[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveM324 At over triple the price of the K701, what does the GS1000 have to offer that makes it so enticing?

Wood and being able to say you own a $1000 headphone.

And I agree on the K1000. They are certainly not an "only headphone", and I'd go as far as to say it's a 10/1 headphone. Absolutely brilliant with the right stuff, but when the headphones don't like the music, it's downright painful.

 

[SteveM324]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin Wood and being able to say you own a $1000 headphone. And I agree on the K1000. They are certainly not an "only headphone", and I'd go as far as to say it's a 10/1 headphone. Absolutely brilliant with the right stuff, but when the headphones don't like the music, it's downright painful.

AKG should have made the trim on the 701 out of bubinga and charged $1000 MSRP. They wouldn't sell as many of them at that price but they would get an elite status.

I also agree that K701 is not the be all atleast for me it isn't. Nor is the K1000. Thats why I also own K340, HD650/Zu, CD3000, K501 and Ety 4P's.

The best feature of the SA5000 was its comfort. I could wear it for hours if music wasn't playing through them.

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin Wood and being able to say you own a $1000 headphone. And I agree on the K1000. They are certainly not an "only headphone", and I'd go as far as to say it's a 10/1 headphone. Absolutely brilliant with the right stuff, but when the headphones don't like the music, it's downright painful.

Well, I don't know if the K1000 was ever a "1". I mean, it's not good for some music, but it's not ibud territory. I have a CD of Bernstein conducting Mahler 7 on Deutsche Grammophone. When I had my first pair of K1000s, I would listen to that CD on a cycle for hours at a time. I just couldn't believe that a headphone could sound like that. But I could never get into, say, piano sonatas on these headphones. The just sounded distant and didn't have that richness that the HD650s or the K701s offered. Or take vocals. They just didn't have that intimacy that over the ear headphones can offer. I guess that may be a situation where too much soundstage and openness actually cut against the headphone.

 

[warpdriver]

thanks for this post.....nicely written up and very helpful.

 

[Wmcmanus]

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?

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.

 

[SteveM324]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wmcmanus 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.

Well said and I agree. In your short audition, do you think the GS1000's are more fun than the PS1's?

 

[Purgatos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveM324 Well said and I agree. In your short audition, do you think the GS1000's are more fun than the PS1's?

I know you weren't asking me, but I would say no to that. I think that the PS-1 is still the single most 'fun' can I've ever heard. The GS-1000s do some things better, but they definitely feel more mellowed out than the PS-1.

 

[Oski]

Very nice summation of those headphones Seacard. Also amazing that you've auditioned that many phones. I agree with you on the most part, in particular the RS-1, PS-1, and L3000. I'm definitely going to have to give the K701 a closer listen next time.

 

[ken36]

Outstanding and well written thread. It's a wonderful journey, isn't it?

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken36 Outstanding and well written thread. It's a wonderful journey, isn't it?

It is fun, once your brain gets around the idea that you are spending thousands on dollars on headphones. I started reading this site about a year and a half ago (although I didn't join until the end of last year), and was shocked that people could spend more than $100 on headphones. I could never imagine myself doing that. But once you pass that psychological barrier, it's a great trip. The only sad part is that you start running out of headphones to try and get a pretty good idea of what you like and don't like. It's a little sad that the world of electrostats is so limited, so there really isn't much to try beyond the two Senns, a few Stax, and the Koss. I guess I can try to venture into the IEM world again, but I didn't have much success there last time (just a little claustrophobic with something jammed in my ear, to the point where I'm not enjoying the music).

But it is a great journey...

 

[Alwayswantmore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard Top 3 overall: 1. Sony MDR-R10 2. AKG K701 3. Sony Q010 (3.5 AKG K1000)

Nice post. I for one am EXTREAMLY GLAD you like 701s over K1000s

 

[acs236]

Thanks for the impressions. I'm enjoying the 701s very much right now. I'm tempted to say, like you concluded that they are significantly better than everything in their price range, but I'll hold out and it more time

. I'm curious is giving my RS-1s and SA5Ks a listen, after I'm done thoroughly loving the 701s and see how they stack up.

 

[TooNice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveM324 I also agree that K701 is not the be all atleast for me it isn't. Nor is the K1000. Thats why I also own K340, HD650/Zu, CD3000, K501 and Ety 4P's.

Is there anything that the K501 does that the K701 doesn't?

 

[SteveM324]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TooNice Is there anything that the K501 does that the K701 doesn't?

I haven't listened to my K501 in several months so I can't give an honest answer to that one. My K701 isn't fully broken in yet (about 175 hours) but it sounds very good. One thing I can say for sure, is that the K701 definitely has better bass and better dynamics than the K501.

 

[sacd lover]

Absolutely awesome post seacard.

We appear to have almost identical opinions .... except for the dt880 which just doesnt suite me at all.

I am so impressed with the 701's I am still debating with myself why I ordered the Grados today. The GS1000 descriptions are very close to how I view the 701. Will the GS1000 be worth three times the cost of the 701's?

I hope so!