shimmer n roar
Aka: Mr Spenkelink
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2012
- Posts
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i didn't spend a lot of time with the GS1000i. its presentation didn't sound as full to me as the ps1000, which might be why it seemed even more spacious.
Hi pcf,
Wherein once I was a headphone-centric listener, I must say that these days I am clearly in the speaker camp. This shift has helped me put many aspects of audio in perpsective. I can understand similar epiphanies going from speakers to headphones. I have yet to approximate the intimacy headphones provide.
I don't have soft bass with the PS-1000s. The bass is not as snappy solid with the EAR as it is with the Melos, but so many dimensions are degraded for my tastes that the lessened impact is well worth augmentations elsewhere.
My PS-1000s are nearly as liquid as the PS-1s, nearly as tonally perfect as the RS-1s, have bass nearly as solid as HP-1000s. These nearlies are reinforced by so many "betters" that I can live with th knowledge they are not the best at everything headphone. But then, no headphone is. R10s and Omegas have more air; HD800s have a larger headstage; Ety 4s are faster. So what? None of the others, for, sound like the real thing, as well as any Grado, let alone the PS1000s. I place the utmost importance on timbre, tone and PRaT (despite the latter bring ambiguous and nebulous).
For me, Grados above all others almost all of the time, with PS1000s the champ among those that I own.
When I read impressions from different people on PS1000, it doesn't even sound like they are describing the same headphone.
The fans would insist that the haters are reading charts rather than listening.
The haters would say that the fans like the colouration and misinterpret that as lifelike.
And there you have it... "nuff said" - "none of the others... sound like the real thing, as well as any Grado, let alone the PS1000's!" That pretty well says it all!
Bugger the graphs. I just slapped a Transparent High Performance Powerlink power cable (loaner) on my Ayre DAC and wouldn't ya know the Grado said thank you very much. A lot of that "strident" treble sounds more like resolution than a flaw now. This is not my imagination the dial on my amp is now cranked. Last night it would have absolutely killed my ears. Killed them. This is not like I'm squinting to hear the difference and it is not an opinion. It is a fact, just like if I said yesterday I had a headache and today it is gone. Yesterday my ears were hurtin a bit and tonight they are not. Even on the rough recordings. This is a mercilessly revealing headphone. If there are problems upstream you will hear it. I'm sure this phone has plenty of its own problems but you have to solve the front end issues first or these will kill your ears. The Sennheiser's are more forgiving but I don't think that well goes nearly as deep.
enjoyed reading your posts zanth. every grado fan would relate to your sentiments, whether they own the best bang for your buck sr60i or the majestic ps1000.
[size=medium]Hi Zanth,[/size]
[size=medium]Glad to see you around and thanks for taking the time to replay to this thread.[/size]
[size=medium]Indeed, like you wrote, my passion for Grado sound was and still is the biggest one, but been always parallel with my AKG K1000 affaire, the most speaker like and realistic sounding ear speakers to date, at least for me, and that was the reason why I sold the GS1000 and EAR system, because my experimentations with K1000 were much limited than with Grado's at the time and the funds, as always, very limited and very hard to save when you have kinds and the family to support.[/size]
[size=medium]After the Grado system was gone, there were several candidates to chose from and the first was Red Wine 30.2 sig., which is an good partner for K1000, but unfortunately, not for me, so, after 5-6 month it was sold and another one, this time tube based, were in, PrimaLuna Prologue Two. Dutch design that they are manufacturing in China. This is KT88 based amp, which I upgraded with best possible NOS tubes very shortly after fully burn in and by many who tried this combo, it was found as an fantastic one, me included, but…After 9 month I was done with to, because the amp is to powerful and not declicate enough to drive K1000 and his volume pot never could go further than say 10 o'clock, which was very limited option for me, but also, if you did so, distortion was right there. [/size]
[size=medium]After a little search I decided, just as with GS1000 back then, to go SET route and Cary CAD 300sei classic model replaced PrimaLuna and what can I say? It's still with me and after several years already been upgraded a little, but also got the beautiful partners to play with, fantastic Tannoy D700 speakers and K1000 were still around at the time I got them.[/size]
[size=medium]As the time pass, I was realizing that when I have the time, I always choose my speaker system and K1000 were not used for a little while, but that’s not the only reason. In fact, each time I was listening to my speaker system , man, it's like I was listen to my K1000, but bigger, so, one more time I started to think if there is a way to compliment my speaker system instead of just listen to it all the time.[/size]
[size=medium]At that point and because I owned Cary already, my thoughts about to get Grado PS1000 were getting stronger, so, I asked my good friend Henk if he can loan me his BlackDragon recabled GS1000 for a while and thankfully he did. Well, the rest is not difficult to guess, I managed to trade+cash my K1000 for brand new PS1000 and my excitement was pretty big, I must say huge.[/size]
[size=medium]When the day came and PS1000 were in, I just open the box and the very well known smell of them brought many good memories again, but after first seconds of use I was shocked, shocked how bad their balance was, talking about the lower end / midbass here. I couldn’t believe I was hearing this with the well known tracks of my, however I kept my mouth and started to burn in. During the burn in period they started to settle, around 100 hours I was getting the results and after 200 I felt that they were just fine, however still burning them. After they riched 300 hours I started the listening sessions.[/size]
[size=medium]Dont get me wrong, but still surprised that acoustic bass and complex classical music were such bad through them. The heavy resonance, not enough extension/air in their sig and literally messy sound with classical orchestral music were the reasons for me to sell them. On the other hand, I got the goose bumps with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marcus Miller and Eva Cassidy music, also with less complex piano and cello combination they were/are fantastic. [/size]
[size=medium]As I was in the beginning, I still now, very unsure why such differences with differ music appears, so, my impulsive nature just hit my brains and even before I sold PS1000 I purchased the K1000 again, however that’s not all [/size]
[size=medium]K1000 were not even in yet and I was asking myself what the hell I am doing? So, I sold them by now and another toy is in, but I will hold my horses until I am more confident to write some.[/size]
[size=medium]Same as you Zanth, I to think that EAR, probably, is the best Grado GS1000 and PS1000 solution, even I never tried PS1k through it, however the low end will never be as tight as you can get it from ZanaDeux for example, this is the nature of its design, which is same or close to SET, but the delicacy is unbeatable, as I have owned them at the same time and choose HP4 above, specifically for this and the fantastic mids. Technically speaking, EAT produces more current than my Cary does, so, thats, possible, the reason of less good performance, however I dont give up that fast by technical stuff only, because the synergy was there as with no other I could compare with.[/size]
[size=medium]I wish I could say it differently, but through my system I was not fully satisfying and having the nature of owning the one headphones only, decision been made and that’s all about it.[/size]
[size=medium]THX[/size]
[size=medium][size=medium]p.s. Funny enough, I am thinking to get Grado one day again, but it will be one of their midclass or, just maybe, PS500 or RS1 as the top, just to keep me happy when I want some hard rock, however my Koss KSC75 does a great job when driven by Cary[/size][/size]
When I read impressions from different people on PS1000, it doesn't even sound like they are describing the same headphone.
The fans would insist that the haters are reading charts rather than listening.
The haters would say that the fans like the colouration and misinterpret that as lifelike.
Originally Posted by Mortalcoil /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Most likely not and as mentioned probably never even heard it. Much of these opinions were and are based on short term auditions....if auditioned at all. You need to live with a hp to formulate a proper opinion of it.
So the next time someone blatantly trashes your PS-1000 take it with a huge grain of salt.
PS : Welcome back Zanth good to see you posting !
i've found in-store headphone auditions invaluable for evaluating and comparing headphones that i'm considering buying. obviously it's not the same as ownership that allows you to become closely acquainted with a headphone's characteristics for better or for worse over time. however, my initial impressions of the headphones that i have auditioned have been confirmed with subsequent listening sessions, and i don't expect that to change with long term listening at home based on my own experience. the headphones that i own don't sound noticeably different to me now than when i first heard them, but my response to them can vary. that's why i find first impressions telling and value them. i might not have gained the familiarity and insight that ownership brings, but my assessment isn't influenced by financial and emotional investment either. auditioning a headphone that i am yet to own allows me to judge it impartially.