There was no thread straightly considering RS-1 vs. SA5000 so here's one.
I borrowed a pair of RS-1s from another local headphone freak today to compare them with SA5000. I've now listened to them over two hours straight switching back and forth between RS-1 and SA5000. I think I can give my impressions now.
Here's some background:
Both of the headphones are well broken in. RS-1 are bought almost 1,5 years ago and they've been in daily use all the time. I'm the third owner of these SA5000s and I have over 100 hours with them now. I think the previous owners gave them at least 200 hours altogether. Anyway I haven't noticed any changes in SA5000s sound during the time I've owned them.
Equipment used: Look at my sig. Must add that I have crossfeed plugin in use.
Music listened: All kind of rock/metal/heavy
So I'll keep it short. I'm not good at writing long analyzes.
RS-1:
I've auditioned this same pair before at the owner's apartment with different source and interconnects (some older Wadia CDP) but now I wanted to give them a try with my own rig.
SA5000:
I've now had these for about two months and I like them very much. SA5000 is the reason I sold my HF-1.
So here it is in a nut shell. Hope this helps those who have hard time deciding between these two. I really can't say which one is better or worse. If I'd have more dough in my pocket I'd definitely get them both.
Feel free to ask any questions though I have to return RS-1s tomorrow.
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UPDATE 25.01.2006
So now I've listened my own pair for three days and made some comparisons to SA5000. Now my impressions differ little bit from the earier ones. Could it be that different pair of RS-1's sound different?
Soundstage: Now I definitely find SA5000's soundstage wider than RS-1's when it was the opposite with my friends RS-1's. SA5000 has slightly wider soundstage but there's not any big differencies here.
Brightness: RS-1 is still clearly brighter and the high end extends better than with SA5000. First it was even slightly too bright for my taste but I think my ears have got used to it now.
Bass: SA5000 has punchier bass but now I think that the depth is quite the same in both of them. SA5000 has just slightly larger amount of bass so it hits you harder. Speed is quite the same after all.
Details: SA5000 wins this round (not a surprise). RS-1 has nice details also but with SA5000 you just hear it all.
Speed: The difference is not so big after all but SA5000 is still a little bit faster. Read my earlier impressions about it.
Conclusion:
What I love most in RS-1's sound is the energy and the liveliness. They sound so crystal clear and really makes my foot tapping. It's just pure fun listening to them. I think I finally understand what it means when people are saying that Grados sound like you'd play with the band when other headphones put you in the crowd. SA5000 does better job with electric guitars generally but if you have a track with a lot of guitar rift then I prefer RS-1 'higher' tone to SA5000 'lower' tone. It makes those tracks sound clearer.
What I love most in the SA5000 is their detailness and analytical touch to the music. I can hear all the details I could ever imagine. Then there is the electric guitars which could be considered as the base line of rock music. SA5000 does just great job with them. You can read more above. SA5000 also gives me a better illusion of being inside the music. Or maybe I could just say that SA5000 has better positioning than Grados. This is probably due the wider soundstage.
I've had some serious thoughts of keeping them both
but my wallet has taken some serious damage lately and it's still recovering. What to do? I don't know.
I borrowed a pair of RS-1s from another local headphone freak today to compare them with SA5000. I've now listened to them over two hours straight switching back and forth between RS-1 and SA5000. I think I can give my impressions now.
Here's some background:
Both of the headphones are well broken in. RS-1 are bought almost 1,5 years ago and they've been in daily use all the time. I'm the third owner of these SA5000s and I have over 100 hours with them now. I think the previous owners gave them at least 200 hours altogether. Anyway I haven't noticed any changes in SA5000s sound during the time I've owned them.
Equipment used: Look at my sig. Must add that I have crossfeed plugin in use.
Music listened: All kind of rock/metal/heavy
So I'll keep it short. I'm not good at writing long analyzes.
RS-1:
I've auditioned this same pair before at the owner's apartment with different source and interconnects (some older Wadia CDP) but now I wanted to give them a try with my own rig.
- Has definitely wider soundstage than SA5000. The difference is quite clear. Soundstage isn't all so important with rock music though but I still liked RS-1s soundstaging better. I think it's due to wider soundstage that positioning is also better with RS-1. Nothing so spectacular than with K701 for example but still good.
- It's brighter than SA5000. High end has definitely better extension than with SA5000. With a couple of tracks RS-1 maybe crossed the border and made the most highest higs sound SLIGHTLY piercing.
- Has somewhat more clear sound. This is hard to explain but somehow the music just sounds more clear with them. It's most probably due the brighter sound of RS-1 (pretty obvious ).
- Makes SA5000 sound dark(!!!) The difference in brightness is so clear that SA5000 really sounds somewhat dark. Of course if I'd now pick up 650s they'd sound very bright again but when comparing these two it really is like that.
SA5000:
I've now had these for about two months and I like them very much. SA5000 is the reason I sold my HF-1.
- SA5000 isn't said to be superfast and accurate without reason. They really are that. RS-1 is beaten in these qualities even though they are fast also. SA5000 is just top notch when talking about speed and accuracy. I mean... when music stops it really stops like it'd hit the wall when using SA5000. This is very good quality with rock/metal/heavy music.
[size=xx-small]To all of you who have watched anime called Hajime no Ippo: SA5000s speed and accuracy is like evolved version of Ippo's Dempsey Roll. It can stop its motion and go the other way with a speed of lightning.[/size]
- Bass impact and the amount of bass is better with SA5000. It hits you harder and with better body. RS-1 is clearly inferior in this area. SA5000s bass also goes deeper. Actually it's better in every way.
- Electric guitars and basses... this is the quality which I love most in SA5000. Electric guitars and basses just have the body and balls (if you know what I mean). SA5000 does incredibly good job in this area and outperforms RS-1. I think this is due the bass qualities of SA5000. Some people would still like RS-1s brighter and maybe more clear guitars and basses.
So here it is in a nut shell. Hope this helps those who have hard time deciding between these two. I really can't say which one is better or worse. If I'd have more dough in my pocket I'd definitely get them both.
Feel free to ask any questions though I have to return RS-1s tomorrow.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE 25.01.2006
So now I've listened my own pair for three days and made some comparisons to SA5000. Now my impressions differ little bit from the earier ones. Could it be that different pair of RS-1's sound different?
Soundstage: Now I definitely find SA5000's soundstage wider than RS-1's when it was the opposite with my friends RS-1's. SA5000 has slightly wider soundstage but there's not any big differencies here.
Brightness: RS-1 is still clearly brighter and the high end extends better than with SA5000. First it was even slightly too bright for my taste but I think my ears have got used to it now.
Bass: SA5000 has punchier bass but now I think that the depth is quite the same in both of them. SA5000 has just slightly larger amount of bass so it hits you harder. Speed is quite the same after all.
Details: SA5000 wins this round (not a surprise). RS-1 has nice details also but with SA5000 you just hear it all.
Speed: The difference is not so big after all but SA5000 is still a little bit faster. Read my earlier impressions about it.
Conclusion:
What I love most in RS-1's sound is the energy and the liveliness. They sound so crystal clear and really makes my foot tapping. It's just pure fun listening to them. I think I finally understand what it means when people are saying that Grados sound like you'd play with the band when other headphones put you in the crowd. SA5000 does better job with electric guitars generally but if you have a track with a lot of guitar rift then I prefer RS-1 'higher' tone to SA5000 'lower' tone. It makes those tracks sound clearer.
What I love most in the SA5000 is their detailness and analytical touch to the music. I can hear all the details I could ever imagine. Then there is the electric guitars which could be considered as the base line of rock music. SA5000 does just great job with them. You can read more above. SA5000 also gives me a better illusion of being inside the music. Or maybe I could just say that SA5000 has better positioning than Grados. This is probably due the wider soundstage.
I've had some serious thoughts of keeping them both
