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Grados GS1000 "Solid State" or "Tube" Amp

post #1 of 12
12/31/08 at 1:29am
Thread Starter 
I know I may be opening up a big'ol can of worms here but I just bought some "gently used" GS1000's and I was wondering if I should stick with the old standby Grado RA-1 amp or would the Grados prefer a nice warm Tube amp. OR none at all.

My music tastes run from classical, to soundtracks, to pop, and a little rock. Mostly Soundtracks both vocals and instrumental.

Thanks

and "Happy New Year"
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post #2 of 12
12/31/08 at 2:49am
The word on the street is that Grado + tubes = win. Why don't you pop on down to Woo Audio's website and take a look at all their lovelies. They'll gladly empty your wallet, they're a US company thankfully so it isn't hard to get a hold of their products.
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post #3 of 12
12/31/08 at 2:55am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, I'll Check it out.
I may need to wait for an amp as the GS1000's already sucked the leather off of my wallet along with the cash.
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post #4 of 12
12/31/08 at 2:59pm
in my experience, the GS1000 sounds much better with tubes.
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post #5 of 12
12/31/08 at 3:10pm
Thread Starter 
Thank You everyone for your help.

I bought a used Grado RA-1 for just 180.00 US so I'll start with that. When I get some Cash I'll add a nice Little Dot MKIV or something similar
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post #6 of 12
12/31/08 at 10:13pm
I tried GS1K with RSA XP-7 and I didn't like it and got a RSA Raptor and it was singing all the way until I sold off the GS1K.
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post #7 of 12
1/1/09 at 1:38am
I have a Woo Audio 6 and AKG k701. Is the GS1000 much better than the k701 with a tube amp?

Happy New Year!
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post #8 of 12
1/1/09 at 11:30am
I can't tell exactly, as I'm not sure the tube amps I heard with the GS1000's were the best match but for sure it doesn't make sense to use solid state amps not working in class A with the Grado's. Tubes are the safer choice but with a well designed ss the GS1000's can play amazingly.
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post #9 of 12
1/1/09 at 6:04pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks,

I await the arrival of the Grado RA-1. Back in the 80's when Grado first started to design headphones "Solid State" was all the rage and everybody wanted "New and Improved" everything so that's about when the desire for "Tube" equipment started to fall off.
They weren't very efficient compared to S/S and because of the higher power demand not very portable.
New and improved Tube amps and Hybrids are starting to change people's desires back to a more natural sound.
I will get a tube amp simply because I'll need to hear the difference for myself

Thanks again for all your imput
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post #10 of 12
3/20/11 at 5:48pm

Torero, I don't have the Woo Audio 6, just a Bellari HA540. I know its not as powerful as the Woo, but when connected to the Bellari I always grab the Grado GS1000is instead of the AKG 702s. The Grados definitely gain some warmth with the tube amp, and IMHO sound much sweater and richer than the AKGs. I don't know if its just because the AKGs are harder to drive, so all I can really say is that Grados and tubes do go great together.

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post #11 of 12
3/21/11 at 1:14pm

Frankenthread?

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post #12 of 12
3/21/11 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adda View Post

Frankenthread?


Necro-thread. This guy is replying a 2 yrs old thread..blink.gif

 

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