the word that i've heard (from good sources - who shall remain unnamed) is that Grado is swamped with orders for these, well beyond their expectations. it may take many months for them to catch up. Grado is a small company without the technical resources of a large outfit such as Sennheiser so it's unrealistic to expect them to be able to do something completely new like Senn did with the hd800. nevertheless i'm not quite sure if that makes it 'merely another one of Grado's spin off products', any more so than a sought after can such as the ps-1. grado builds on what they do, and it's likely that it'd be hard for them to do otherwise.
what's particularly intriguing so far is that the reports are from experienced listeners who are more than merely fanboys (and yes, Zanth is clearly an unabashed Grado fan). Zanth plays violin and knows what live music sounds like. he's also been around the headphone hi-fi scene for a while and knows about listening to reproduced music. Sanderman (see his listening impressions in his 'ps1000s shipping' thread, if you haven't already) may not be a prolific poster here but the man is clearly an experienced audiophile and has listened intently to all sorts of great gear, both traditional speaker based stereos as well as first class headphone rigs (other than Grado). both of these guys, rather articulately, put this at the top of the heap of (numerous) music reproduction devices that they've experienced.
for that kind of performance is the asking price too much? i too wish it were a few hundred dollars less. folks have posited a number of good reasons why it may be priced the way it is. for most prospective purchasers i'd bet that if they can pay for the hd800 they likely can opt for the ps1000. i can't wait to hear both. and i'll bet mcmanus ends up with both in his considerable collection!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wmcmanus
Quote Originally Posted by Lamenthe:
'Despite the state of the economy, tons of head-fiers are still willing to buy both the HD800s and PS1000s.'
To be honest, I really don't see it happening with the PS-1000 unless there are a lot of confirming opinions rolling in after more people have heard them (besides Zanth). But yes, I think the HD800 will be a big hit. I'm very doubtful on the PS-1000. My guess is that sales will be quite slow at first. But who knows where it might go from there.
Maybe that's just me, but I see the PS-1000 as merely another one of Grado's spin off products and not something that represents anything new in terms of design, use of technology, or any matter of substance. As a result, I know that I'll sure be reluctant. If ever I do pull the trigger on the PS-1000 it will be because they sound so dang good that I simply can't help myself. But I'll still be grumbling about how Grado managed to grab me by the short and curlies again despite the fact that... oh, nevermind. No sense in getting myself all wound up again.
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