Well? PS2000e vs. GS2000e????
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It's November! I'd forgotten how busy things get towards the end of an Academic Semester!!!!
So for my listening, I ran with my Project Ember II sourced from my NFB10ES2 which I fed Coax input from a Schiit Etir. The Ember II runs without any input attenuation and I use low gain for the output on my Dac. Tube Wise, I like a 1944 Slyvania 6SN7 GT, White Label Tall Bottle JAN-CHS VT231. These are apparently the most resolving of the SYL 6sn7, which I found to be true! I tried both the 1950 Green Label Variant of the tall bottle 6sn7 and a Bad Boi, out of all of them I felt the 1944 White Label had the best resolve and mix of warmth and clarity! Some also feel it's maybe a little "bass shy" though I found it to offer better resolve and texture in the lows. Though I guess for some a lack of distortion down there can be perceived as a lack of "body" or fullness, however I prefer a cleaner tighter/more textured low over a "fuller" one
Back to the headphones though, in short I find the GS2KE to be a touch more open and natural, it's not as EXCITING nor energetic/detailed as the PS2KE it's also not as intimate. Listening to both imaging tracks from David Chesky's Headphone Demo Disc and my own copy of Miles Davis Kind of Blue, I noticed the PS2KE to be more detailed, in the vocal imaging tracks the PS2KE has more mouth noise, makes the sound of foot steps more apparent ect... but it struggles with the sense of space. The voices start further out and draw closer, there's always a sense of "closeness" with the PS2KE. Where as with the GS2KE there's a more evident echo in the room but a better sense of space, the GS2KE also had a more defined sense of space over the PS2KE! I feel the lack of emphasis the GS2KE has, allows it to be just a smidge more precise, where as the PS2KE while being quite balanced does lean more towards emphasizing leading notes, the fundamentals and the attack of those notes it can sometimes lack coherency, it's those trailing notes that help us to define space and with the PS2KE sometimes those trailing edges or the decay/release of a note is a bit overshadowed by the intensity the POWER and suddenness of that leading note!
Both did excellent with dynamics, as the men grew closer to the mic their voices gradually got louder, I feel though the GS2KE did better with micro dynamics than the PS2KE, where as the PS2KE did better with macro dynamics over the GS2KE. Quieter sounds or smaller less evident changes in volume are more apparent from the GS2KE, where as sudden LOUDER shifts are more apparent on the PS2KE. Moving back to Kind of Blue track #1- So What is the track I know best I found the PS2KE had a more resolved presentation in the double bass, the lows where more defined, some mild string noise was more evident, there was an excellent balance between the attack on the fundamentals and the decay of the subsequent harmonics, I was really impressed by the PS2KE in this regard! It's hands down the best bass presentation I've heard from a Grado to date. The GS2KE was fuller, bigger a little looser, the string noise was a bit muted and the overall definition a bit smeared and moving from my Ember II into the Schiit Vali 1 only made this WORSE.
Each had it's strengths and weakness in the mid range, the GS2KE was softer than hard, less tactile but also... more gentle. Horns and paino's had a beautiful fullness to them a very natural envelope, on the other hand the PS2KE was often more aggressive, with a more forceful envelope. Which is at times exciting and very engaging, but can also be a bit fatiguing as well. Vocals were finicky as well, more aggressive vocalists pair'd beautifully with the GS2KE softer vocalists more so with the PS2KE. The Eagles Live performance of Hotel California was a polarizing listen with both headphones! The guitars were stunning with the GS2KE, I noticed the... individuality of the 12 string guitars more with the GS2KE, each individual string has a slightly different harmonic decay in addition to it's fundamental the attack of each of them as well as the group. Overall the track was spacious, almost ethereal with the guitars down right magical. But the vocals were a bit too soft for my liking and the bass guitar a bit too diffuse, additionally the sound of the crowd was a bit lost and the percussion was energetic but a bit lost
The PS2KE lacked that MAGIC in the 12 string, but brought some life to the other guitars, the track as a whole was more tactile, a bit more intimate each guitar stood out a little more, but that individuality was lost. The more forceful envelope brings excitement but lacks that magic, how ever the bass guitar does comes to life, the drums pop a bit more and the sound of the crowd is a bit more evident.
Speaking of Amping, it's kind of a mixed bag. On one hand the GS2KE does well with the Vali 1, it's more open sound pairs nicely with the more intimate sound of the Vali 1 in comparison to my Ember II but on the other hand the bass while having more body is a little more smeared, the mid range follows as well. Overall the GS2KE emphasizes decay/harmonics more so than the attack, the leading edge and the fundamentals it leans in the opposite direction of the PS2KE. So with the Vali 1 having a similar presentation... the two can sometimes be too much of a good thing, and other times be really stunning! The PS2KE maintains it's cleaner more resolved sound when I scale it down to the Vali 1, but it get's even MORE intimate so... again sometime's it's nice other times it's too much.
I believe Todd owns the GS2KE him self over the PS2KE, I can kinda see why. There's a magic to the GS2KE that I kinda enjoy more than the technical achievements of the PS2KE and as much as I hate to say it.... the HD 800 is more or less the happy median for these two. Not as magical as the GS2KE but not as dry as the PS2KE... and it's technically better than both. More spacious and coherent than the GS2KE and more resolved than the PS2KE...
It's also a bit slower than the two, which is odd to say... it doesn't lack resolve nor miss out on any of the ambient noise. It's dynamics are more evident both macro and micro... but it's envelope is just a smidge slower than that of the GS2KE. Which is again odd to me! It's warmer than both of them, not as intimate as either... it has the magic of the strings I enjoyed from the GS2KE but it's not as obvious, not quite as evident as it was on the GS2KE!
I just SDR Modded my HD 800, I've had the insert for a while but I was curious how the stock HD 800 compared to two Grados... and now after modding the HD 800 to cut down on the 6k hrz Peak I have to say it's just that much more of what Iike'd about it to begin with! Not having as much emphasis up top, everything below stands out just a smidge more, and while it's not as magical as the GS2KE still... the de emphasis of that 6k hrz peak allows a little more magic through than on the stock HD 800
I only have 2 days left with the PS2KE, I thought I was the last stop but it turns out there are two others after me! That said I'll be wrapping my thoughts of it up here shortly! Though there's not as much to say as I'd hope'd... it's FAST very much like my Modded HE 4 is! I can really dig that, though in terms of price... it doesn't really feel competitive... there's nothing it does that another can in my collection can't match and for $1000 less in most cases.
An as for it's combined pro's/con's ... I reminds me a lot of the HE 4... and my HE 4 has been my go to can for years! So before I state my opinion of the PS2KE I'd like to compare it TO my HE 4 see how this easy to drive dynamic compares again'st a now discontinued but very power hungry planar, IF the PS2KE can do with acoustic music what I love about my HE 4, present that amazing sense of ENERGY and DYNAMICS with a very taut powerful low end, then that'll be it's niche, super speed without the super fuss!
An honestly after mods, my HE 4 ran me around $800 ish, I've also got another $1000 into my balanced Dac/Amp including the purchase of peripherals and I use Phase Reversal with my balanced amp to get the best out of it. So where around like $1800 ish for everything... if the PS2KE stock can match what the HE 4 does
after modding and some VERY specific amp requirements, then it's price is a bit more grounded in reality... if I can get what I love from my HE 4 with
ONLY a headphone [no mods, special cables/software or amping] then the price is a bit more tolerable
Given that after years of building a system around/for my HE 4 I still enjoy it's very unique presentation, and there may/will be others who will also appreciate a balanced frequency response pair'd with almost hyper real transients and a very taut bass
and good luck for your exam!
