[madbull]

I pulled the trigger on a PS500 (from classifieds). I believe it's gonna make me very happy as I already listen more to the 325 than other more expensive cans I have, except for the Omega 2.
 
Out of curiosity, the RS1i is a totally different sound, I suppose?? Well, not totally of course, but you get what I'm saying?

 

[Focker]

Quote:

I pulled the trigger on a PS500 (from classifieds). I believe it's gonna make me very happy as I already listen more to the 325 than other more expensive cans I have, except for the Omega 2.
 
Out of curiosity, the RS1i is a totally different sound, I suppose?? Well, not totally of course, but you get what I'm saying?

 
Congrats!! So far, the 500s are the closest thing I've found to my perfect headphone. If they looked like the RS-1s, they probably would be perfect  When you give them a first listen, just remember that when you start taking steps up into the $600 range, you hit the land of diminishing returns, so it won't be an obvious night and day difference. You'll notice the improvements as you get some time on them, and then as I said earlier, especially once you go back to the 325s for a comparison. 

 

[desertblues]

Quote:

 
Congrats!! So far, the 500s are the closest thing I've found to my perfect headphone. If they looked like the RS-1s, they probably would be perfect  When you give them a first listen, just remember that when you start taking steps up into the $600 range, you hit the land of diminishing returns, so it won't be an obvious night and day difference. You'll notice the improvements as you get some time on them, and then as I said earlier, especially once you go back to the 325s for a comparison. 

 
Completely agree-in fact I find the PS500 so close to "perfect" that, for the first time, I don't really want to try other headphones! Of course that could change since experimenting is a big part of this hobby, but for now I'm very satisfied with them. Enjoy the 500's!

 

[fenderf4i]

I could not be happier with my PS500. I have no urge to move to anything else!

 

[stacker45]

Wow! so much love for the PS500,i'm not surprised,altough i only had mine for two weeks,they sounded good with everything i threw at them,never harsh,and a deep bass that gave them warmth,''politely detailed'' is what i liked to call them,and i agree with Focker that when you get to about $600,the law of diminishing returns starts to rear it's ugly head,so they're priced just right,it's nice to read positive comments,and the PS500 seem to get a lot of them,i think Grado's really hit the ball out of the park with these.

 

[Focker]

Quote:

Wow! so much love for the PS500,i'm not surprised,altough i only had mine for two weeks,they sounded good with everything i threw at them,never harsh,and a deep bass that gave them warmth,''politely detailed'' is what i liked to call them,and i agree with Focker that when you get to about $600,the law of diminishing returns starts to rear it's ugly head,so they're priced just right,it's nice to read positive comments,and the PS500 seem to get a lot of them,i think Grado's really hit the ball out of the park with these.

 
That's the main reason why I'm so intrigued to try the PS1ks...if Grado has already  hit the spot with my ears, I cant imagine even MORE Grado goodness

 

[stacker45]

Quote:

 
 
that’s the thing, though. the PS1000 isn’t just the PS500 with more soundstage. the treble presentation is much different. the midrange is smoother on the PS1000 but the treble isn’t shelved down like it is on the PS500. It’s boosted way up. And you can hear this added sibilance really easily on some songs.
 
The midrange and soundstage can make up for it on some songs. but on others, the treble peaks take away from the song. it’s kind of a shame that it’s not clear better in every category than the PS500 (or the RS1 or Magnum).

 
I agree with most of this,altough i wouldn't refer to the treble as ''boosted way up'' i'd say that the PS1000 has very good treble extension,that's why Focker that i refer to the PS500 as ''politely detailed'' what i mean by that is,altough the PS500's treble is not as extended as the 1000's,i didn't feel i was missing anything in the detail department,and because they're slightly rolledoff,''aggressive'' recordings are still very listenable trough them,wich is not always the case with my first generation GS1000,as for my PS1000,so far they're walking that fine line at the limit of treble extension,as much as i like the PS500,and i still think that they're one of the two best buys in the current Grado lineup,i don't regret buying my PS1000 one bit,to me,they're the closest thing to perfection,i have heard.

 

[madbull]

A group of stupid teen girls passing by me on the street and one of them suddenly screams as if she was being ... by a baseball bat at once.
 
Now my left ear is is pain and I can't listen to the 325 in any way.

 
This is worrying me, hope it get better soon.

 

[Focker]

Quote:

A group of stupid teen girls passing by me on the street and one of them suddenly screams as if she was being ... by a baseball bat at once.
 
Now my left ear is is pain and I can't listen to the 325 in any way.

 
This is worrying me, hope it get better soon.

 
Anti-Grado people must have paid her off!! 
 
Seriously, that is a huge bummer...I know that feeling, cause my ears can be sensitive to that sort of thing, as well. My dog barked super loud while he was close to me the other day and it took my ear like 24 hrs to recover. 

 

[Focker]

Quote:

 
 
that’s the thing, though. the PS1000 isn’t just the PS500 with more soundstage. the treble presentation is much different. the midrange is smoother on the PS1000 but the treble isn’t shelved down like it is on the PS500. It’s boosted way up. And you can hear this added sibilance really easily on some songs.
 
The midrange and soundstage can make up for it on some songs. but on others, the treble peaks take away from the song. it’s kind of a shame that it’s not clear better in every category than the PS500 (or the RS1 or Magnum).

 
I don't think that will be a negative for me since I really like the 325s, which most consider to be the brightest Grados on the market. I was actually fearful of the highs on the the 500s when I saw the FR...I feared maybe it would take a turn to the dark side and I wouldn't like it since I prefer a brighter phone, but thankfully that's not the case. It's REALLY hard for me to fathom the PS1ks being significantly better to my ears since I"m so smitten with the 500s, but I guess I'll find out when I finally get around to auditioning. 

 

[stacker45]

Quote:

A group of stupid teen girls passing by me on the street and one of them suddenly screams as if she was being ... by a baseball bat at once.
 
Now my left ear is is pain and I can't listen to the 325 in any way.

 
This is worrying me, hope it get better soon.

 
Man that sucks,i'm a heavy machinery operator,and i wear earplugs to protect my hears,but we can't protect ourselves from random things like that.hope you get better soon.
 
did she do that to startle you on purpose,or did she just happend to scream as they were passing you?

 

[Focker]

Quote:

 
I agree with most of this,altough i wouldn't refer to the treble as ''boosted way up'' i'd say that the PS1000 has very good treble extension,that's why Focker that i refer to the PS500 as ''politely detailed'' what i mean by that is,altough the PS500's treble is not as extended as the 1000's,i didn't feel i was missing anything in the detail department,and because they're slightly rolledoff,''aggressive'' recordings are still very listenable trough them,wich is not always the case with my first generation GS1000,as for my PS1000,so far they're walking that fine line at the limit of treble extension,as much as i like the PS500,and i still think that they're one of the two best buys in the current Grado lineup,i don't regret buying my PS1000 one bit,to me,they're the closest thing to perfection,i have heard.

 
I'm definitely going to want to compare notes with you and a few others once I get some time to spend with the PS1ks...I know that I've read a few times where people say the 500s are 80% of the PS1ks in terms of sonics, and I'm fully prepared to pay the premium to get that last 20%. I'm just glad that I already know there is a Grado phone that I could very happily live with for the long run just in case there is something about the PS1ks (or GS1ks, for that matter) that doesn't do it for me. My gut tells me that the 1ks will be where I end up, but I guess time will tell. Once I have the cash available, I'll have my dealer order a demo pair, which he said he's more than willing to do. I'd do that now, but I want to have the firepower to buy them lined up just in case I want to take them home

 

[bbophead]

Quote:

I’ll just say that we heard different things. For me, the PS1000 treble, while not as out there as the GS1000 was still too much. And this is from someone who liked the HD800 and likes Grados in general. (and really disliked the LCD2 for lack of treble)
 
I think part of it is that the large bowls on the PS1000 makes me want to turn the volume up higher to get the mids up to the right volume. but that pushes the treble up to levels that were grating to me. 
 
I can’t call the PS1000 close to perfection. I’ve heard too many other headphones that perform less manipulation and sonic gymnastics on the source. 
 
In fact, i would say if someone loves the PS500 and has 1700 bucks to spend on the PS1000, they should save up another 200 and get the LCD3. I find the LCD3 treble presentation is closer to the PS500 (wit less peaks and valleys). And it adds real sub-bass extension, much better soundstage and smoother mids than the PS500.

Two things:  I've read where the soundstage is very narrow on the LCD3.  Can you comment?  Also, which revision should he buy?  If history is any judge, the ortho manufacturers seem to take a while to sort things out.  I hated it when, after I bought the LCD2, I discovered it was really a rev1.  Now I think there's a rev3 already, like within a year or so.  Do you think the LCD3 will be subject to these frequent changes or is it really a rev4 of the LCD2?  I wonder about such things.  

 

[madbull]

Quote:

 
Man that sucks,i'm a heavy machinery operator,and i wear earplugs to protect my hears,but we can't protect ourselves from random things like that.hope you get better soon.
 
did she do that to startle you on purpose,or did she just happend to scream as they were passing you?

She was doing that all the way on the street, hell, how I wish to crush her stupid face

 
I took a tylenol though, feeling a little better now.
 
Damned teenagers.

 

[madbull]

Funnily enough it made me think how our ears are important to our hobby and how sensitive and delicate they are. I think I'm gonna see an audiologist just to check if everything is allright.
 
 
back to the grados, I fell in love with them by the way they reproduce the sound of acoustic guitar. Just amazingly real to my ears, like I am playing them, I may be wrong but that's the way I feel it. A lot of audiophile "neutral" cans can't do even close.