[stacker45]

,
I think The Death Star has really good customer service. In fact, once I got frustrated at my Allesandro MS1 cups getting twisted up, so I emailed them a suggestion to put a faint stripe down thw cables extending from the cups to the "V". They didnt start doing that (dammit), but they did thank me for the idea and sent me a tshirt.

 
I guess it depends on who you happend to deal with, when you contact The Mothership, who knows!, maybe I just happend to fall on the guy that John can't fire, because they both have the same last name, and owes the kid's father a favor or something...just saying!
 
After the second, quick, but equally stupid response, no doubt, from the same person, I should've sent him a t-shirt too, but I seriously doubt that he would've worned it, considering what it would've said on the front of it.

     
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                

  I think you could do well with both. 
 
I just put the G-Cush on my own RS2e in response to your question.  The G-Cush is indeed far more comfortable.  It also increases the sound stage, but moves the musicians' apparent position a bit further away (great for symphonies, not so much for jazz or rock groups).  The bass decreases a bit, as does the transparency.
 
However, these effects are small enough that the headphone is still enjoyable, and if you are in for a long listening session, the comfort of the over-ear G is far greater than that of the on-ear L bowl.
 
The GH-1 is the only Grado that I know of that can actually improve with a pad that is different than the one that it came with.  But the sound quality loss of the RS2e with the G Cush is small enough that you can enjoy the comfort of the over ear cushion AND the sound.

 
I think that the PS500(e) has been known to mate well with the G-cush too.
 
 

  Just got a "you're welcome" email back from Grado (i.e., on a Saturday) in response to my note of thanks last night to them for their lightening service on my Grado Bushmills.

 
Regarding your Bushmills, when you say ''lightening service'' is that when they repaired them, or when they broke them, or both?

 
Forgive me Buddy, I couldn't help myself.

 
For the record, most of my experiences with Grado's customer service, have been good.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

   
I guess it depends on who you happend to deal with, when you contact The Mothership, who knows!, maybe I just happend to fall on the guy that John can't fire, because they both have the same last name, and owes the kid's father a favor or something...just saying!
 
 
Regarding your Bushmills, when you say ''lightening service'' is that when they repaired them, or when they broke them, or both?

 
Forgive me Buddy, I couldn't help myself.

 
For the record, most of my experiences with Grado's customer service, have been good.

Lightening Service was on the repair of the Bushmills.  I am not too perturbed about them coming back with a split, as it was VERY hard to see and could have easily been missed, especially since they were working on the OTHER earpiece.  In the picture, I actually outlined the damage area below.
 
Perhaps I got good service because MY name is John!!! (Nope... they have given great service to others not named John!).
 

 

[stacker45]

  Lightening Service was on the repair of the Bushmills.  I am not too perturbed about them coming back with a split, as it was VERY hard to see and could have easily been missed, especially since they were working on the OTHER earpiece.  In the picture, I actually outlined the damage area below.
 
Perhaps I got good service because MY name is John!!! (Nope... they have given great service to others not named John!).
 

 
 
I'm confused John, I see a 1cm surface scratch that goes against the wood grain, and a very small split at the outer edge of the rearcup. Both are Inside your marking, so enlighten me please?
 
Oh!, and noticed that you still have the S-cush on. I know that you like to keep the original earpads, but if you haven't already, you should definately try the L-cush on your Bushmills.
 
Personally I don't mind trying out different things, as long as it's totally reversible. If it'll leave a mark, regardless how small, I won't do it.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

   
 
I'm confused John, I see a 1cm surface scratch that goes against the wood grain, and a very small split at the outer edge of the rearcup. Both are Inside your marking, so enlighten me please?
 
Oh!, and noticed that you still have the S-cush on. I know that you like to keep the original earpads, but if you haven't already, you should definately try the L-cush on your Bushmills.
 
Personally I don't mind trying out different things, as long as it's totally reversible. If it'll leave a mark, regardless how small, I won't do it.

Yep... both the surface scratch and the very small split were parts of the problem.  The other earpiece had a much worse but similar structure of problem... if you push in the unsupported run of thin wood that forms the boundary of a vent, you will cause a surface crack where it bends and a break-through at the starting end.  The first is your "surface scratch;" the second is the "very small split." But both were very hard to see on at least the left earpiece.
 
I will try to put on the L cush next time on the Bushmills... but remember, I only have a total of 10 in-and-outs of putting the cable in that folded cardboard sleeve, and I've already used three or four of them before it gives out!

 

[camui78]

kayandjohn or stacker, is this true... G-cush on RS2e will not work. It's the leanest (bass) and brightest (treble) of the "e" series.  I know they aren't the perfect combo like the GH-1, but according to Sling, they ARE NOT meant to be paired.

 

[alpha421]

Don't have the RS2e, but I'm on on the same side of the fence that my RS2 and G-cush, or any other cushion (tried flats and S-cushions as well) is not a good combo for the same said reasons.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

  kayandjohn or stacker, is this true... G-cush on RS2e will not work. It's the leanest (bass) and brightest (treble) of the "e" series.  I know they aren't the perfect combo like the GH-1, but according to Sling, they ARE NOT meant to be paired.

I found that the G-cush on the RS2e did not sound as good as the L bowl that the RS2e came with.  However, I thought it sounded good, good enough to be entirely pleasurable when combined with the greater comfort that the G Cush gives you.
 
My own tests ("4D graphs of the 13 Grado compares" link in my signature) confirm that the RS2 is the strongest of all the Grados (including wood and metal) in treble, shown as "Transparency" and (string) "Pluck."  That table also shows that it is one of the weakest in bass, though the GS1000e, another wood headphone, actually has a bit less.
 
I don't conclude that that doesn't mean that they cannot be paired. I think the thought is that going to a G Cush both decreases the bass and enhances the treble of an already-weak bass, strong-treble headphone.  Not sure that that is what a G Cush does. I posted some measurements done by innerfidelity.com of a Grado SR 225i with standard bowl vs. with G Cush... the G Cush seemed to lower frequency response in the range 1,500 Hz to 3,000 Hz by 4 - 8 dB while increasing frequency response above 3,500 Hz by about 5 dB. Here's the post:  HERE.   Here's the two frequency responses on the same plot, with the L bowl (green) displaced by 4dB at 1,000 Hz above the G Cush (red) to improve readability:
 

Note that at least for the SR225i, for which the pad test was done, the bass was unchanged.
 
 
My listening tests told me they were fine.

 

[camui78]

Thanks again kayandjohn. From what you are saying, appears the G Cush are not a good match with less bass and more treble. I wish I could afford the GH-1, but for HPs, they are out of reach.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

Thanks again kayandjohn. From what you are saying, appears the G Cush are not a good match with less bass and more treble. I wish I could afford the GH-1, but for HPs, they are out of reach.

You might also consider the PS500, which have the same wood-cup-within-metal as the top of the line PS1000. They are the bassiest of the Grados and lend themselves to GCush replacement. Cheaper than the GH-1 and even cheaper used.

 

[musicbuff]

A few days ago I bought a pair of GS 1000e's which now have about 50 hours of burn-in on them.  The first couple of days I was ready to get rid of them because of the boxy, boomy bass.  It was awful and unnatural.  But today I notice the drums and bass guitar have mellowed and these cans are starting to sound decent.  They still lack the sparkle of my Senn HD 800's (and I love my sparkle).  I bought these to fill the gap between the 800's and a pair of 650's which are a little darker than I like (and lack some of the detail and clarity I crave).  I'm still not totally convinced I'm going to love the GS 1000e's end sound but I'm going to be fair and give them another 7 days of burn in which should take me close to 200 hours.  If at the end of that time I'm not in love with what I hear, these baby's will be sold or traded for another brand.

 

[joseph69]

  A few days ago I bought a pair of GS 1000e's which now have about 50 hours of burn-in on them.  The first couple of days I was ready to get rid of them because of the boxy, boomy bass.  It was awful and unnatural.  But today I notice the drums and bass guitar have mellowed and these cans are starting to sound decent.  They still lack the sparkle of my Senn HD 800's (and I love my sparkle).  I bought these to fill the gap between the 800's and a pair of 650's which are a little darker than I like (and lack some of the detail and clarity I crave).  I'm still not totally convinced I'm going to love the GS 1000e's end sound but I'm going to be fair and give them another 7 days of burn in which should take me close to 200 hours.  If at the end of that time I'm not in love with what I hear, these baby's will be sold or traded for another brand.

Had/tried the GS1Ke myself and didn't care for them much…at all, something about them just sounded off too me.

 

[rfan8312]

It's pretty amazing how well my burned in SR60 sound up against my newly non burned-in SR225.

I notice some better detail I think in the SR225 as well as other improvements I have trouble naming but my God does the SR60 give you some hard to beat sound for that kind of price, imo.

Sent from my LGLS660 using Tapatalk

 

[rgs9200m]

I like the GS1000e a lot. It's the best Grado I tried. I traded up from the i-version because I liked those too. It has live-sounding vocals and good slam and swing, but it is not tiring or over-the-top. It's an exciting but refined phone. I like it quite a bet better than the PS1000 (which I had for a long time, found it fatiguing in the highs and bass, and sold it).

 

[XLR8]

Hello everyone,
For me Grado is love / hate relationship.
Love the sound, the look, the wood , the mids and the antiquity.
Hate the price, the quality control, the comfort, the thick heavy cable, the stock earpads, the plastic gimbals.

Do share your love/hates

 

[joseph69]

Do share your love/hates

I have no hate with Grado HP's at all…I find nothing wrong with them or I wouldn't buy them.
I've tried many other brands/price ranges and found for me nothing comes close to Grado. Not that other HP's don't sound good, but they don't suite my tastes.