Grado RS series Owner club! - Page 2

I wouldn't say that they do anything poorly, it's all down to taste I suppose. The constant talk of Grado's being too bright is absolute nonsense as far as my experience with them goes; they are only bright in comparision to dark sounding cans. I've had brighter headphones from both Sennheiser and Denon.  (I've only owned the 225's and Rs1's though)

 

  I use my Rs1i's for classical and jazz aswell as rock. And when they are well amped they have no problems with big complex pieces of music. I'd only say if pushed that the soundstage isn't as big as some other cans for say orchestral music. But what you do get that other cans don't have, is the punchy, exciting, open and airy sound that you only get with Grados, nothing is "closed in" sounding. Also when individual intruments come through they have a realness and texture that I've not heard from other cans before. For e.g I can feel vibrations from a Cello, as if it was being played in the same room! Very real.    

RS2i (#7759)  A great birthday gift!!

I've said before that I find the RS1i a tiny bit harsh on loud orchestral passages with high, sustained, strings. But it's not much of a complaint - I've been to concerts before and heard the same thing. It's not a failing of the headphones, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a part of the music. So, I blame the composer and conductor!

 

For every other genre I listen to, I find them excellent. The lack of soundstage is noticeable when I switch from my K702s, but I very quickly get used to it.

 

Oh, and final point - you spelled my name wrong in the first post : )

For me, yes and no.  

 

I agree they are not bright, at least with flats, but they don't have enough bass (quantity or depth, I'm not sure) and this can make them seem brighter than they actually are.  I do love my RS2's and find they match superbly with the music I mostly listen to (various flavours of dance music, disco, rock etc) but they could do with eq'ing in the bass on certain material.  

 

The other thing is I'm left wanting a combination of both the flats and bowls.  I prefer the flats because it puts more meat on the bone, so to speak, and seems to improve midrange and tame brightness.  Yet the flats also sound very slightly muffled, which equates to a kind of colouration.   I'd love the sound of the flats with just a smidgeon of the openness, air and tightness of the bowls.

 

The RS-2's seem to match well with a Burson HA-160D and Berning Micro Zotl.  

 

All in all, the Grado's are an immensely enjoyable listen.  And blissfully light too.

Edited by BrainFood - 7/28/11 at 7:39am

What's everyone using for amps with thier RS's? I've got mine plugged into my old X can v3 at the mo and I'm liking it. The sound is slightly softer than my little dot1+ but a nice alternative. Not the same amount of detail as the LD but the soundstage is slightly larger.

 

Both hybrid amps, anyone prefer pure tubes or ss??  

RS2i  Serial # 7591    

Also a birthday gift!!

Enjoying them  with my Cary SLI 80 and  Decware ZH-1 portable

 

"Grados, tubes, and jazz. Time well wasted!!!"

 

 Nice pics, and love the signiture!

RS1i owner checking in. #9057

 

(a quick picture I took for another post - I'll post some better quality ones at some point.)

 

I moved to these after being so impressed with the SR225i. Before that the HD 650 was my main headphone, driven by an OTL tube amp (a combination I thoroughly enjoyed - I only brought the SR225i's because I was curious about the Grado sound).

 

I've been driving the RS1i from my AMB M³  and I'm very pleased with the results. I did have a stint driving the SR225i with my Little Dot I+ - which is a popular pairing with Grado headphones - while I was building the M³. Based on my time with the I+, I can see why hybrid tube amps are a popular choice for Grado's, and actually the M³'s 'tone' isn't dissimilar to the I+, so I've found the M³ to be a very good pairing the RS1i, and the SR225i before it. Otherwise the M³ trumps the I+ in every respect by some margin (most notably a cleaner sound, more detail and tighter bass), but that's to be expected given the cost difference.

 

I listen to pretty much the staple genres (mainly prog. rock, blues, folk, Jazz, pop and electronic), and the RS1i is the only headphone I use for serious home listening at the moment. I don't find the RS1i lacking in any of the music I listen to and I don't consider it overly dark or bright. It doesn't have the body of the HD 650, which is more noticeable in some tracks, but it has punchy bass and the way it focuses in on vocals and instrument timbre is magical and the real reason I love this headphone - it's also faster than the HD 650.

Edited by jr41 - 8/3/11 at 1:30pm

Just some quick pics with the phone camera!!
I have been thiking of getting a small tube amp for the RS2's to take with me as i work away from home a week or so at a time, but the more i use the little decware zh-1 portable with these Grados, the more i'm liking the combo
I adjusted the internal gain switch to high, which makes a bit of difference, and i like the crossfeed setting on this amp. It works well with all my headphones and in ears also, which are all lower impedance.
I am steadily becoming more of a fan of the Grado sound !!!

 

Wow, I wonder if Grado is already up to #10,000 series on RS1 and RS2, would love to see it posted here with pictures in this thread.

 

I'm not the original owner of mine, I brought them unused from another forum member. He brought them in March this year from Amazon, so that might provide some kind of a clue if Grado are in the 10,000's yet - I don't know what their rate of production is.