[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhydon Iron_Dreamer, question- The RS-1's that were what you considered from the "bad batch"... what was the mahogany’s finish like? Did the finish differ from those 5 different sets? Just curious because I see pictures of everyone’s RS-1's and MSPRO's and all have a light shellac/gloss on the wooden chamber. YET the RS-2's, I got from bay bloor radio, had NO shellac/gloss, or treatment of any kind, just bare, rough, untreated wood. Let me just say they sounded horrific; over-emphasized mids, cloudy bass and shrill highs.

Come to think of it, the worse sounding pair that I had had a rather bare, non-shiny finish as you describe. The better sounding pair had a bit of a finish to the wood. Also the former had a lighter tone of wood as compared to the latter, FWIW.

 

[Kirosia]

Perhaps different amts of burn-in b/w them may be a factor.

 

[Zoide]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer Come to think of it, the worse sounding pair that I had had a rather bare, non-shiny finish as you describe. The better sounding pair had a bit of a finish to the wood. Also the former had a lighter tone of wood as compared to the latter, FWIW.

Hmmm...

*prays that his new RS-1's will be shiny and dark!*

 

[NeilPeart]

In the Paradise audio store near me the owner is a Grado/Alessandro fan; we compare cans and chat every once in a while, and once he brought in his RS-1 from its introductory year. The headband consisted of a brown leather that resembled the HP-1000 headband (only the leather itself, of course) and the letterings on the mahogany cups were gold, while the new Grado (from a year ago) has a black leather headband that is of lesser quality (and looks like most RS-1/PS-1 headbands) and the lettering is black. Even though the "new" RS-1 had over 500 hours (according to the owner), the classic RS-1 sounded leagues better (tighter bass, smoother treble and more natural mids). I cannot explain the differences we heard but all three of us agreed that the classic RS-1 was indeed a better headphone; my theory is that the classic RS-1 uses some evolved/modified HP-1000 driver (this is why it sounds more natural than the new RS-1s and still more fun than the HP-1000).

 

[Zoide]

IIRC someone had said in a thread that about 5 years ago Grado switched all of its drivers for brighter ones. Could this be the case?

 

[acs236]

I bough a new RS-1 a few months ago and an RS-1 from 2001. They sounded the same to me and I think the new one has lighter wood and less glossy. Keep in mind that, at least according to the manual, the RS-1s are hand carved and there is no doubt that the wood they get over the years varies a bit.

 

[Rhydon]

Well, its very interesting to see that i was not the only one with the problem. I thought maybe they didnt like me at bay bloor radio and licked all the shellac off the RS-2's

..... I will be ordering a pair of MSPRO's from George on monday, i will let everyone know how they sound, keeping in mind what problems i had with the RS-2's. I might also purchase a pair of RS-1's for a comparison (sending them back when im done)- Or if anyone wants to work out something where we could directly compare the two that would probably be better.

Let me kno-

 

[Beagle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide I was reading through this old thread, where some mentioned that different pairs of RS-1's and MS-Pro's have sounded very different to them. They said that maybe there are QC issues with them (some sound great, others sound thin and shrill, all being the same model). Any more recent opinions on this? Thanks.

In my experience, there have been slight differences in imaging when I tried different pairs of the same model of Grado phones. But never have I heard one that sounded smooth and another that was harsh, unless they had different type pads.

 

[Zoide]

I got my RS-1's

And if this is one of the "bad" ones.. then I don't know how much better they could sound.

Just for curiosity, I'd like to know what period they're from. The wood is pretty dark, and seems to have a varnish. If you remove the pads, you can see the number "365" written on the cups.

What are people's numbers and from what year are those? Thanks.

 

[acs236]

My older pair from 2001 didn't have numbers on it, but the ones I bought new a couple of months ago have a number. I can't remember what it is -- they are not in front of me, but I think it was in the 500 range. I'll check a post later.

 

[Necros]

Mine are 69x

 

[Runningwater]

Mine is 119X
What does this number mean?

 

[jpr703]

My new RS-1s are supposed to arrive Monday. You guys are making me nervous!

 

[Necros]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runningwater Mine is 119X What does this number mean?

Mine don't have a X, it's just that I don't want to disclose the final digit. The actual number is six hundred and ninty xxxxx

 

[some1x]

Where is the number supposed to be?