Grado Fans :D/ Grado Ps-500
Jan 24, 2013 at 12:14 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 15
Poetic

Poetic

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I would like to know how good are the Grado Ps-500's. From what i've read they're one of the best of the Grado Lineups. I am very interested in purchasing the PS500. I would like to know the sound signature and what cush pads are best for them. Thankyou :)
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 12:47 PM Post #2 of 15
Quite a few friends of mine who are Grado fans have said that the PS500 is one of Grado's failure and nothing like the much more superior PS1000.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 1:00 PM Post #4 of 15
On the other end of the spectrum, I've read of people saying that it's one of the best Grados :p
 
Think I'll just 
popcorn.gif
 and see how this pans out, I want some new Grados ^_^
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 1:01 PM Post #5 of 15
One of the reasons the PS500 is not favored is because for 100 bucks more you get the RS1i which sounds very good. I enjoyed it as well except for sub-par comfort, and I'm a self-proclaimed Grado hater.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 1:12 PM Post #6 of 15
I believe It's all a matter of personal preference.
Why don't you try to find a dealer who has a few on demo, and check them out for yourself. I've also read positive and negative post's about the PS500, but I've never heard them for myself.
 
I find myself interested in hearing the RS1i because of all of the positive feedback on them, but I'm the owner of SR325is's that I love and can't comment on the 400$U.S.price difference until I hear them for myself, so sometime in the future I will demo them and find out.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 1:27 PM Post #7 of 15
Quote:
joseph69 said:
I believe It's all a matter of personal preference.
Why don't you try to find a dealer who has a few on demo, and check them out for yourself. I've also read positive and negative post's about the PS500, but I've never heard them for myself.
 
I find myself interested in hearing the RS1i because of all of the positive feedback on them, but I'm the owner of SR325is's that I love and can't comment on the 400$U.S.price difference until I hear them for myself, so sometime in the future I will demo them and find out.
Click to expand...

+1. In fact, I just bought the 225i and am still deciding on my first amp purchase. I'm a big rock/metal guy and my sense so far is the 225 is really good for the aggressive music that defines about 80% of my music.
 
OTH,  I've heard such raves over the RSi. I can see debating going up the Grado food chain vs keeping the 225 and trying something totally different-The HE 400 looks pretty cool to me-maybe get something w/ a bigger soundstage for classical. Or, maybe ending up w/ a Grado RS1i and something else.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 1:49 PM Post #8 of 15
I indeed enjoy the He-400 more than any headphone i've ever listened to. I'm surprised you guys said the PS500 are not as good. I've read so many places that the Ps500 were in the top of the Grado Line, and they are on par with the Ps1000's
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 5:02 PM Post #9 of 15
Quote:
markm1 said:
+1. In fact, I just bought the 225i and am still deciding on my first amp purchase. I'm a big rock/metal guy and my sense so far is the 225 is really good for the aggressive music that defines about 80% of my music.
 
OTH,  I've heard such raves over the RSi. I can see debating going up the Grado food chain vs keeping the 225 and trying something totally different-The HE 400 looks pretty cool to me-maybe get something w/ a bigger soundstage for classical. Or, maybe ending up w/ a Grado RS1i and something else.
Click to expand...

I also love my Grado's, but like you mentioned I would love to hear the HiFiman HE400's because of all of the attention they are receiving, but I really love the 325is's mid's and have never heard the HE 400's, they may be too mellow for my taste, I really love the attack of the Grado's, I currently traded my MS2i's for the 325is because they where just a little too mellow for me. They are both excellent headphones though. One day I will demo the HE400's because I'm definitely curious.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 5:09 PM Post #10 of 15
It is preference.

Have you heard any of the Prestige Series Grados? If you have, the PS500 is a bit different. The PS500 has a big mid-bass emphasis. It has a slightly thick sound because of this. Also, the mids are less forward than the Prestige Series models, but probably more realistic as well. There is still a treble peak so the treble is still there.
 
A lot of people love the PS500. I like it, but I don't love it. The bass is too emphasized in my opinion. It probably sounds great with certain genres, but I don't think the PS500 has very good genre bandwidth, even less so than typical Grados.

The RS1 is the best Grado I've heard. I've not heard any discontinued models or the GS1000 or the PS1000, but the RS1 has been the best of the bunch so far. I think the improvements you get from the Prestige Series to the RS1 are not worth the hike in price, but some people think it is worth the price jump. If the RS1 were a $400 headphone, I'd own it right now.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 5:39 PM Post #11 of 15
Quote:
biscuitz said:
It is preference.

Have you heard any of the Prestige Series Grados? If you have, the PS500 is a bit different. The PS500 has a big mid-bass emphasis. It has a slightly thick sound because of this. Also, the mids are less forward than the Prestige Series models, but probably more realistic as well. There is still a treble peak so the treble is still there.
 
A lot of people love the PS500. I like it, but I don't love it. The bass is too emphasized in my opinion. It probably sounds great with certain genres, but I don't think the PS500 has very good genre bandwidth, even less so than typical Grados.

The RS1 is the best Grado I've heard. I've not heard any discontinued models or the GS1000 or the PS1000, but the RS1 has been the best of the bunch so far. I think the improvements you get from the Prestige Series to the RS1 are not worth the hike in price, but some people think it is worth the price jump. If the RS1 were a $400 headphone, I'd own it right now.
Click to expand...

 If the RS1 were a $400 headphone, I'd own it right now.
 
I need to audition both the 500 and RS1-but, to your point-I'm thinking maybe apply that $400 to  an HE400 to get a different perspective. Lots of opinions, but it seems to be a pretty all around and maybe better for a classical symphonic music where you might want a bigger soundstage.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 5:46 PM Post #12 of 15
Quote:
markm1 said:
 If the RS1 were a $400 headphone, I'd own it right now.
 
I need to audition both the 500 and RS1-but, to your point-I'm thinking maybe apply that $400 to  an HE400 to get a different perspective. Lots of opinions, but it seems to be a pretty all around and maybe better for a classical symphonic music where you might want a bigger soundstage.
Click to expand...

The He-400 are very fast headphones. very engaging, the planar sound is very addicting and it will spoil you good.
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 9:38 PM Post #14 of 15
The HE-400 is a great headphone. I tried owning it twice, and both times I liked it but never loved it. For all its technical wonders, its voicing sounds...well, funky, to me. I made sure to give myself more than a couple weeks each time to adjust to the sound signature, but the mids and highs just sound weird to me. I liked the HE-500 voicing better. Some day I think I will own the HE-6.
 
But a lot of the HeadFi community is head over heels for the HE-400, so I'm in the minority here. So give the HE-400 a try if you get a chance!

Also, don't forget about Magnum V5's: http://turbulentlabs.com/symphones-turbulent-headphone-driver/
 
I just got my V5's last week, and I've been quite impressed. If you don't know anything about them, they're custom-made Grado-like drivers that are designed for Grado-like housing. The sound signature is even Grado-esque, but from my experience the Magnum V5 has significantly improved detail retrieval and awesome instrument separation. Also, the mids of the Magnum V5's are tuned more conservatively than Grado mids. Instead of just having mid-peaks like Grados do, Magnum drivers are tuned "smarter" in that the mids are more recessed, but with a Grado-like peak inside of that recession (~4.5k). This just means you get a Grado-like presentation of the mids but without the "shoutiness" that Grados present. You can see what I mean in these graphs:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/GradoRS1.pdf
 
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/Gradheiser650DIYModifiedthelostMIDrange.pdf
 
Jan 24, 2013 at 10:45 PM Post #15 of 15
It almost sound's like to me, what OP"S are saying from their experiences with the Grado PS500 and the magnum drivers, that they sound very close in signature to Alessandro drivers.  I've owned the MS2i and would have described their sound, (if not the same) very similar. Doe's anyone who has had/heard these agree?
 
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