[Blackmore]

[size=medium]Just yesterday, I spend over 2 hours with PS1000 and HD800 as comparison partner.  My dealer did order the demo model, which was totally beat up by the way, but may burned enough as well, so, the alu look didn’t show me the best, but do they show me the sound? [/size]
 
[size=medium]In one word, YES.[/size]
 
[size=medium]System wasn’t an real success, however Arcam CD17 player was used as transport  only and Music Hall 25.3 DAC/Headphone amp was trying to do the rest. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice DAC, probably very competitive, but headphones amp is not the one to have around if you own PS1000 only. It did better job with HD800, but to say it’s the right choice, no. But that’s all they have, so, I sit and made a best of it, at least I think I did.[/size]
 
[size=medium]Music was from Patricia Barber, Liquid Trance, Acoustic Folk, Classical to Deep Purple and Metallica.[/size]
 
[size=medium]PS1000 are much fuller and intimate sounding than GS1000 and the mids and lower end are the reason. This is pretty obvious that John finally did it, he putted the intimacy of classic RS1, punchy bass of PS1 and airiness  of GS1k all together and PS1k were born. Of course, it’s probably more than just that, but I don’t want to make things more complicated that they are, so, take it not to literally please.[/size]
 
[size=medium]To me, they still kept the possibilities of natural presentation and image forming, like at live concerts, musical, but with much more intimacy at the same time and that’s a huge step ahead from what GS1k do, however I always found GS1000 very natural and musical headphones, but their big depending of amps that do mids great made them the most criticized flagship around, but after many years you just move and do not argue anymore, because it’s not the way to make things work, so, I leave it there again.[/size]
 
[size=medium]What now? Now we have a differ player around, but still criticized, include me, for their price tag mostly, however after some time spending in this hobby, I understand that this is not always a good reason to base your opinion / decision on. Personally, I made my choice and went back to K1000. Was it cheap to build a system around them? Hell no!  But what should I do now, after I tried PS1000? Should I go for it, buy them used in US and enjoy all together with my lovely AKG or, if I decide to buy them locally, would that be a much logical step to buy a pair of nice monitors / speakers? Right now, the second choice is what I am thinking of, but a very good friend of my just wrote me some interesting thoughts, which brought me to thinking again.[/size]
 
[size=medium]Suppose, you buy speakers. How big the possibilities that you use them much often than your headphone rig? Can you use them at the right volume to get the same intimacy? And, what about the sound sig? He simply stay the same and fixed, but with different headphones you have more flexible choice. Of course, you can say, well, why not the same with speakers, just use several differ pairs, done. True, but here comes the price tag on picture again, but even much harder than the MSRP price of Grado PS1000 up here, so, where we are now?[/size]
 
[size=medium]Thing is, if you put all such things together and compare the investment, maybe their price tag will make you smile after all. [/size][size=medium]Personally, if I am going to calculate the total damage I already have, building K1000 rig I mean, it would be not that painful at all, talking about the price tag of 300B valves only make the things much simply right away.[/size]
[size=medium]So, before any criticism, people should start thinking and take a good look what make them do any statements, but that’s the ideal situation, but whats the reality?[/size]
 
[size=medium]The reality is. I liked them and even through that poor amp they deliver enough goods to get a good impression of them.  The final touch was when I tried them from out of my iAudio X5L, that’s it, I knew that these babies can deliver. Don’t get me wrong, they do show you the bad if it’s bad, but if its good, they pumping out the very best out of it and let you enjoy.[/size]
 
[size=medium]THX[/size]

 

[bumblingbooby]

Glad that you finally got to audition a pair and liked them. 

 

[maguire]

I Agree PS 1000 are the best Grados i have tried also,and just like bumblingbooby said......Glad you finally got to Audition a pair. I kind of knew you would like them mate

 

[pcf]

Quote:

 
[size=medium]PS1000 are much fuller and intimate sounding than GS1000 and the mids and lower end are the reason. This is pretty obvious that John finally did it, he putted the intimacy of classic RS1, punchy bass of PS1 and airiness  of GS1k all together and PS1k were born. Of course, it’s probably more than just that, but I don’t want to make things more complicated that they are, so, take it not to literally please.[/size]
 

This is spot on- coming from someone who had first hand experience with vintage RS1, PS1 and GS1000. Glad you finally had a chance to hear them.
 

 

[priest]

Thanks for posting your impressions! I think your comment that they combine intimacy with expansive imaging hits the nail right on the head. You have identified one of the reasons why I most love this headphone.

 

[Blackmore]

[size=10pt]Thanks guys for your comments. Yes, that's what grabs you as first and keeps you for the rest, I mean, you can say lots of things about Grado, but to me, John did a good job here.[/size]
[size=10pt]I said this before, but will repeat myself again, I only wish I could try them out of better headphone amp, which, I believe, doesn't have to be a mega expensive at all. The Music Hall, like I wrote, isn't that bad, only the stock tube, probably Chinese, aren't doing the job well and I am sure if you roll for some good NOS, man, you will be getting the much better results right away. All this may conclude that the amplification choice for PS1000 is much easier / wider than say for GS1000. This is of course still a little bit speculation, but the feeling is there, pretty strong to.[/size]
 
 

 

[TheMiddleSky]

so we can say that PS1000 is simply a successor/better than PS1?
 
 

 

[Blackmore]

[size=10pt][size=10pt]Not to go in to the details, I found GS1000 an successor, so, yes, I guess you can say so.[/size][/size]


 
Quote:

so we can say that PS1000 is simply a successor/better than PS1?
 
 

 

 

[563]

yep, the ps1000 are something else, but don't count out the gs1000i, either - they continually surprise me how really good they are (my trap is always to think worse of them when i'm away from them for a while - and then they always sound so much better than i remember each time i put them on again -  but the first time i heard my ps1000, yeah, that was definitely great - they filled in what i didn't even realize was missing listening to the gs1000i.  my solution was to keep them both

 

[majkel]

My friend and I we both own the same DAC and amp suitable for various Grado's. There is no tube in the chain, no op-amp in the DAC and just one stage in the amp. Grado's, especially the big ones, like low ouptut impedance in order to not lose the ambience retrieval and good bass control. I've been using my PS1000 with such an amp for more than a year. Good audio store benchmarks are Cary SLI-80 or high tier Accuphase pre-amps to evaluate Grado PS1000 well. On the other hand, I heard the GS1000 for the first time from my DAP and I already knew right then they were the best dynamic headphones I had heard before. It was three years ago and when I tried the PS1000 from the same Iriver E10 I realised they both would ashame many desktop setups built around lesser headphones. Thanks to the OP for another thumbs up impressions about the PS1k!

 

[Blackmore]

Hi majkel, thx and good to see you around.

 

[pcf]

The more I listen to the PS1000, the more I think they might be John's best effort- even better than PS1. The mid is what sets them apart from many others. I have my deep love for the vintage RS1 but PS1000 are better all-rounders.

 

[bumblingbooby]

That's high praise indeed. Sadly, I've not heard the PS1. So are you saying that the mids of the PS1000 are an improvement over the PS1?

 

[priest]

Quote:

yep, the ps1000 are something else, but don't count out the gs1000i, either - they continually surprise me how really good they are (my trap is always to think worse of them when i'm away from them for a while - and then they always sound so much better than i remember each time i put them on again -  but the first time i heard my ps1000, yeah, that was definitely great - they filled in what i didn't even realize was missing listening to the gs1000i.  my solution was to keep them both

I would note that, sound aside, I definitely love the way the GS1000i feel and look better.
 
Quote:

The more I listen to the PS1000, the more I think they might be John's best effort- even better than PS1. The mid is what sets them apart from many others. I have my deep love for the vintage RS1 but PS1000 are better all-rounders.

Definitely high praise, and extremely comforting to hear coming from someone with your bench of Grados.

 
 

 

[pcf]

Quote:

That's high praise indeed. Sadly, I've not heard the PS1. So are you saying that the mids of the PS1000 are an improvement over the PS1?

I would say they are on the same level on the mids. PS1 has strong bass than all the John's Grado up to that point but I always felt that it was a bit overwhelming. With the bigger soundage that PS1000 has, the overall balance seems to be better.
Now, considering you have to pay between $3000 to $4000 for a pair of PS1 these day, maybe we should feel better about what we paid for the PS1000.