Thanks for a great review piece. Well composed. The pictures are done tastefully.
 
Have you listened to RS1i? If so, I wonder how you would describe the differences between these two headphones. I currently have the RS1i.

Thanks for the feedback TomNC. I appreciate it.
 
I only spent a brief moment with the RS1 at a meet, so I don't have enough time with it to give it a good comparison. The RS1 also had the smaller on-ear pads. On a side note however, Jon Grado commented on one of my Instagram photos saying the RS1 is one of his personal favorites. Simply looking at a freq. chart, I would expect the RS1 to tame the bass a little and give a bit more emphasis on the upper mids. 

Thanks a lot. Your comment confirms my impression that the bass from the RS1i is subdued to some extent. The prominent mids make it a great can for watching videos as the dialogues are clearly emphasized over background. On the other hand, it doesn't give a full presentation of wide spectrum like the Audeze LCD-3 that I have. Still, the RS1i is very enjoyable can to me.

If things go my way, I believe my next addition to the collection will be something from Audeze =)

The Audezes are great, but it is difficult to make a choice among all of their products (LCD-X; LCD fazor or pre-fazor; LCD-2 fazor or pre-fazor). Though I have got the LCD-3 pre-fazor, I am by no means certain that I have made the right choice. Having no easy access for testing them, I relied on good reviews for decisions. The problem is that the reviews are largely split among all LCD models. If you can test listening to different models, then I suppose you can pick the one that is best for you.

Great now I want to get a Grado GS1000i

Has anyone tried this plus AK240?