Now that Grado Labs has officially announced the PS2000e earlier today I will be looking to put together a mini review of my impressions of these superb new Flagship headphones in the next few days.
As their site states these are the Best Headphones Grado Labs has ever made. I agree 100% and I have heard pretty much all the Grados through the years including the Joe Grado's Signature Series. The PS2000e is
Extremely Impressive..
-------------------------------------------MINI REVIEW 6/25/17--------------------------------------------------------
Once again I do apologize for the long delay in getting this together although the thread has moved along quite nicely in the meantime. Additionally much of my impressions and thoughts on Grado Lab’s new Flag Ship the model PS2000e has already come out in bits and pieces in the posts so far.
I have had a good amount of time on the PS2000e and have already had the chance to compare it not only to what I have in my possession but included some current models that were significantly more expensive. At this point I will not be mentioning any of that aspect since I feel it best to continue with just my thoughts and impressions.
Let me take a moment now to state that in my opinion the PS2000e is the best Grado I have ever heard and I have heard just about every model over the years. Secondly, and again I can only state my own opinions the PSk2e is a top performer not only in it’s price tier but well beyond, besting some significantly more expensive models. I am sure that I have already proclaimed that this beats up all the phones in my collection as the best sound overall and has already changed my listening habits. This is beyond the new toy syndrome by a large margin but just a desire to hear the best sound. It has continuously afforded me those magic moments when you realize as you are listening to a favorite piece of music that this is the best I have heard that piece. This is happening to the tune of 7 out 10 quite consistently. Color me VERY impressed. I just keep looking for the next favorite track to try on it, I have not been disappointed.
The sound of the PS2000e is very natural and realistic. One of the most noticeable things on first listens is these go down deep in the bass and do so with terrific detail, impact and definition. There is no overblown impact but a very solid and real sounding foundation to the music. The mids and highs also are also more neutral and realistic. These phones definitely scale very well and although not overly picky they really show differences between amplifiers and just soar once you have it a best match. I have been primarily listening via my TEAC HA-501 dual mono Class A amplier which retails well below $1000. This match just seems perfect for me and the headphones seem to agree as they do their magic better than with any of my amps or others that I have tried (up to $2000).
The front to back and side to side depth and air is unbeatable, instrument placement extremely well done. The transients are lightening quick and midrange palpable. There are times that they remind me of the speed and accuracy of a good electrostatic but more fleshed out. Every sound seems to be in the right place with the right balance, nothing overwhelming or upsetting this great attribute. They are not limited in type of music genre but pull out the best and most revealing and realistic presentation with everything I have thrown at it. For sure it sounds super with the audiophile quality recordings but it also does a superior job with run of the mill ordinary recordings. This is where it showed me it's great ability to wring the best from whatever it is asked to play. The addition of a larger surface contact head band gives them better fit and comfort than the previous flagship PS1000 variants. I have no problem listening to them for hours at a time with no strain physically or sonically.
I brought these to the Metro NY Meet last month and the response was overwhelmingly positive. There were many visitors to my table (where I was just showcasing the PSk2e). It was quite a popular stop. I truly hope that everyone (not just potential buyers) try to get a chance to hear a broken in pair, 100 hours minimum play time. These are very special phones and are likely to be well accepted and recognized for their such lifelike abilities even from listeners including those that might normally shy away from getting a Grado. John Grado has raised the bar with the best headphone he has ever produced and has taken his time to get it just right where it reflects back to him just what he was trying to achieve.
