Grado RS-1 QC Issues?
Apr 10, 2005 at 12:38 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 42

Zoide

Headphoneus Supremus
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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.
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 1:01 AM Post #2 of 42
I had to go thru 3 pairs of SR225's trying to find my original purchase. I returned the SR225's to Bay Bloor Radio in order to try out the RS-2's, hated them, and wanted back the beautiful experience I had with the 225's. Sad to say, all 3 headphones looked, and sounded slightly different, and NONE were as good as my original purchase. So I bought them off the net from a reputable reseller and bingo, back to that perfect sound again. Now it could have been that bay bloor radio had old stock, seeming that they kept giving me back "open" boxes thinking or hoping that they were my original purchase, sadly they never found it.

Dont get me wrong, i love grado, but i hate their quality control.
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 2:31 AM Post #4 of 42
That's pretty scary-sounding, given that I'm getting some RS-1's this Wednesday... I hope they're the "good" kind!
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 2:51 AM Post #5 of 42
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide
That's pretty scary-sounding, given that I'm getting some RS-1's this Wednesday... I hope they're the "good" kind!


Well counting the two I had, I've heard 5 pairs total, 3 were the "good" kind. So there's for hoping. If you find the RS1 lacking in extension or overemphasized in the mids, well at least you know where to go next
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Apr 10, 2005 at 2:53 AM Post #6 of 42
Um... SA5000?
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Apr 10, 2005 at 3:00 AM Post #8 of 42
Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer
You didn't hear it from me
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It's OK. In any case, I wanted a change from the Sony signature (that's why I sold my CD3Ks).

Right now I'm just a bit freaked out by the QC inconsistency reports and hope that my RS-1's won't be from the sucky batch!
eek.gif
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 4:36 AM Post #9 of 42
Interesting thread you linked to; very informative, after filtering out some junk.

Unfortuntely, I think most of us won't have the luxury of comparing multiple RS1s
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I think mine is pretty warm though
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Apr 10, 2005 at 4:47 AM Post #10 of 42
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.
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 5:03 AM Post #11 of 42
I compared two rs-1's from different manufacturing periods and they sounded the same. Each had thousands of hours of run time.

Biggie.
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 5:06 AM Post #12 of 42
Quote:

Originally Posted by NotoriousBIG_PJ
I compared two rs-1's from different manufacturing periods and they sounded the same. Each had thousands of hours of run time.

Biggie.



That seems to support the idea that differences among RS-1's aren't due to deliberate manufacturing changes over time but to accidental QC issues within RS-1's that should all sound the same
eek.gif



Or it could mean that for the most part they all sound the same...
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(I guess it's impossible to do any sort of statistics with such a tiny sample)
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 5:13 AM Post #13 of 42
I've heard the RS1 twice, at two different audio stores. Both times it felt a little different comparing to my SR325's, which I had with me at the time as a reference. The first time I heard them, I wasnt impressed. Seemed no different from the 325's... maybe a bit better bass and soundstaging. I thought it might have been the fact they were boxed units with no burn in. The second time, I was blown away by the richness of the sound... my 325's felt very shrill compared to them. Both times were with the grado RA-1 amp, so I figured it might have been the amp. Reading this thread, I'm thinking it might be the QC issues.
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 5:29 AM Post #14 of 42
Quote:

Originally Posted by rmx
I've heard the RS1 twice, at two different audio stores. Both times it felt a little different comparing to my SR325's, which I had with me at the time as a reference. The first time I heard them, I wasnt impressed. Seemed no different from the 325's... maybe a bit better bass and soundstaging. I thought it might have been the fact they were boxed units with no burn in. The second time, I was blown away by the richness of the sound... my 325's felt very shrill compared to them. Both times were with the grado RA-1 amp, so I figured it might have been the amp. Reading this thread, I'm thinking it might be the QC issues.


It could also be that you used slightly different songs when performing the two comparisons, as was suggested in the thread I linked to. So that the specific songs that you used in your first comparison were more synergistic with the 325's traits, while the songs you listened to on the second time happened to bring out the best in the RS-1's. In any case, it's kind of worrisome...

Edit: Btw, did you use the same source for both comparisons?
 
Apr 10, 2005 at 6:11 AM Post #15 of 42
Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoide
It could also be that you used slightly different songs when performing the two comparisons, as was suggested in the thread I linked to. So that the specific songs that you used in your first comparison were more synergistic with the 325's traits, while the songs you listened to on the second time happened to bring out the best in the RS-1's. In any case, it's kind of worrisome...

Edit: Btw, did you use the same source for both comparisons?



No, I have a reference CD compilation I take with me, as well as my ipod with 320k songs. The CD is a range of music from massive attack to coltrane. I usually listen to bits of each song to notice the variations...

Sources : Both times with my own cdplayer - a very oldschool panasonic that I really like the sound of... which I cant find right now for some odd reason.
 

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