Grado HF-2 thread

[Hopstretch]

So are Buicks.

[boomana]

So are Buicks.

I have a Buick. It is very comfy.

[Hopstretch]

Quod erat demonstrandum.

[malldian]

Haha I should put up a WTB HF1 thread on headfi. Offering $200 .

That is, once I get enough money for gas.. Congrats to the guys who ordered it though. My brief time with the HF1 was enjoyable.

[The Monkey]

I am looking forward to blasting the power of the B22 right up the HF2's ass.

Too much sharing?

[Voltron]

Such anger.

[The Monkey]

Well, in a nice way.

[MrSlacker]

I just spoke with Todd and this is what he told me.

Shipping date is around mid-June. Cards will not be charged till he is ready to ship so people can see what they are at CanJam and have a chance to cancel.

QUANTITY is NOT limited like HF-1!!! If there is enough demand, they will make as many as they need to. There are about 200 orders so far.

Hope this helps.

[grawk]

Quantity wasn't limited for the hf1 til demand was established. Same is true for these.

[faust3d]

So when demand goes down Grado will stop making these, or still make them on demand in small batches? Theoretically there could be at least a 1000+ of these. This will put the quantity of them above stuff like SR-Omega (500 made) and even some other headphones like TAKET-H2 (I guess not a lot of them made). How do you think this will influence their future market value?

[postjack]

So when demand goes down Grado will stop making these, or still make them on demand in small batches? Theoretically there could be at least a 1000+ of these. This will put the quantity of them above stuff like SR-Omega (500 made) and even some other headphones like TAKET-H2 (I guess not a lot of them made). How do you think this will influence their future market value?

Pure speculation: I doubt he'd still make them on demand in small batches. Once the market selects a quantity, a limit is set and that is finito.

I predict prices of $800-900 dollars in 3 years.

[Aimless1]

Hard to say how many will actually be made. When I talked to Todd he indicated they will be available for at least two-three months. As others have said, no pre-determined production limit. I'm pretty sure all parties would be quite pleased if they sell 1000 HF-2s. I'm happy to wait to see the pictures and read the impressions/reviews. Plenty of time to acquire a pair.

[malldian]

If Grado wants to keep the HF2 within HF (okay and HC) he would continue to sell in limited batches at the same price. For some reason I feel like Grado would rather keep the hype going than keep the prices from rising later. It will be interesting to see the comparisons between this and the PS1k. At the very least this should be a small insight into their market strategy.

[Cankin]

If impressions or reviews aren't favorable, I can see Grado would place a limit on production earlier.

[Voltron]

If Grado wants to keep the HF2 within HF (okay and HC) he would continue to sell in limited batches at the same price. For some reason I feel like Grado would rather keep the hype going than keep the prices from rising later. It will be interesting to see the comparisons between this and the PS1k. At the very least this should be a small insight into their market strategy.

You're entitled to your opinion even though it is wrong, but what do you base your "feeling" on regarding Grado wanting to keep the hype going? If you knew what happened with the the HF-1 you would know that both John Grado and Todd Green were both quite pissed off about the after-market for those cans. They priced them low and made them a special edition for members of Head-Fi and to support the site. When people started running up the prices on the used market, they were angry about it, and Todd at least was publicly vocal about that. Plus, what insight does one gain about market strategy from customer comparisons between cans?

[grawk]

An infinite run for headphones at a good price undercuts the rest of the product line. A short run to generate hype INCREASES demand for the rest of the product line. Grado may like the headphone hobby, but it'd be absolutely stupid to drive down your margins by having a better headphone cheaper available all the time.

[faust3d]

If these are indeed priced below the usual Grado markup prices and because of this are a great value (look like kinda PS1000 and sound very good ) I see the the production ending early to boost PS1000 sales as Grado will not making a lot on HF-2 in this case.

If they are mid-line headphones (like better SR-325) it would make sense for Grado to make them for a much longer time. Would be very interesting to see how this plays out.

[aardvark baguette]

I hope it maximizes all the cool grado perks, like subtle gold metal, quick disassemble cup/rod system and giormous Y connectors.

[Dusty Chalk]

So when demand goes down Grado will stop making these, or still make them on demand in small batches? Theoretically there could be at least a 1000+ of these. This will put the quantity of them above stuff like SR-Omega (500 made) and even some other headphones like TAKET-H2 (I guess not a lot of them made). How do you think this will influence their future market value?

It seems logical that demand will drop off at an asymptotic rate, I'd make enough to fill the entire curve once it crossed the first "moment".

Sure, the might be a resurgence later, but with today's economy, I'd just assume it wasn't going to happen.

[grawk]

I'd go for fulfilling about 2/3 of the demand. That keeps anticipation up, and buzz up.

[n_maher]

My guess is that orders have already started to taper off and will be anemic by the end of this week. I'd expect that once impressions and pictures from CanJam start coming out there will be a second surge that's smaller than the first. I'd also guess that they won't be for sale much longer than the month of June as demand will have been filled by then and that the run will end up about the same size as the HF-1.

[Dusty Chalk]

I agree with both of those, and would add to Nate's analysis that there might be another milder surge once people started receiving their headphones and reporting how good they were. I know we all think the hype machine starts before people even start receiving the headphones, but I know I give more credence to someone who actually has the phone on hand.

[Aimless1]

No doubt there will be a second surge once CanJam is done and impressions materialize. But Todd seemed quite sure these would be available into July and he is hoping until well into August. Maybe just hope and a dream. He also did say there would be an announcement before the production would end. No doubt a third and final surge. No matter, plenty of time to pull the trigger unless you need to be the first on your block to own one.

[aardvark baguette]

It would be hilarious if they stopped selling before CanJam ended. Wont' happen though.

[faust3d]

It would be hilarious if they stopped selling before CanJam ended. Wont' happen though.

Now that would be funny as hell or if at CanJam the announcement is that sales will end in a week. I am sure however that headphones will be available for at least a month or two to get all the reviews in and generate some additional demand and publicity. This will help Grado sell new PS1000 as I am figuring HF-2 will be a version of that wood/metal construction idea Grado is promoting now as second coming. These are my speculations.

I wish Stax would do special Head-Fi edition headphones, like Stax SR-Φ: a version of SR-Sigma in alloy hosing with Omega drivers Now that's realistic, ha ha ha