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The HP-2's have landed...and they are here to stay! - Page 9

post #121 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:23am
Thread Starter 
I'm pretty sure he had at least perfect pitch - the ability to recall any pitch on demand and produce it perfectly in tune is something incredibly rare amongst human beings, i think we're talking about 1/100,000 have the ability of perfect pitch, so he's definitely somewhat super-human
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post #122 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Thompson
I had a long conversation with Joe Grado prior to buying my HP2s. That was many years ago but I still have the impression from the conversation that Joe personally matched the drivers on the HP1/HP2s. This was shortly before the RS1s were introduced and Joe pressed me hard to buy the HP2s, with an implied unspoken reason other than they would never be available again. Needless to say I am tickled that I did. I never cared for the RS1s. My HP2s/Holmes Powell are still my favorite non-ear canal cans.

On a side note he also talked me into buying my first CD player. Big step for a vinyl lover, although I still prefer vinyl.

You have an H-P....DCT-1? or 2? I can't even get in touch with the company any more. They also sold a "tweaked" version of the RS-1's, supposedly taming the highs and alleviating some of the bass hump to perfectly match their amp. The amp itself is supposed to be wonderful with Grados, RS-1's or HP-1000's. Apparently at the last World of Headroom tour, the H-P was either really really broken, or well...just sucked. Not sure if Tyll is crating that thing across NA this time around but I hope so so I can hear one this July. This and the EMP Annivesary are the last two amps I feel I just NEED to hear (well save for a balanced Blockhead-like amp or the predecessor with balanced RS-1's).
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post #123 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
Would I be correct in assuming the Last version is the more acceptable of the three?
Last version? Not sure which you are asking about but I prefer the Ultra Wide in stock Grado. I have UW, Standard and aftermarket (guess the brand, haha) on HP's and prefer to have the leading edge the stock cables can't seem to produce.
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post #124 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by braillediver
I had the drivers and cable replaced in my HP2’s just before Joe moved last year. He highly recommended having the cable upgraded to the ultra-wide bandwidth reference cable. And with all due respect he was extremely arrogant- he told me I was screwed in no uncertain terms since I wasn’t using flat pads with his headphones and he wouldn’t help me since I wasn’t using them correctly. I loved his attitude- he was confident, to the point and sounded like a classic New Yorker.


Would it be possible for a person to match the drivers by ear? He was and still is an opera singer so he lived and breathed music. Joe made cartridges for 2 decades before he introduced the headphones so he had equipment available to critically match components.

All I know for sure is the HPA-1 and the HP1000 were over engineered by several orders of magnitude and I can’t imagine that attention to detail was only cosmetic.


Thank You for the Excellent Work Mr. Joe Grado!!

Mitch


MMMm yes indeed! Such a legend in the audio biz and a major contributor to hi-fi in so many facets. I mean...let's be honest, he was one of the driving forces in the mainstaying of vinyl through all of these years. I mean...he invented MC carts! CRAZY!
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post #125 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoRedwings19
Zanth>I will have to check out your Melos for sure. I can drive the Rs-1's harder and nuttier than the PS-1's in respects to it's bass performance. Maybe I need to change the tubes for something different in my Melos for the PS-1's. The Melos I am using and the tubes the Rs-1 has the extension and the slam. I don't find the Ps-1's go deeper.
Perhaps a tube change is in order. Or some mods to the Melos. You have a stock golden ref right?

Quote:
But in my SS amp the Ps-1's have the edge. I only have one SS amp for my dynamic cans as I generally go with the tube sound.

But Zanth you can't use your Melos as reference as it's one of the kind. There is no comparison so it won't be fair. You need to use an amp where there is at least more than one....
I agree. It is not really fair. Though mine is the only one is existence in its present incarnation (and the one previously owned by Joe Grado himself), there is another one floating around. It was built at the same time for the manufacturer of some speaker company. Or maybe it was a distributor. Whatever the case, only two were made that used the 12au7 family. So yeah...true, not that fair.

Quote:
I wonder if any headfier has converted an hp-series phone for balanced use and how that might affect the sound overall.

I can't wait to meet up and compare all these phones with you. Especially some of the ones you have not heard.

It will be like Grado V the enemy.
I can't wait for you to come on over either. It will truly be an event. We'll get Beagle out too. Three Grado nutjobs sitting there analyzing, I mean, enjoying to our hearts content.
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post #126 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xanadu777
Last version? Not sure which you are asking about but I prefer the Ultra Wide in stock Grado. I have UW, Standard and aftermarket (guess the brand, haha) on HP's and prefer to have the leading edge the stock cables can't seem to produce.

There is standard with no markings, the Joseph Grado Signature Ultra-Wide Bandwidth Reference Cable and then the third which Bozebuttons has, and it is basically the pre-incarnation of the present cable used in the RS series and the PS-1's. This is the best cable and the one I am going to be switching to. Still crazy pure copper, still the same style, so not to alter the sound too too much but best of the bunch. When it comes to the HP1000's unless I grab an additional pair in the future, this pair has to stay pretty well as close to the original sound as possible.
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post #127 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:39am
BTW: This is the most fun I have had on Head-fi in a long long time. It is great to chat about retro goods we so love. Very old school Head-fi feel with this thread.
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post #128 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:39am
My HP-1 cable says "Grado Signature Laboratory Standard Audio Cable."
Which one is this?
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post #129 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanth
BTW: This is the most fun I have had on Head-fi in a long long time. It is great to chat about retro goods we so love. Very old school Head-fi feel with this thread.
Being as new as myself, i am having just as much fun as well! A lot of us newbies come here and have NO idea of any historical context of where head-fi came from and all the fabled discussions that took place. I am happy my journey has elicited some locked away feelings in some people, i remember when i posted about my HR-2 experiences it got a similar reaction as well, but the response on this thread has been amazing to say the least!
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post #130 of 220
6/8/05 at 12:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by joelongwood
My HP-1 cable says "Grado Signature Laboratory Standard Audio Cable."
Which one is this?

Number 3!!!! You have the best outside of the modern cables used!
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post #131 of 220
6/8/05 at 1:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanth
Number 3!!!! You have the best outside of the modern cables used!
Thanks for the info, Zanth........they sound better already.
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post #132 of 220
6/8/05 at 1:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanth
Number 3!!!! You have the best outside of the modern cables used!
I like the sound of the Ultra Wide better, so it comes down to personal preference.

Here's a rarely seen site, the uncovered front of an HP1000 driver...

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post #133 of 220
6/8/05 at 1:27am
nice thread.

too bad my two HP2's with ultra-wide bandwidth reference cables and my PS1 are at home currently since I'm moving. haven't listened to them in a while....

three balanced headphone amps and no balanced grado headphones. I really should recable one of them sometime.
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post #134 of 220
6/8/05 at 1:28am
I think you might be letting limitations of your present amplifer color your impressions of the PS-1. The Melos I have heard have excelled at the midrange but not really been all that outstanding at the extremes of the frequency range. Your amp might not be like the others, but my guess is that it probably bears some resemblance to them. I think the previously posted comment about differences between the performance with a solid state amplifer versus tube might be very close to the mark. The PS-1 does clearly go deeper with the Balanced Reference than the HP-1 does. The output on notes in the 20-30 Hz range is usable from the PS-1 while the HP-1 really doesn't produce much usable output. I think that your tube amp might be coloring the performance you hear much as my HP-4 does. This difference stands out on the solid state amplifiers but really doesn't on the HP-4, because the sound is rounded off on the bottom. On the solid state amplifers I've listened to the HP-1 on, it's clear that the HP-1 is rolled off on both the top and bottom ends, on the HP-4 it really doesn't stand out because like most tube amplifers, the HP-4 gets the midrange right and that disguises the frequency extremes.
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post #135 of 220
6/8/05 at 1:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanth
Number 3!!!! You have the best outside of the modern cables used!
Ahhh, originally I thought you were discussing another cable, the light bulb went on with this comment. I'd say there are two schools of thought on this one, I've seen a lot of posts preferring the UWBRC cable.
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