and paired with a high-flux magnetic circuit made from rare earth alloys. The driver also features a lightweight copper-plated aluminum voice coil.
According to Grado, the new driver and the refinements made to it for the Signature S950 results in “improved dynamic and transient response, while providing a refined sense of space, soundstage, detail and imaging.”
With a sensitivity rating of 115 dB (SPL @1mW) and impedance of 38 ohms, the Signature S950 are not particularly hard to drive and I achieved a good baseline of their performance with my iPhone and iFi GO Bar Kensei.
Desktop listening down in Florida has also included a rather crude setup with the WiiM Ultra Streamer and Schiit Ragnarok 2 Integrated Amplifier/Headphone Amp. The Schiit’s headphone section outputs 24 watts (32 ohms, Balanced output) and the single-ended output can deliver 6 watts (32 ohms) — so it barely broke a sweat.
Detach Cable. Cable Detached.
Sorry. Couldn’t resist.
The Head-Fi community has kvetched and moaned about the fixed cable design of Grado headphones for years and while it wasn’t really a big deal when consumers were pretty much limited to 3.5mm or 6.35mm jacks on the front panel of their receivers, Sony Walkman’s, or Apple iPods – the personal audio category has taken a huge step into a much larger world and that no longer flies.
Grado has rectified that with the new HE100 SE and Signature S950 and will be offering a range of cables, termination options, and one can always use an adapter if required. The Signature S950 accepts dual-entry 4-pin mini XLR and has a 6.3mm termination. Additional balanced terminations, including 4-pin XLR and 4.4mm Pentaconn, will be available in the near future.
The supplied cables have been redesigned with a softer, more durable braided finish as well as an improved insulation that enhances flexibility while reducing the weight which can be an issue with some of the third-party cables.
Is the supplied cable as fancy as some of the $300 headphone cables I’ve seen used at CanJam events across the country? Not really. But it does the job and is a lot more pliable than the cables that have come with all previous Grado headphones and that’s a positive development.
The ability to cable “roll” makes this a non-issue anymore for those who want to use their own.
Some Extra Padding
The Grado headphones are supplied with over-ear G-style pads and on-ear F-style pads and there has not been one listening session so far where I preferred the on-ear scenario; uncomfortable, slightly brighter sounding, and just not something that would work for me.
The additional foam of the larger G-style pads doesn’t get too hot and provides better passive isolation; from external noise and most certainly impacts the overall presentation from the mid bass through the upper midrange.
When you consider the $2,195 USD asking price, it feels somewhat strange (at least to me) that the Signature S950 don’t come with a higher quality ear pad; and the design makes it rather easy to swap them out.
Comfort and passive isolation would be the primary reasons for me as a listener to want something that feels plusher, but Grado may have tried other materials and felt that they didn’t alter the sound quality and isolation enough to be worth the expenditure.
A third-party ear pad for those who may want to go down that path would be rather inexpensive.
Crashing Waves?
Without giving away too much information about my current living arrangements in Florida as part of my new reality and treatment, I will divulge that I can hear and see the ocean and feel strong onshore winds when I open either one of my balcony doors.
A good test for the passive isolation of the over-ear ear pads was to sit on the balcony at night and in the early morning and listen to music with Mother Nature howling from the sea.
The Grado succeed rather well in that regard with the massive on-ear pads and the music at reasonable listening levels. My brain can’t handle loud noises right now and I’ve had to adjust.
I’m going to save some of my listening comments for the next installment of the column because my other desktop audio-related products will be arriving soon and will certainly offer greater context and a deeper dive.
My listening habits of late have been influenced by my place in the universe; Nick Cave, Jason Isbell, Peter Gabriel, Sia, Bob Dylan, the Animals, Dolly Parton, and Johnny Cash have filled the heavy air with both guidance and necessary reminders that I don’t believe in quitting.
Cash’s “Hurt” did feel like a gut punch and every word was something that I could relate to right now. His pain resonates and the track (TIDAL, 16-bit/44.1kHz, FLAC) requires both clarity and lower midrange punch to really hit.
The Signature S950’s tonal balance is most certainly focused on the mid-bass to upper midrange and it does a rather stellar job with male and female vocals; texture, clarity, and overall presence were excellent.
One of my biggest gripes with older Grado models was a degree of hardness in that regard with poorly recorded vocals; the top end could come across as rather strident and the lower midrange somewhat chesty and rough.
The Signature S950 is a completely different beast; and it should be for the asking price.
Nick Cave’s rather dark cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Avalanche” offers a heavy focus on his vocals and piano; the Signature S950 not only delivers Cave’s tone with rather hair-raising tonal accuracy and presence, but the weight of the piano was felt internally.
This track also illuminated an interesting aspect of the over-ear ear pads and how they impact the soundstage and overall imaging; the Grado Signature S950s can sound absolutely massive with some tracks stretching the soundstage well past the edges of both earcups.
But with the headphones plugged into the Ragnarok 2, which offers a more intimate sounding performance in-between your ears, the over-ear earpads pushed Cave forward of the instrumentation and narrowed things somewhat.
And I was perfectly fine with that. It pushed Cave and I closer together and the warmer sounding timbre with a smoother top end (which has never really been a Grado thing) became a deeply moving experience.
The past five months (and the present) have been especially difficult as I to fix what’s broken and to make sure that I’m honest and remember that resilience is key and that decline is not something that I will accept. Not ever.
It would appear that Signature S950 is all about that as well.
Grado is definitely changing in the best possible way.
More to come…
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Anton
March 3, 2025 at 11:51 am
Interesting review but I have a few questions about the design.
1. Why didn’t Grado go with something like the magnetic ear pad locking mechanism that Meze use with some of their headphones?
2. Having read the other review of the HP100 SE, I don’t understand the differences between the two headphones with the exception of the ear cups. Rather large price difference between them.
Interesting blend of pop culture and clever Star Wars reference.
Good luck with your treatment.