elnero
Headphoneus Supremus
Reading through this thread and remembering back to when the PS-1 was first available I think part of the reason it didn't do so well initially is no one really knew anything about and no one, not even Grado was talking about. Even though they finally did become available through TTVJ there still was no real information on how they sounded, the price was rather inflated due to them having to be reimported, etc. Anyone buying them was doing so on a pure leap of faith that the "might" be better than the current line-up when there was no real evidence to support it.
I recently heard NotoriousBIG_PJ's pair of recabled PS-1's through his custom and CDP. On hand was also a vintage brown leather headband RS-1. Even though it was a brief audition and I had to re-acclimate myself to full-sized open headphones, I can safely say the PS-1's are well ahead of the RS-1's in balance, resolution, transparency and overall smoothness. The only thing I noted that sounded off to me on the PS-1 was a bit of a dip in the lower mids, in this the RS-1's had a somewhat fuller midrange but in all other areas, transparency, resolution, balance, smoothness, etc the PS-1's outclassed the RS-1's. I suspect that with a simple pad or tube swap I could fine tune the sound to my preference. Regardless, of the minor midrange quibble the PS-1's in this system were the nicest phone I've had the pleasure of listening to. Unfortunately I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one.
I recently heard NotoriousBIG_PJ's pair of recabled PS-1's through his custom and CDP. On hand was also a vintage brown leather headband RS-1. Even though it was a brief audition and I had to re-acclimate myself to full-sized open headphones, I can safely say the PS-1's are well ahead of the RS-1's in balance, resolution, transparency and overall smoothness. The only thing I noted that sounded off to me on the PS-1 was a bit of a dip in the lower mids, in this the RS-1's had a somewhat fuller midrange but in all other areas, transparency, resolution, balance, smoothness, etc the PS-1's outclassed the RS-1's. I suspect that with a simple pad or tube swap I could fine tune the sound to my preference. Regardless, of the minor midrange quibble the PS-1's in this system were the nicest phone I've had the pleasure of listening to. Unfortunately I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one.