[jonathan c]

The power cords above it look like coolant pipes

Check these out: I have four.

[They are excellent silver-plated copper build. Outside of headphone cables, I am a stickler for short digital, interconnect, power cables: all 1/2-metre length. No EMI, RFI, (FBI?) … very ‘direct’ sound.]

 

[headfry]

EDIT of the version from August 11th as i changed my mode of usage for the RS1 Button

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Finally did a full comparison of all of my Grado headphones. Maybe it's helpful to someone torturing his brain about what Grado to buy next

I tested all headphones with a Mojo 2, EQ set to neutral. I don't care much about sound stage so i didn't say anything about it. For me they all sound great in that regard anyway.


GH2
- Very balanced across the frequency range
- Doesn't need EQ, works very well with every source i tried it with, even the iPad headphone jack
- No real sub bass, lower bass slightly bloated, otherwise punchy
- Ok mids
- Clear nice treble but not sibilant
- The sound has a certain je ne sais quois mojo, my girl friend loves it and so do i

GS1000i
- On the muffled side
- Massive yet bloated bass and sub bass
- Very nice mids
- Low treble ok, high treble muffled
- Probably needs some EQ but the Mojo EQ doesn't help much
- Great for music with not much low bass and high treble, then it sounds very nice and serious

PS500e
- Very balanced across the frequency range similar to the GH2 but more neutral
- Every frequency band is there, no need for EQ, because of that it sounds well-rounded or some might say "boring"
- Works well with every sound source
- Sounds like a real Grado but without the "downsides"

RS1 button ("Classic", not sure if A, B or C, used with F pads, too sibilant with L pads)
- Similar to GS1000i but less bassy and even less treble, overall a little more well-rounded
- Bass strong but slightly bloated
- Very nice mids, brings out stuff in guitar solos i hadn't heard before
- Great with a 0 0 +5 +5 treble boost from the Mojo EQ as there is nearly no high treble

- Changed to L-pads which always seemed too sibilant to me but turns out these headphones do VERY well with an iPod Classic when used with an L-pad
- Defined impactful bass, never bloated
- Very good mids, similar to the WH1 and GS1000i, voices stand out nicely
- Really good treble comparable to the RS2e
- Overall a great package which also works nicely with my Mojo 1 and Mojo 2 without EQ (EQ doesn't do much for this)

RS2e
- Awesome with some EQ
- Very lean bass but surprisinlgy there is some sub bass
- Pretty, non-sibilant treble
- Ok mids
- Needs a +5 +5 0 0 EQ bass boost which sounds awesome. Very nice defined punchy bass with that setting, the treble is great anyway
- Without the Mojo 2 EQ it always lacked something for me but with EQ it's da bomb!

SR325e
- Similar to RS2, great with some EQ
- Lean sub bass, bass and mids (but more bass than the RS2e)
- Very good treble and extraordinary high treble (aka "Grado magic") which none of the others has!
- The treble is why you must keep this headphone, great to spot new nuances in guitars!
- Set EQ to +4 +4 0 0 so you get a nice bass-ment under that great treble

WH1
- Weird bell-shaped frequency range
- Sounds like a vintage radio which can work well for some kinds of music (Beatles, classic, singing, jazz)
- Very good mids, beautiful for voices
- EQ didn't really help with the shortcomings

tl;dr

GH2
Buy, you can't go wrong with it.

GS1000i
Interesting, different, beautifully made, not a must have for me

PS500e
Buy, you can't go wrong with it.

RS1 button
I like it because it uses F pads and is vintage but honestly it sounds weird
Awesome with my iPod Classic, a match made in heaven only slightly behind usage with a Chord Mojo.

RS2e
Buy if you got EQ or bassy amp

SR325e
Buy for the treble, it's cheap!

WH1
Still trying to find a reason why i need it, but it's pretty and special



BTW, I will keep all of those 7, i probably got every Grado sound flavour i need with them.

I don't find my GS1000i muffled once I raise the mid treble and top treble by 1 db. I do listen at fairly low volumes, once so eq'd on Mojo 2 they sound great to me. I don't find the bass or sub bass bloated; rather the entire frequency spectrum to me sounds coherent and just right, (including the bass which sounds amazing and natural).

I believe that Grado's are designed for light to moderate volume levels ). Perhaps listening at lower (than typical) volumes explains my findings.

I love the GS1000i's on Classical and Jazz especially, though they sound great on pop or rock as well.
Having said this, my favourite Grado - the one I listen to the most - is the GR10e, which I feel is amazingly musical and better than many much more expensive hp's. Had I bought this first I may not have felt the need for the GS1000i's, although I do enjoy them about 25% of my listening time. To me, the GS1000i reminds me of the modern Quad electrostatic speaker system - large, natural sounding sound stage, great imaging and detail, effortlessly coherent and musical. They are for me a burden to wear after a while and drain the M2's battery much faster (with their lower efficiency I need to crank it up the volume indicator much higher than for my other two Grado's). Still, I enjoy them!

I also enjoy the SR225e's, I feel that they get overlooked in favour of the 325e's. I like that the 225e is much lighter and thus more comfortable to wear, and I prefer their sound signature (once I eq the lower treble 1 db down with the M2 that is).

Like yourself, I enjoy having my different Grado's on hand, although if I had to do it again the GS1000i would have been optional.

 

[HWB3]

I like my SR225x's and want to go up the Grado ladder a couple of rungs. I'm asking Santa for a pair of RS2x's for Christmas. I was playing around with the idea of getting a pair of Hemps but I'm going for the RS2x's. I had read that the Hemps are just a better sounding 225x but nah.

 

[Plautus001]

RS2x just.. has... "something".

 

[Delmonaco]

RS2x just.. has... "something".

It has magic. But it takes dedication. I was going to write about it here. I've been listening to it for a week now and I think he really needs a long burn-in process, because a lot of times I thought it was lean and without bass but now I think he's just perfect with everything. It looks like he's finally gotten to where he's supposed to be. Very engaging and addictive. It has being difficult to go back to the "inferior" models.

 

[Gradostax fan]

One rarely mentioned aspect of wooden Grado headphone is the scent of wood when new. It smells so good... but it doesn't last long.

 

[ESL-1]

It has magic. But it takes dedication. I was going to write about it here. I've been listening to it for a week now and I think he really needs a long burn-in process, because a lot of times I thought it was lean and without bass but now I think he's just perfect with everything. It looks like he's finally gotten to where he's supposed to be. Very engaging and addictive. It has being difficult to go back to the "inferior" models.

I also found it needed more break in time than most. Enjoy the difference.

 

[Philimon]

SR225 (F-pads)

First impression: compared to SR80 (F-pads), 225 is a bit bassier (not sure an improvement, or leaning towards boomy) and has a bit more treble presence (not sure an improvement). Seems more microdetailed but could just be frequency response. The above differences are subtle and based on meh memory.

Curious if prefer to SR80. Will do that before comparing to RS2x. All in due time.

Will measure all Grado with F and L pads.

Monoprice-AMT vs SR80, prefer Grado because tonality and quick bass release.

 

[Plautus001]

SR225 (F-pads)

First impression: compared to SR80 (F-pads), 225 is a bit bassier (not sure an improvement, or leaning towards boomy) and has a bit more treble presence (not sure an improvement). Seems more microdetailed but could just be frequency response. The above differences are subtle and based on meh memory.

Curious if prefer to SR80. Will do that before comparing to RS2x. All in due time.

Will measure all Grado with F and L pads.

Monoprice-AMT vs SR80, prefer Grado because tonality and quick bass release.

If all burned in fully, these observations are interesting.

I only have SR325x and RS2x, but I do not find either "boomy".

I was listening to the RS2x earlier today and I have to say the bass is balanced as are the mid/treble.

 

[daveya]

I sold my 325x for that reason, the bass was boomy and all consuming ro my ears, RS2x hits the sweet spot

 

[HWB3]

I use the G Cush pads on my 225x's. I found that I like those better than some of the other pads. It's encouraging to see some of the love that the RS2x's are getting. They will make a great Xmas gift.

 

[Philimon]

If all burned in fully, these observations are interesting.

I only have SR325x and RS2x, but I do not find either "boomy".

I was listening to the RS2x earlier today and I have to say the bass is balanced as are the mid/treble.

Its vintage SR225, I think assuming fully mechanically burned-in is reasonable. Psychological burn-in will need more time.

I listened a little longer yesterday and still unsure how i feel about 225, will need more time and thorough comparison. 225 does seem a little more v-shaped tonally than SR80, perhaps F-pads are not ideal for SR225.

PS500e incoming tomorrow.

 

[Philimon]

I was listening to the RS2x earlier today and I have to say the bass is balanced as are the mid/treble.

Which pads are you using? F-pads I think are a tad too too dark. L-pads mid-highs sound balanced but I wish there was a tiny bit more bass. So Im going to try PS500e as that appears to be middle ground between RS2e and RS2x. I tried RS2e with ttvj deluxe pads and thought they were very slightly treble presence forward. I would be interested to try RS2e again eventually.

And my like for the vintage SR80 (F-pads) has me curious to try more vintage. Tonally, SR80 (F-pads) is preferable to RS2x (F-pads). Ive done some other padrolling with RS2x but havent found one just right for me yet, wip.

 

[Philimon]

Also must reiterate that I am comparing Grado vs Grado. Differences at this scale might be exaggerated or magnified. On the grand scale, SR225 (F-pad) is not on the boomy radar compared to say an TH-X00. Further, I think F-pads seem to minimize the differences between Grado relative to if L-pads were equipped.

 

[Plautus001]

Which pads are you using? F-pads I think are a tad too too dark. L-pads mid-highs sound balanced but I wish there was a tiny bit more bass. So Im going to try PS500e as that appears to be middle ground between RS2e and RS2x. I tried RS2e with ttvj deluxe pads and thought they were very slightly treble presence forward. I would be interested to try RS2e again eventually.

And my like for the vintage SR80 (F-pads) has me curious to try more vintage. Tonally, SR80 (F-pads) is preferable to RS2x (F-pads). Ive done some other padrolling with RS2x but havent found one just right for me yet, wip.

I use the stock pads on all my Grado.

My trials of pad rolling changed the sound, but stole some of the magic.

A fair conclusion is than they seem to know what they are doing in Brooklyn.

This may be why many of us have multiple pairs of Grado for different occasions.

All that being said, I have to concur with your earlier suggestion that the PS500e would be an interesting listen. I still think there is a market for the PS500x were it to come to market. I may have missed it, but has anyone reviewed the PS500x?