If people don't like non-intimate Grado sounds, then certainly the GS-1000's is not for them. When I wrote about the GS-1000's, many asked, would I sell my RS-1's or PS-1's for the GS-1000's. I said no. I couldn't choose between any of them outright because, as is so true of headphones, I have the opportunity to have a few different presentations in my home without really breaking the bank. Try having a few sets of speakers in the house and it gets crowded, expensive and cumbersome. I'm still working on getting one set in my house
With the mids more in line with the rest of the spectrum without any tube rolling, some of the intimacy is revisited. Also, I noticed that overall the Melos was the better amp, very much in line with the PS-1's and HP-1000's before it. This as opposed to the HP4 all tube design. My preference for a lusher sound for longer term listening has me clinging to the EAR. However, will a GS-1000 or PS-1000 ever sound like a RS-1 or PS-1? No. Were they designed to? No. If people don't like the new direction then sticking with the RS-1's or sourcing out PS-1's is the way to go for John's sound. If one wants Joe's sound they have to grab the HP-1000's for the ultimate experience.
The only other person we know who has heard them is Mercuttio and he was not all at all bowled over by the GS-1000's. Yet he did like the PS-1000's (though it was with an iPod, but hey, they sound good through an iPod!) As more people hear the PS-1000's no doubt it will be easier to gauge whether or not the headphones may or may not be worth it for them. Again, I write according to my experiences alone and given those experiences and my strong preference for Grado phones, over any other line of headphones, and the top Grados over any other top headphones I've heard (L3000, Omega II, HE60, R10) the PS-1000 does it best overall.
For those who are not after the ever elusive last few percents, something like the SR60 is more than enough. The first review I ever read of any headphone was a review over at goodcans.com comparing the RS-1's and SR60's. They praised the SR60's claiming they were nearly all that the RS-1's delivered at 1/10 the price. I read that and bought the SR60's ($144 Canadian at the time...while I was in undergrad, broke). Four years later, married and in grad school, I had the opportunity to get a pair of RS-1's. I told my wife: "these will be the very last pair of headphones I ever buy." A cool $600 CAD at the time. This was just a few months after Head-fi started. I had read everything at Headwize and thought I would take the plunge. They were compared very favourably against the best in the world and were said to be better than the R10's and Omega I's all the time, coming second only to the HE90, and even then the Big O could be matchbed or bested if the RS-1's were paired with the EAR HP4, Cary 300SEI or the Holmes Powell DCT line. Oh those were the days. Very simple hobby.
But it got worse. Vertigo-1 tracked down some HP-1000's and compared them to the HD600's and RS-1's and R10's and liked them a whole lot. People started to buy them up and compare. Then vintage RS-1's became the in thing... still ranking high against the beloved HP-1000's and R10's. Yet, enough people started buying the R10's that it became the king, but only for certain types of music and with certain amps. And the cycle continued and continues to this day, with perhaps the HD800 being the best dynamic ever made (and hopefully besting the HE90!). We have people selling off electrostats for a tricked out GS-1000 rig, we have people selling off R10's for tweaked Denons, and we have people dumping everything and buying Omega II's. Ultimately there is no best and if one builds the proper system around any phone, they will get incredible sound if the headphone is capable.
Regardless the point is that ultimately it is all based on taste, source material, upstream gear and priorities. The PS-1000's do it best for me but they come at a steep price. That price necessitates I sell stuff if I want a pair. I have to figure out what to sell to do that and 1700 = >$2k CAD, I have to sell a lot. Are they really worth the frustration of selling stuff? For me yes. For others the PS-1's will be enough, or the GS-1000's or the RS-1's or something lower down the line...225's or even the 60's. Are they good enough to give up the intimacy of the earlier Grados? Tough to say, I didn't have them long enough nor did I have to really ponder not having the RS-1's or PS-1's. Yet I already know I will never sell my RS-1's, so really, I'm never going to truly have to deal without one type of sound over another.
I do know that I will listen to the PS-1000's the most and they will be my immediate go to headphone. But my RS-1's will always have a place on my audio rack.
