Signature HP100 SE

Best headphones ever! Sonic nirvana achieved!

The HP100SE is simply a great headphone - cost no object. It is as fast and realistically resolving as anything on the market - no hyperbole.

It is characteristically "assertive" in the low-mid treble range, but the quality of those highs is first rate, and not at all unrealistic.

Bass is full range, no comprmise, no roll-off - and compared to the Abyss1266, Susvara Unveiled, and Utopia OG, that bass is as deep, yet has a more accurate balance of fundamental, harmonics, and all the dynamic cues and texture you'd hear from insturments in a live setting.

Spatial cues are as good as anything out there. I've been comparing, each day, as these new babies break in and gradually, audibly smooth out. It sounds like a collection of hi-fi superlatives, but they are deserved: the resonance of the recording space, the presence or absence of partitions, size of venue, relative postures of players and instruments - clear, defined, subtle where necessary, but simply transparent to a highly unusual degree. Images are 3D, height and width, placement, instrument size - the little shifts you might hear when a trumpeter leans over and up again - all those little movement cues are there, relaxed and crystal clear.

this is also a phenomenal rock 'n' roll headphone. You can even think of this as being the dynamic driver closest to competitor to the big Abyss. The base is deep, impactful, as I've said before harmonically Rich and realistic, but with as close to perfect and attack, bloom, and decay as you're likely to hear.

It also clarifies individual in the mix fantastically, but hits hard, holistically, without obscuring any detail. The bass drives the music exactly as it is supposed to, what's the depth and texture enable you to really feel the bass in a way few headphones can do. It doesn't sugarcoat bad recordings, but it definitely calls attention to the good stuff.

These are fun. They groove. They have everything a Grado lover loves, but they also compete closely with and often exceed the popular and far more expensive flagships in all the usual audiophile categories. I would still roll back the treble peak a drop, it isn't needed, the presence, transients, and timbre are phenomenal as they are, but, again, there's nothing wrong or unpleasant. it is, unequivocally, one of the most resolving speakers of any kind I have ever listened to, but it's a good deal more fun, with more depth and visceral pleasure, then one should be able to expect from a headphone resolving enough to be called analytical. Yeah, yeah, let's analyze, after we're done having fun.

The stock cable is excellent - good texture, soft but manageable, and sonically does nothing wrong. I added an Arctic Apeiron, and like it very much. But I'm strange that way. The stock cable shouldn't disappoint anyone and should satisfy those who don't like the Grado cables of yore.

This is both a fun and phenomenally revealing, high-performance head speaker. At 2500 it may be the bargain of the millennium. The Big Boys of the personal audio world are really not clearly better in most significant respects, and the opposite is true in several key ways.

This is the future of Grado, one hopes. As wonderful as they've been, they've taken on a niche and predictable quality; with the HP100SE, they have a hit a game-changer, and a real achievement. I couldn't be happier with this purchase!!

The HP100SE is simply a great headphone - cost no object. It is as fast and realistically resolving as an ything on the market - no hyperbole. It is characteristically "assertive" in the low-mid treble range, but the quality of those highs is first rate, and not at all unrealistic. Bass is full range, no comprmise, no roll-off - and compared to the A yss1266, Susvara Un veiled, and Utopia OG, that bass is as deep, yet has a more accurate balance of fundamtnal, harmonics, and all the dynamic cues and texutre you'd hear from insturments in a live setting.

Spatiual cues are as good as anything out there. I've been comparing, each day, as these new babies break in and gradually, audibly smooth out. It sounds like a collection of hi-fi superlatives, but they are deserved: the resonance of the recording space, the presence or absence of partitions, size of venue, relative postures of players and instruments - clear, defined, subtle where necessary, but simply transparent to a highly unusual degree. Images are 3D, height and width, plavement, insturment size - the little shifts you might hear when a trumpeter leans over and up again - all those little movement cues are there, relaxed and crystal clear.

Thes are fun. They groove. They have everything a Grado lover loves, but they also best the popular and far more expensive flagships in all the usual audiophile categories. I would still roll back the treble peak a drop, it isn't needed, the presencve and timbre are phenomenal as they are, but, again, there's nothing wrong or unpleasant.

The stock cable is excellent - good texture, softbut manageable, and sonically does nothing wrong. I added an Arctic Apeiron, and like it very. much. But I'm strange that way.

This is both a fun and phenomenally revealing, high-performance head speaker. At 2500 it may be the bargain of the millennium, The Big Boys of the personal audio world are really not clearly better in any significant respoect, and the opposite is true in several key ways.

This is the future of Grado, one hopes. As wonderful as they've been, they've taken on a niche and predictable quality; with the HP100SE, they have a hit a game-changer, and a real achievement. I couldn't be happier with this purchase!!

If you love that spaciousness between instruments and different notes then you know these headphones are for you. Jazz, rock, live sessions, acoustic, breakbeat, drum n bass, and ambient style genres all really stand out with the HP100 SE. These are easily my favorite headphones to date.

These beautiful headphones are stellar. The clarity and crispness they offer genres such as Jazz, Breakbeat, Rock, Acoustic, Live records, and even Dnb/Jungle is amazing. I feel a great balance in every note coming through as well as a sophisticated spaciousness that really elevates the experience. Grados never fail to satiate my need for those hidden notes that fail to present themselves with your average headphones. I personally believe that these headphones are a game changer and are ideal for those music lovers who are always seeking out something new in the music they love.