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GS1k vs K1000

post #1 of 16
1/13/08 at 5:17pm
Thread Starter 
I was out of the hobby for about a year (still listening, but not reading/posting/buying).. I tend to focus on whatever hobby I'm into at the moment (cars, paintball, RC, etc) to the exclusion of all others.

Recently I started feeling the need to upgrade my work setup. I started poking around head-fi again, and I forgot what a great community this is.

Anyway, here's my question. A friend of mine at work mentioned that there's a shop here with the GS1k on display. I've always been curious about them, as I love the grado impact, but have never been thoroughly satisfied with my SR-325i. Lacking resolution (compared to the K1000), and a little too hot for my tastes.

But I love the bass and get-you-movin' attack.

For those who've owned both the K1000 and the GS1k (for a while), what do you think? Are they all they were hyped to be, a year ago?

I'm kinda hoping someone will chime in and say they're terrible. I've read a lot of reviews, but I'm specifically interested in how they compare with the K1000. Not just overall tonal balance... precision, control, highs, etc. My dream headphone is the K1000 (but closed, 1/4" connector) with 20hz bass extension, and a 1-2dB boost to 50-150hz.

I know that if I go hear the GS1k, I risk losing a LOT of money...lol. If enough people say "they're pretty good" then I won't go. If someone says "they're 99% of the k1000, with more bass" I'm in deep trouble.
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post #2 of 16
1/13/08 at 5:29pm
I had my GS1Ks balanced with the silver dragon immediately. Burned them in for 300 hours without a listen. I just couldn't get into the sound. I really didn't think the soundstage was much at all. Very disappointed. The K1000s are my flagship HP.
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post #3 of 16
1/13/08 at 5:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ken36 View Post
I had my GS1Ks balanced with the silver dragon immediately. Burned them in for 300 hours without a listen. I just couldn't get into the sound. I really didn't think the soundstage was much at all. Very disappointed. The K1000s are my flagship HP.
That's what I like to hear.

I'm not much of a soundstage guy (I know.. this incredible aspect of the K1000 is wasted on me). How was the resolution? Did drums sound convincing?
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post #4 of 16
1/13/08 at 6:39pm
I do not have an amplification for K1000 to make you believe what I feel about GS1000 compare to them, but anyway.
To my ears they are the best Grado ever made that still in production. The only Grado I need to try are HP1000 and I will know for sure, but unfortunately. I owned SR80, SR225, RS1, MS PRO, SR325i and PS1 the same time with GS1000 and all of them gone now. I am not an collector and if one HP sounds better than other, the other goes, thats it.
The drums are the best I have ever heard from any HP sor far. I do believe that these are much closer than diffrent, because both needs some investment around them, however the sound sig and presentation of it is not the same of course, but thats the good stuff, imo. This way they compliment one another very good. So, if you not going to spend some cash on rig , just forget it.
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post #5 of 16
4/18/08 at 1:10am
Ive never heard the K1000 but am very curious as a backup to my GS1K's. I absolutely love my GS1Ks. They absolutely hit the spot for me much more than any can I have auditioned. The bass is perfect to me. At first I felt a little lost in the huge soundstage but with more burn-in and listening time I have completely fallen in love. The sound from other cans sounds so small in comparison now.
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post #6 of 16
4/18/08 at 8:42am
between the 2 its a matter of taste.

not being a sound-stage guy i'd bet you will prefer the gs1000, and the real beauty of the k1k will be lost on you.
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post #7 of 16
4/18/08 at 1:38pm
if You are going for gs1000 don't recable them !!!!!! - stock cable is of a VERY good quality !!!!! - have heard black dragoned and stock and my thumbs were up for stock
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post #8 of 16
4/18/08 at 2:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackmore View Post
The only Grado I need to try are HP1000 and I will know for sure,
I had an opportunity two weeks ago listening to the HP1000 (along with an UE9, alo-hfi-780, and a discontinued version of the L3000) and compare it to my GS1k w/ bk dragon. I was told the HP1000 has very high resolution. After comparing the two with the same set up, I still prefer the GS1k. The HP1000 is very good, has high resolution as described, but the GS1k is more musical, very enjoyable and more involving.

The whole thing about the soundstage of the GS1k is true but misleading at the same time. It misleads other who haven't heard the GS1k to think that it is all about soundstage. Besides the soundstage, the GS1k actually is very fast, with tight bass, I like the sound signature. It has a good sense of ambien and being there feel. The music is very clean and refine with nice sound separation. It is a phone definitely in the flagship category. That is why my friend FKCLO who has a lot of great phones (UE9, HP1000/HP1, HP2, HP3, L3000, K1000, ATH-L3000, vintage RS-1 etc) is buying the GS1k again.

Actually, you can ask FKCLO since he has both K1000 and GS1k.
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post #9 of 16
4/18/08 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ken36 View Post
I had my GS1Ks balanced with the silver dragon immediately. Burned them in for 300 hours without a listen. I just couldn't get into the sound. I really didn't think the soundstage was much at all. Very disappointed. The K1000s are my flagship HP.
I don't know why you want to recable the GS1k with the silver dragon. I had mine recabled with the black Dragon. I think the GS1k being on the bright side will match better with a nice copper cable than a silver cable which has a tendency to make it more bright especially on the high end. May be it was too bright for you to get into the "sound".

Again, with the GS1k, it is not just about the sound stage, it is about the whole sound presentation, the speed and the dynamic of sound presentation, the tonal body of the sound etc. With the GS1k, I can hear deeply into a singer voice. I can feel the emotion in the voice, I can feel the space and the distance of the performance, the reverberation of a note. It is like being there in vivo, not just being there, but being there on stage.
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post #10 of 16
4/18/08 at 5:53pm
I already owned and sold it HP1000/2, so the only GRADO I may buy some day again, would be PS1


Quote:
Originally Posted by Jalo View Post
I had an opportunity two weeks ago listening to the HP1000 (along with an UE9, alo-hfi-780, and a discontinued version of the L3000) and compare it to my GS1k w/ bk dragon. I was told the HP1000 has very high resolution. After comparing the two with the same set up, I still prefer the GS1k. The HP1000 is very good, has high resolution as described, but the GS1k is more musical, very enjoyable and more involving.

The whole thing about the soundstage of the GS1k is true but misleading at the same time. It misleads other who haven't heard the GS1k to think that it is all about soundstage. Besides the soundstage, the GS1k actually is very fast, with tight bass, I like the sound signature. It has a good sense of ambien and being there feel. The music is very clean and refine with nice sound separation. It is a phone definitely in the flagship category. That is why my friend FKCLO who has a lot of great phones (UE9, HP1000/HP1, HP2, HP3, L3000, K1000, ATH-L3000, vintage RS-1 etc) is buying the GS1k again.

Actually, you can ask FKCLO since he has both K1000 and GS1k.
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post #11 of 16
4/19/08 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by piotr z View Post
if You are going for gs1000 don't recable them !!!!!! - stock cable is of a VERY good quality !!!!! - have heard black dragoned and stock and my thumbs were up for stock
The differences in sound you were hearing might've been because of the re-cable - and just as likely were because of differences in the drivers of the two GS1ks. To be sure you're hearing the difference that only the re-cable makes, you must hear the same headphone before and after re-cabling.
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post #12 of 16
4/19/08 at 1:28am
It's no question that the GS1000 beats out the K1000s on bass extension and sheer impact, although depending on the amplification, the K1000 bass impact can be pretty good, I'm holding all things constant and assuming a situation of a best-GS1000 setup compared to a best-K1000 setup.

However, I think you'll be turned off by the GS1000's midrange if you are coming from the K1000s: whereas the latter is very fleshed out and substantive, the GS1000's midrange is more distant and recessed compared to its highs/lows. Ultimately this became a deal-breaker for me on the GS1000s, even on some of the more esteemed amps out there.

YMMV, as with all things.
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post #13 of 16
5/1/08 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by piotr z View Post
if You are going for gs1000 don't recable them !!!!!! - stock cable is of a VERY good quality !!!!! - have heard black dragoned and stock and my thumbs were up for stock
I own a pair of GS1000s, which I had recabled with a Black Dragon after owning them for several months. So I had the opportunity to compare the exact same phones before-and-after the new cable, albeit with a six week lag time while I sent them to Moon Audio, who shipped them to Grado for the recabling, then shipped them back to Moon...

I agree with piotr z that the stock cable is very good. The phones sound extremely well-balanced with it. (These phones never sounded bright to me, although I burned them in continously for a week before I ever listened to them.) With the Black Dragon, if anything, the bass became stronger than it was with the stock cable, which in my case, tilts the tonal balance toward the low end. I'm not talking a major change here, only a subtle shift. In hindsight, I might have been better off opting for the Silver Dragon rather than the Black Dragon. However, this could be specific to my particular pair of phones. If your GS1000s sound bright, the Black Dragon could be just the ticket to balance them out.
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post #14 of 16
5/4/08 at 10:50pm
If you're into big symphonic music where a concert hall presentation is important, then you owe it to yourself to hear the GS1000. If you listen to mostly smaller scale music ie. pop/rock/jazz, especially with vocals, the accuracy and clarity of the K1000 midrange, along with its flat frequency response is better choice IM0, especially if you like hobbies as you say. The K1000 takes a lot of work to get sounding its best.
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post #15 of 16
5/7/08 at 10:53am
I think the GS1000 is an incredible all-rounder. It handles most genres exceptionally well. It may offer a different flavor than other phones, but it is still delicious. I enjoy a wide range of music but I am a funk afficianado and the Grados do that better than anything else I have heard so far.
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