[N@Z]

I really love the fact that no two RS-1 or 2 look alike, I refer to the wood enclosures, in terms of colour & grain. Part of the fact why I think they are unique to own.

Mine doesn't have the numbering nor the yellow glue (just yellow earpads!

) but the white mesh is off center & the glue seems haphazzardly placed on. It's not a big deal to me as the pads cover over that part but for the price we paid, it should be.

 

[Ebonyks]

Haj, i'm not talking about the gluing, i do agree that it does look sloppy, and probably should be cleaner and better done, but i think the whole idea of not buying headphones because numbers were written on them is just plain silly

 

[Shang-Ti Chen]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ebonyks Haj, i'm not talking about the gluing, i do agree that it does look sloppy, and probably should be cleaner and better done, but i think the whole idea of not buying headphones because numbers were written on them is just plain silly

Well, I just said "maybe", not absolutely.

But just like I said in general principle a maker should simply NOT hand write anything on its products no matter what. Do you like your million cost speakers to be uglily written with words? I believe nobody does. It even would lead customers to wonder if their new phones have actually been touched by the dirty hands of the factory workers. If to keep track the phones, there simply are other ways to do it, and I don't see there are any reasons they need to do so.

 

[sTaTIx]

Quote:

Originally posted by realityclouded I'm curious about build quality.. There's a mess of yellow glue around the earpieces, underneath the foam. The little circular wooden pieces that say "RS-1" aren't properly centered and the foam pads look and feel poorly made - some parts are softer than others, not consistently. The cut marks on the foam aren't consistent either. On both earpieces, underneath the glue and sides, underneath the foam, is handwritten a 3 digit number (under 500), as well as on the box it came in. Does this mean only about 500 of these phones were made? Does this affect quality assurance somehow?

If there's any point that needs to be put out there for headphone buyers, it's that Grados (from the John Grado era, at least) will never be renowned for their outstanding craftsmanship and build quality. I'm not surprised at all when you say that your little round centerpieces aren't centered, or that there's sharpie-writing on the wooden earcups.

Quote:

Oh, something worth noting. For the first time, I believe I've heard the stepping artifacts of "CD quality" audio. That threw me back for a few seconds. It would be interesting to see if I'd notice the same artifacts on an SR-325 or lower.

You would. Although it's debatable whether those artifacts you're hearing are from the CD format or a peak in the treble frequencies inherent in the Grado signature.

Quote:

Originally posted by Leo My cups are free of any numbers. And the glue is much cleaner on mine. I'll post pictures later for of mine.

That's great, but don't you feel that "glue" and "marker" should not be words mentioned in the description of a $700 pair of headphones?

 

[Ebonyks]

I dunno shang, the fact that it's hand written on could also make customers realize that most of the work on headphones like that is all done by hand and not machine, to instil sense of pride to have supported modern american manufacturing

I also question your merrits about the aesthetic qualities of high-end audio gear. Have you ever seen the stax 404?

Edit: I do wonder how you all exactly have come to the conclusion that the design elements like gluing in drivers is done for compromosing sound without having once discussed this with a grado designer. Perhaps the glue serves to dampen the drivers from the wooden shells that would ring? We can't say for sure why grado has done that, so it's not fair to judge them on the subject

 

[sTaTIx]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ebonyks Edit: I do wonder how you all exactly have come to the conclusion that the design elements like gluing in drivers is done for compromosing sound without having once discussed this with a grado designer. Perhaps the glue serves to dampen the drivers from the wooden shells that would ring? We can't say for sure why grado has done that, so it's not fair to judge them on the subject

I can think of a couple reasons why Grado would use glue and sharpie pens on their top-of-the-line cans. *Cough*cheapasses*ahem*ripoff*whistle*

Maybe a reason is the same as the one for epoxy'ing the circuit of the RA-1 amp: to prevent people from opening it up and closely inspecting its innards. Why would they do that? Beats me.

 

[Shang-Ti Chen]

Quote:

Originally posted by Ebonyks I also question your merrits about the aesthetic qualities of high-end audio gear. Have you ever seen the stax 404?

What do you mean? I haven't seen 4040 for real, but I do like Music Series Pro/RS-1's look better. I think they're more beautiful than 4040.

About the hand made thing, it's an universally known fact... so I don't need such writing thing to prove again. Maybe for some people they can accept... but for me I'm a Virgo...

Having things like that on my beloved expensive high end headphones is unacceptable.

 

[Rob N]

The first pair of RS2's I had did not have lacquer applied evenly to the entire earcup (some parts appeared to have no lacquer on at all),so I returned them and got a replacement pair.

It's a pity the build quality of current Grados is not as good as the HP1000.

 

[Chefguru]

MY Rs-2 has a some what sloppy glue job also. Under the cup's I also have the number 100. My Rs-1 also had this ( different number though). You have to realize that the rs series is done by hand ( all of the other model's are done by machine). I'm sure the people who make them start to get careless after a couple hours of making them and maybe not put the glue on as well. For a 700 dollar headphone I see your point but the pad's hide these problems, on top of that it's not the look your buying it's the sound ( well in your case you don't seem to like that yet either

).

 

[Spent&Bent]

My RS-2 had some poor soldering, and the RS-2 button was purely hand written, and this was done not especially good either, too.

I did not mind this, infact it made the phones more valuable to me because they were clearly hand-made.
If it would have been as worse to compromise performance it would have been a different story ofcourse.

The RS-1 I have now is clearly better made, with no excess glue, it is numbered 314.

The wood has some minor imperfections, most notably a very small nick in the wood of the right earcup, above the last e of the word headphones.

This is almost some sort of control mark, I have seen people mention a mark like that before as well.

All in all you could say that since it's not made by computer and robot, the build quality differs, this may be so but still I like a personal touch, especially when things are not cheap.

 

[Permonic]

Quote:

Originally posted by Shang-Ti Chen I think they can use stickers instead of writing on the cans directly. It simply is a wrong behavior to write the phones.

Good point.

 

[Chefguru]

Umm looks like john is the guy that makes the cup's

 

[TerryKok]

i think John does a little bit of everything, probably more of inspecting and keeping an eye on the production line. imo, as long as it sounds good, it works for me

 

[Permonic]

Quote:

Originally posted by Chefguru Umm looks like john is the guy that makes the cup's

Interesting picture...it would be probably the prototyp only...

Is that second guy John Chaipis? According to what Agustwest wrote: "...John Chaipis, vice president and chief engineer, has worked there since the 1950s. A watchmaker turned tool-and-diemaker, Chaipis, 78, makes all of the company's tooling. He also fashions some of the mahogany components, such as headphone cups and cartridge bodies, used in the firm's premium "Reference" series..."

 

[Chefguru]

Quote:

Originally posted by Permonic Interesting picture...it would be probably the prototyp only... Is that second guy John Chaipis? According to what Agustwest wrote: "...John Chaipis, vice president and chief engineer, has worked there since the 1950s. A watchmaker turned tool-and-diemaker, Chaipis, 78, makes all of the company's tooling. He also fashions some of the mahogany components, such as headphone cups and cartridge bodies, used in the firm's premium "Reference" series..."

That's John grado in the red and the guy next to him ( with the glasses) is John Chaipis. I believe that Joe Grado and John chapipis where friends and started grado labs together.