[HPiper]

  Just decided to pull the trigger on a new pair of RS2e to tide me over with the sale of my HD800 and TOTL amp that I had to sell.  Also got in on the second run of the Fostex TH-X00, but the expected delivery is May, and don't want to be without a decent headphone for that long.  
 
And secondly, I wanted a headphone that's "house portable" since my main rig is chained to my desktop.  I can always just hook this up to my smartphone if I want to listen casually elsewhere in the house, I figure.
 
Does anyone here use a Valhalla 2 with their Grados?  I got it for my HD800 which I no longer have, but the output impedance is reasonably low for an OTL amp, and the high efficiency shouldn't demand too much current from the amp.  Might warm them up nicely too.
 
I've been an HD800 guy for awhile now, having been through a few flagships, but this will be my first Grado since my 225i, so we'll see how it goes.

Yeah the Valhalla will work just fine with your Grado's.

 

[stacker45]

  Its not a bad idea for people who don't know what they actually have, but even then this may not tell much.

 
This would have to be in a thread dedicated to Grados that actually have serial numbers. I think that it could be useful for people looking to buy a pair of high end Grado. Imagine that a Trooper on Head-Fi has RS1e number 4999, wich has the prot.... port...the drivers that stick out. Say that another Trooper has number 5000, and it has the new and improved flush drivers.
 
Now, imagine that you're looking to buy a pair of RS1e, and there's a pair for sale on Flea Bay, you'd simply ask the seller to give you the serial number. If he says it's 5001 well....need I say more, good Buddy?

 

[joseph69]

   
This would have to be in a thread dedicated to Grados that actually have serial numbers. I think that it could be useful for people looking to buy a pair of high end Grado. Imagine that a Trooper on Head-Fi has RS1e number 4999, wich has the prot.... port...the drivers that stick out. Say that another Trooper has number 5000, and it has the new and improved flush drivers.
 
Now, imagine that you're looking to buy a pair of RS1e, and there's a pair for sale on Flea Bay, you'd simply ask the seller to give you the serial number. If he says it's 5001 well....need I say more, good Buddy?

 
Right, but that could be like finding a needle in a hay stack.
What are the chances the two people owning the last RS1e with protruding drivers and the first without posting… probably not good. Besides, everyone would have to post their serial #'s and other owners of the RS1e may not be H-F members. But it is a great idea so someone doesn't buy the RS1e with protruding drivers.

 

[stacker45]

   
Right, but that could be like finding a needle in a hay stack.
What are the chances the two people owning the last RS1e with protruding drivers and the first without posting… probably not good. Besides, everyone would have to post their serial #'s and other owners of the RS1e may not be H-F members. But it is a great idea so someone doesn't buy the RS1e with protruding drivers.

 
Exactly!, I only wrote these numbers as an example. It could be that say, 4500 has the drivers that stick out, while another person has number 5000, and it has flush drivers. We'd at least know that 4500 and less is the old batch, and 5000 is the new one.
 
So now we know that it'll be from the first batch if the seller has 4495, and if he has 5012 well...you know.
 
Of course the more people post their informations, the more useful this thread would be. Let's face it, the e series is still in it's infant stage, so I think that it would be worth it to have a thread dedicated to enlighting us on Grado's changes. 
 
Don't they say that knowledge is power?

 

[joseph69]

   
Exactly!, I only wrote these numbers as an example. It could be that say, 4500 has the drivers that stick out, while another person has number 5000, and it has flush drivers. We'd at least know that 4500 and less is the old batch, and 5000 is the new one.
 
So now we know that it'll be from the first batch if the seller has 4495, and if he has 5012 well...you know.
 
Of course the more people post their informations, the more useful this thread would be. Let's face it, the e series is still in it's infant stage, so I think that it would be worth it to have a thread dedicated to enlighting us on Grado's changes. 
 
Don't they say that knowledge is power?

The best thing for a RS1e buyer is to ask for photos of the drivers before purchasing.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Has anyone here tried the MS2e? How does it compare to the 325e?

 

[ruthieandjohn]

The best thing for a RS1e buyer is to ask for photos of the drivers before purchasing.

Wonder if the change to a brown headband assures that a brown-headband RS1e also has the non-protruding drivers?

 

[joseph69]

Wonder if the change to a brown headband assures that a brown-headband RS1e also has the non-protruding drivers?

Thats a good question.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

  Thats a good question.

This is what 4OurEars.net shows for the RS1e... beautiful brown headband.  Worth someone (else)'s $700 to buy it and look and find out (oh, and listen!).
 

 

[joseph69]

  This is what 4OurEars.net shows for the RS1e... beautiful brown headband.  Worth someone (else)'s $700 to buy it and look and find out (oh, and listen!).
 

Seems you might be right, the black headbands may have the protruding drivers, and the tan may not?
Maybe some with one or the other colored headband can compare the driver placement.

 

[JWahl]

Just got my RS2e today.  Although they're a step down from the HD800 I'm used to, I'm pleasantly surprised so far.  Definitely a step up from what I remember my old SR-225i being in bass extension and refinement.  Still pretty bright in the uppermost frequencies, but not as shouty in the upper mids as I would have thought.  Well balanced, but still with the expected Grado coloration.  Only downside, is they sound better to me, out of my macbook pro, than my Yggdrasil/Valhalla 2.  Perhaps the interaction with the OTL amp, but it sounds a little more dull and bloated out of it, than straight out of the laptop.  And strangely, it sounds really good with pop music, like Taylor Swift's Shake It Off (don't judge me 

)

 

[GreenBow]

  Just got my RS2e today.  Although they're a step down from the HD800 I'm used to, I'm pleasantly surprised so far.  Definitely a step up from what I remember my old SR-225i being in bass extension and refinement.  Still pretty bright in the uppermost frequencies, but not as shouty in the upper mids as I would have thought.  Well balanced, but still with the expected Grado coloration.  Only downside, is they sound better to me, out of my macbook pro, than my Yggdrasil/Valhalla 2.  Perhaps the interaction with the OTL amp, but it sounds a little more dull and bloated out of it, than straight out of the laptop.  And strangely, it sounds really good with pop music, like Taylor Swift's Shake It Off (don't judge me 

)

 
Thye should improve quite a bit over the first seventy hours or so. I hope you'll tell us what you think later please.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

  Just got my RS2e today.  Although they're a step down from the HD800 I'm used to, I'm pleasantly surprised so far.  Definitely a step up from what I remember my old SR-225i being in bass extension and refinement.  Still pretty bright in the uppermost frequencies, but not as shouty in the upper mids as I would have thought.  Well balanced, but still with the expected Grado coloration.  Only downside, is they sound better to me, out of my macbook pro, than my Yggdrasil/Valhalla 2.  Perhaps the interaction with the OTL amp, but it sounds a little more dull and bloated out of it, than straight out of the laptop.  And strangely, it sounds really good with pop music, like Taylor Swift's Shake It Off (don't judge me 

)

Have you tried different tubes? Glad to hear you're enjoying your RS2e. Perhaps they're one of the most loved e-series on head-fi so far.

 

[ESL-1]

Just got my RS2e today.  Although they're a step down from the HD800 I'm used to, I'm pleasantly surprised so far.  Definitely a step up from what I remember my old SR-225i being in bass extension and refinement.  Still pretty bright in the uppermost frequencies, but not as shouty in the upper mids as I would have thought.  Well balanced, but still with the expected Grado coloration.  Only downside, is they sound better to me, out of my macbook pro, than my Yggdrasil/Valhalla 2.  Perhaps the interaction with the OTL amp, but it sounds a little more dull and bloated out of it, than straight out of the laptop.  And strangely, it sounds really good with pop music, like Taylor Swift's Shake It Off (don't judge me  )

I agree with Greenbow, you really need some playtime breaking them in before you can really get the true handle on them. I found with the Grados I have (PS1000e, Vintage RS1, PS500e and GH1), 50 hours minimum before they started to show their stuff and at 100 + hours they had arrived. Your amp may also be part of the equation as most OTL designs don't do their best unless they see a reasonably high impedance. When plugged into my Woo WA3 OTL the Grados lose coherence and detail and sound significantly less good than with any of my other amps (check my Profile). Even the little and inexpensive Aune B1 does better with the Grados.

Enjoy the journey, the best is yet to come.

PS. Do you run your HD800 off the same amp?

 

[zazex]

Wonder if the change to a brown headband assures that a brown-headband RS1e also has the non-protruding drivers?

 
As a city boy, I'll say that the change to the brown headband assures only
that the headphones now have a brown headband.