[WhiteStaircase]

Ok, so I hav'nt posted much but thought I would chip in anyway! In many peoples eyes my setup is a "budget" system, but I have found it to be the best I have yet to hear -

Cambridge Audio 640C -- Handmade Litz braid silver wire IC -- Heed Canamp -- Grado GS1000

I find the solid state Heed keeps everything tight and smooth whilst still being neutral and never hear any "flabby" bass, the mids are very sweet and the highs are spot-on, not shrill. The RS-1 has a narrower soundstage but I want a wide sound stage for all types of music, instrument placement is very important for the overall feel of the music to come through. I think the GS1000 covers all bases for all genres.

Anyway, I settled on the GS1000 and they absolutely amaze me everyday, if they get any better with different equipment I will be a very very happy man!

(PS - the GS need to be burned in properly. Some people have reported that they keep getting better even with 400 hours on them!)

 

[jjhatfield]

I currently deem it necessary to own both the RS-1 and GS1000. I find the bass on the GS1000 to be large and powerful when coupled with the Dynahi, and I can't wait to hear how it sounds out of the balanced beta22. This is indeed a bright can, make no mistake, and it does not have the midrange magic of the RS-1, though I don't think it is quite as distant as others claim. Where the GS1K excels is its superb timbre, tonality, and soundstage. It does a fantastic job with drums and strings. The GS1K excels for lower level listening of audiophile-grade recordings, and it also rocks beat-laden trance tracks.

The RS-1 is simply the best can I've heard for jazz and progressive rock, though to be fair I haven't heard an L3K, which supposedly is great with those genres.

 

[M0T0XGUY]

.

 

[Hermitt]

I haven't listened to either the RS-1 or the GS-1k, but the key to me going the Alessandro MS-Pro route was that I love to listen to live guitars. George Alessandro designs and builds some of the most prestigeous hi-end boutique guitar amplifiers (David Gilmour is one of his clients) and I believe that his tweeked series of headphones from Grado are most likely to represent the reproduction of that "realness".

 

[Blackmore]

Just forget Alessandro's. You already have RS2 that have everything that MS PRO can only dream off, IMO.
And please, do not ignore tubes when you talking about the Grado's from RS and GS series.
Make sure that your source is at the level first, however I am not sure which one do you own, and that's it. Source make a HUGE difference, not for the phones only, but also for your amp. What you need is an good balanced signal from it and the rest is up to amp to not loose it, but a warm bit up and sending to your phones. Believe me if the signal a right one GS1000 will blow you away.
Yes, it is different from RS1 and RS2. Much more away from MS PRO, but in the hell of a better way, IMO.
I was listen to Trio Beyond "Saudades" ( Jack DeJohnette, Lary Goldings and John Scofield ) this morning and man let me tell you about how GS1000 sounds like, LIKE ITS BEEN RECORDED. Nothing been coloured or shadowed what ever you call it. Not that much records are like this one, PURE with a lot of enjoyment.
And yesterday it was SUPERTRAMP "LIVE IN PARIS" and again, WOW, I am just amazed by GS1, every day again.
But if you put some poor record on, you have to look at SR and RS series to get some from it, because GS1 will show you all s..ty notes and you will be done pretty quick.

I think I begin to understand now, when people say that all components are very important, include the good record to begin with. Look at my rig, it is not that expensive, but I get my kicks every time I listen to them. And do not listen that GS1000 are laid back kind of phones, no way. Just try them with good TRANCE or ROCK records and you will hear them at total different level than using with JAZZ or else only. After upgrading my source, the first thing I did is tried ROCK with them. And I couldn't believe of result I was getting. One particular CD, Robert Plant " Fate of Nations" have a track called "29 Palms". This song have some guitar slams, which were very disturbing with GS1 before. But now everything under control, even at pretty high volume level, which wasn't possible before at any.

I am not trying to push you to do something you maybe not ready yet, but only to let you know that even at budget level system, you will get a very high level of their performance.

It is just that you are so away from my place, otherwise you could drop by and try them out.

Good luck to you man

Quote:

Originally Posted by BushGuy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Huh?? I don't recall seeing " The MS2i is close to the MS Pro but can be tweaked to sound like an HP in the correct system, so if neutral is your bag, this may help I expect." before. Pls clue me in on this interesting idea......what are the mods, and.......what is a possible example of such a system? It seems a likely step to pursue that concept, and/or another walk in RS-land.....and simply bide my time until a nice pair of GS fall into my outstretched hands. No reason to be in a huge hurry. In the meantime I'll cancel the tube amp that has been on order for 3 weeks and simply rely on one of my Xin's whilst exploring the land of Grado.

 

[Audiofiler]

Listening to Hard rock and metal is amazing on the GS, the extra space and soundstage really are used with certain recordings, and is evident. The normal examples of classical and larger live recorded Jazz sessions, along with live music are usually proclaimed with this phone. However, if listening to Deftones, Slipknot, Korn, Maryln Manson, Mastodon, Mogwai, etc..these bands have all sorts of hidden frequencies and are great for listening critically to. Slipknot Subliminal is an outstanding listen where the GS runs circles around the RS. the sound on the RS is great with this album, but the GS does it much better for these ears.

 

[tuatara]

Having lived with a pair of Rs1s for about 4 years and spent considerable time with a pair of GS1000s I would always go for the RS1s.
The GS1000s I currently have a loan of are heavily modified by Headphile but still don't seem to get the balance between instruments/placement/vocals right. I've tried them on my 3 different amps which are of reasonable quality and still feel the RS1 is a better phone...for me at least.

Unfortunately the only way you're going to get a right answer on this is through personal experience.