[goober-george]

I found these really interesting Grado RS-1s with metal rings around them. Anyone know a history behind this model or did someone just replace them with the metal rings? I've never seen RS-1s like these before.

By the way I'm in no way affiliated with the seller, just curious. I wonder if the seller is a head-fier..

GRADO HEADPHONES - Reference Series - RS 1 - MINT CON.! - eBay (item 170315653733 end time Apr-03-09 14:42:21 PDT)

 

[lutwey]

i'm quite interested as well.

 

[kelvinz]

damn you guys I was bidding on these

 

[uberburger101]

They just look like normal buttoned RS1 with a replaced silver metal ring to me. The black ring is metal too FYI.

They do look interesting though.

 

[wnmnkh]

These are probably vintage, but not as vintage as the ones with wooden case.

Well, now even normal button ones are 'vintage' as well at this point.

 

[xkRoWx]

Did you guys see the glue around the driver grill? Looks a little sketchy to me..

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xkRoWx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you guys see the glue around the driver grill? Looks a little sketchy to me..

That is what almost all rs-1s look like. At least the ones I have seen, anyway.

 

[uberburger101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnmnkh /img/forum/go_quote.gif These are probably vintage, but not as vintage as the ones with wooden case. Well, now even normal button ones are 'vintage' as well at this point.

There's definitely a difference between "older model" and "vintage". This thread has some rather good information on the issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xkRoWx /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you guys see the glue around the driver grill? Looks a little sketchy to me..

Looks the same as mine. Lots of glue all over the place (except on the driver itself of course).

 

[xkRoWx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberburger101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Looks the same as mine. Lots of glue all over the place (except on the driver itself of course).

For $500, I'd expect a better glue job than that.

 

[tintin47]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xkRoWx /img/forum/go_quote.gif For $500, I'd expect a better glue job than that.

That is often brought up concerning grados, but the cosmetic issues don't really suggest any big build integrity issues as far as I know. Plenty of RS-1s are still circulating from the 90s.

 

[wnmnkh]

Hey, they still use same glue & methods on 1700$ PS1000!

@ uberburger101 : Thank you for the link!

 

[SBD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberburger101 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They just look like normal buttoned RS1 with a replaced silver metal ring to me. The black ring is metal too FYI. They do look interesting though.

According to the seller the rings are "metal color," so probably still plastic. I find this strange though in the Q&A:

Q: Hello, I've never seen these with a silver gimbal? Has this set been modified?==LesMar-27-09
A: Hello Les, Thanks for the inquiry. I would not know. The original owner never mentioned anything extra that was done to the headphones. Thanks

 

[jacdan]

Maybe the original user used something like Naval Jelly to remove the black coloring from the ring. Not exactly mint in my book.

 

[uberburger101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wnmnkh /img/forum/go_quote.gif @ uberburger101 : Thank you for the link!

You're welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacdan /img/forum/go_quote.gif Maybe the original user used something like Naval Jelly to remove the black coloring from the ring. Not exactly mint in my book.

No idea why he would do that though... there really isn't any other explanation for this that I can think of.

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SBD /img/forum/go_quote.gif According to the seller the rings are "metal color," so probably still plastic. ...

The black gimbal on the RS-1 is metal.

My opinion is that Grado used a leftover part from the Freesystems wireless headphone (Predecessor of the PS-1). That is the only Grado I can think of that used a silver Gimbal that is interchangeable with the RS-1. The PS-1 used a black gimbal. The HP-1000 gimbal was also silver but the rod that connects to the headband is different.

It's kind of cool but I think the black gimbal looks better on the RS-1.