Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveM324
I thought about the GS1000's but my previous impulse buys didn't pan out the way I anticipated (RS1 poor value and SA5000 headaches). So the GS1000 has full and extended bass and a wide soundstage. This sounds a lot like a description of a K701 but with an added cost of $695. At over triple the price of the K701, what does the GS1000 have to offer that makes it so enticing?
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I totally agree on the value assessment of the upper end Grado headphones (RS-1, PS-1 and now GS-1000). My audition with the GS-1000 was very brief but I thought they were excellent.
Are they
worth 3 times the price of the K701's which are clearly a more complicated and expensive design? That's the problem. In reality, the GS-1000's are priced at $995 simply because Grado Labs believes that they can get that for them. The RS-1's and PS-1's are similarly overpriced. In terms of parts and labor, I doubt that it would cost $100 per pair to make the GS-1000's, and that comes from the persepctive of an accountant who understands what "cost" means. I'm talking fully loaded cost (parts, labor, overhead).
So what it comes down to for me is whether I love this hobby enough to pay what are clearly "demand based" prices that cannot be justified in any other way. The jury is still out for this observer, but yes, I think I love the hobby enough.
BTW, this isn't meant to be an overly aggressive criticism of Grado's pricing paractices. Indeed, even the big boys like Sony take this approach in pricing their flagship products ($2,600 for a pair of Qualia 010, and $4,000 for a pair of R10's). Essentially, the attitude is, "If they will pay it, then why not?" So for me, what it might come down to (more than the money itself) is whether I'm willing to support this approach with the GS-1000 (as I did with the PS-1) when I know exactly what I'm getting myself into. I might not like it, but that's the way it is, and if I want a pair the price is a (very hard to justify) $995. But they do sound as good or better than headphones I've paid more for, and I guess that's the whole point of it. Whether I get a pair or not, it's still nice to have the choice.