[Stevko]

This album works great with Grado:

https://tidal.com/album/2448114

 

[Johnscheley]

I've lurked on this thread since the page count was back in the two thousands. I've found the listening impressions here both useful and interesting, so I wanted to give back with some reflections on what I've heard. (This'll be a ramble!)

Ideally I'd have just one pair of headphones, but I'm hanging on to two: Joe's HP-1 and John's PS2000. (Plus a pair of Etymotics ER3XR.) I've been through a lot of Grados - 80i, 225i, 325i, 325e, GH4, GS3000e - and some other makes - Stax SR-5, AKG K702, and I've heard HD600s, HD800s, Sundaras, and a few others.

I've cast my lot with Grado in part because I'm fussy about how things look. The HP1 and the PS2000 have a mature, functionalist vibe - they could hang out in Paris - whereas I'd want to hide, say, the HD800 ear Lamborghinis in a drawer.

But mainly because of the sound. The GS3000, the PS2000 and the HP1 are, in my opinion, qualitatively different from the rest of the Grado line. The 50mm drivers do something special - the midrange and the treble (oh, my god) is spotless, and the dynamics and sense of space are incredibly vivid, and they can get to "live" volume levels with perfect composure. The famous drivers in the HP1 are just as spotless, but they lack the elevated midrange that gives John's Grados that "magnifying glass" effect, they don't sound anywhere near as dynamic, and they lose some definition when played too loud. The PS2000, I would say, is better than the HP1 in every way except tonal balance. Compared to the HP1, the PS2000 and GS3000 midrange can sound thin at low volumes. The HP1s sound calm and exact, with a subtle emphasis to the lower midrange, and really solid bass (when you get the clamping pressure right). It has what I'd like to call a "broadcast" sound - the qualities that jump to my mind are how rich and clear Leonard Cohen's voice sounds, and how noises like rain falling on a tin roof, the snap of a camera shutter, sound real beyond anything else I've heard. The presentation of the HP1 is holistic in a pretty special way. When well driven, fine details of the recording are there for you to hear, but don't draw your attention inappropriately (to be clear, this isn't a euphemism - they're extremely detailed). They make it easy to comprehend the music you're listening to. I find that to be a rare quality in hi-fi, basically independent of sonic quality, probably mainly a matter of frequency response and mastering. If I'm hearing a song for the first time, I might understand it better on my laptop speakers than on the PS2000e. The HP1 do well by that metric; maybe not as well as the Etymotics buds.

Back to the 50mm drivers - to me, the GS3000 and the PS2000 each sound lifelike. I don't say that lightly. I walk by someone playing a drum kit outside, unamplified, and my mind jumps to the GS3000. I hear someone playing an electric keyboard into a grungy amp stack in front of me, hear the layers of rattle and buzz and tone, and I think of the PS2000. It's something surreal. Surely, that has never happened with any other transducer I've heard.

The GS3000 have an "open air" balance (if the HP1's acoustics make me think of a radio station's studio, the GS3000's make me think of a music festival) and better texture, for lack of a better word, than the PS2000. Hearing the same drum solo on the GS3000 and the PS2000 - with the GS3000, I notice the flapping noise of the drum's skin, and with the PS2000, I can better hear the "note" of each drum hit. The GS3000 also has this rich, colorful decay - an adjective that comes to mind is "bloody" - that I love. Interestingly, that color went away when I used some extremely high-end DIY amplification (directly heated triodes loaded by nanocrystalline-core transformers, with a permalloy-core autoformer volume control at the output). In that setting, the GS3000 - well, they disappeared.

I sold the GS3000 because the PS2000, despite lacking that texture, has better bass and comes closer to the level-headed sound of the HP1. The treble of the PS2000 is better too, I feel, but it's a toss-up - it can be harsher (I mean, it's also perfect). The PS2000 is more informative than the GS3000; it's hard for me to pin down why, but it's just a little easier to tell what's going on in a song. Against the HP1, the PS2000 gives you several extra layers of sound, space, and imaging. Small sounds coexist with large sounds and have equal energy. The bass is fast and has "bounce" and, when you're listening loud, is just huge. The build quality on my pair happens to be better than the GS3000 I had, too; they clearly picked a good set of gimbals for my PS2000s, where I replaced the gimbals twice on the GS3000. On the other hand, the finish is wearing off on my set, which you might call patina. I read some review of the PS2000 where they compared it to the fading of raw denim; that's some wild spin, but it's easy to rationalize when you're in love.

A couple last notes. Take my impressions for what they are, but especially because I'm not using these headphones most of the time with any fancy setup. I've heard the GS3000 and the HP1 with the peak-of-the-mountain amplifier I mentioned, and I've listened to vinyl on a similarly great setup through the HP1, but usually I'm listening to the PS2000 plugged into my 2017 Macbook Pro and playing Tidal. One can hear the limitations clearly, but I want to enjoy these headphones every day, and I can't be stuck sitting by an amp the size of a small cooler. That said, the GS3000 driven by the triode amplifier was one of the most memorable hi-fi experiences of my life, up there with a few all-horn speaker systems I've heard (Jeffery Jackson's; Austin Acoustics). On price and quality - everyone has different opinions and also different means, but if someone took away my PS2000 and gave me back their MSRP, I'd buy back the PS2000 without pause. But again, the $100 Etymotics are arguably better for music comprehension... and other Grados like the GH4, for example, are excellent in their own ways. (Those sound very spacious, though the midrange was too thin for me.) Finally, I wonder what will come next at the top of the Grado line, though I'm not looking to buy anything else anytime soon.

That's probably enough effusion. Thanks to the posters on this thread for talking me into the leap to the GS3000. I've been listening to much more music in the past year or two because of it.

Excellent post! As a GS3000 owner, it was very interesting.
Which triode amplifier did you use?

 

[walno]

Excellent post! As a GS3000 owner, it was very interesting.
Which triode amplifier did you use?

It was one I made off of a general template for directly heated triode line stage amplifiers. https://www.bartola.co.uk has good examples of the breed.

I don't want to derail things here, but quickly - each channel used a single 4P1L tube (a Russian directly heated pentode) connected as a triode - but the plate grounded, and the second and third grids tied together and used as the plate, approximating a mesh plate. It was biased to -8V with a string of Cree C3D02060F diodes in the filament circuit and the anode current was about 20mA. Choke input DC supply feeding Rod Coleman regulators for the filaments. Dave Slagle's nanocrystalline bifilar 1:1 transformers for the output, into one of his autoformer volume controls to attenuate and match impedance. High voltage of ~150V was provided by a 6BY5-rectified choke input supply with Antek toroidal chokes and ASC X86 capacitors. The important thing in my experience was the mesh plate connection, SiC diode bias, really good transformers, and no more capacitors than strictly required - in a circuit this simple feeding headphones like the GS3000s, you hear every change you make blatantly.

DIY is tough, but a good value proposition. This amp was all out and sounded like it, but it was a boxless, inelegant mess, so eventually, I put it up.

 

[DTgill]

Does anyone here have the Grado HF3 (Head-Fi edition)?

I find them to be little bass canons (not in a bad way) relative to my other Grado cans, they are definitely fun to listen to.

 

[punkmanmatthew]

Just picked these up on eBay. Anyone know if they are SR80i or just SR80?

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Just picked these up on eBay. Anyone know if they are SR80i or just SR80?

mushroom style cup, should be SR80i

 

[ESL-1]

I read some review of the PS2000 where they compared it to the fading of raw denim; that's some wild spin, but it's easy to rationalize when you're in love.

The above has to do with the anodized FINISH on the “PS2000e”. What was found out in time is that the beautiful black chrome finish will usually START to OXIDIZE and look like they have finger prints showing and look a bit FADED even if kept in a hard case. As I, like most of us want my gear to look as good as possible and I knew that it was not due to how I handled it (Very Carefully).

With the help of an engineer I know I found out HOW to TAKE of THAT.

The EASY FIX is Formula F11 Top Coat, most often used with car care but is great in many applications.
If my PS2000e starts to look faded or cloudy a small amount of F11 sprayed onto a quality microfiber polish cloth (that will come in the F11 kit) and carefully and lightly rub the liquid on and then off which polishes the surface.
The Results are AMAZING. I got my PS2000e early so they are a few years old but they LOOK BRAND NEW after the one minute treatment.

It also can clean your eyeglasses, coffee pot, whatever, great stuff.

** will not take away any damage like deep scratches, etc.

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

Does anyone here have the Grado HF3 (Head-Fi edition)?

I find them to be little bass canons (not in a bad way) relative to my other Grado cans, they are definitely fun to listen to.

Interesting take. I find them to be some of the sparkliest treble among my Grados. Bass is fine too, but not like The Hemps. Sometimes I like to flip them back and forth with The Hemps for contrast.

Agree that they are a lot of fun. )

 

[punkmanmatthew]

.

 

[punkmanmatthew]

.

 

[carboncopy]

I just got these for 110EUR incl. post. I just had to buy it, altough I don't really need (meaning I absolutely don't need) a new headphone amp.

But they are such beauties!

 

[RyanT42]

The Quicksilver Audio amp is very good match for the RS1x.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but what are your thoughts on the Quicksilver? I'm in the market for a headphone amp and trying to learn about the difference between SS and tubes in a headphone amp situation.

I have Audeze LCD-2C and Grado RS1x cans that'll be used. I was looking at Shiit SS offerings but I'm getting more and more interested in going the tube route. (It's funny how your budget range (or wish list) keeps going up and up the more you look at this stuff!)

What are some DACs you feel pair well with the Quicksilver?

And lastly, how the heck do you buy one?! I checked their website and I don't see any for sale online.

 

[Douger333]

Look harder! Quicksilver Audio, Amplifiers, scroll down to bottom! Good luck!!

 

[tombrisbane]

They arrived quicker than expected!

 

[tombrisbane]

And a family photo

GS3000e | RS-1x | RS-2x
Hemp | RS2e | GH2
SR325x | GW100 v2 | SR325

Really need to get a case for my original 325’s! Every time I order I forget.