Grado RS1e matters (and impressions)

[Amictus]

I pulled the trigger on the GH-1

 

[Amictus]

   

 
 

   

 

  I actually owned two of the RS2e. I thought the first one was defective, it sounded so bad. The second one was just as "defective" and I sold it too.

 
 

  Buy a used RS1i.

Many thanks to all of the above for their helpful insights/wisdom/experience/information. Beagle definitely steered me away from the RS2e, as did zazex with his criticism about the bass in those cans. stacker45, the GH1/G evangelist, was persuasive as was Joseph69 (whose advice re the RS1i I have not forgotten). So, I await the GH1, in the certain knowledge that a certain female family member will not be able to tell the difference between them and the RS1i/e Frankenstein by sight. Maybe.

 

[joseph69]

  I pulled the trigger on the GH-1

Congratulations on the GH-1…your going to be very happy with this choice!

 

[Amictus]

  Congratulations on the GH-1…your going to be very happy with this choice!

Now to get stuck in to the Grado GH1 Discussion thread. Lots of reading with many of the same heroes as above... Thanks to all.

 

[joseph69]

  Now to get stuck in to the Grado GH1 Discussion thread. Lots of reading with many of the same heroes as above... Thanks to all.

Once you receive the GH-1 you'll be doing nothing but listening. I had mine on for 4hrs last night and enjoyed every minute of it! Every time I listen to them I hear something in a familiar recording I hadn't heard before. They also have a very nice depth to the music and nice "out of the head" sound at times.

 

[Amictus]

  Once you receive the GH-1 you'll be doing nothing but listening. I had mine on for 4hrs last night and enjoyed every minute of it! Every time I listen to them I hear something in a familiar recording I hadn't heard before. They also have a very nice depth to the music and nice "out of the head" sound at times.

I'm looking forward to it! After I have a hundred hours or so on them I'll start to make comparisons with my RS1i/e Frankenstein and the PS500. Those Frankensteins are strange, though. I've seen people say that the treble is rolled-off and the mids muddy. That's pretty much the reverse of my experience. On mine, the mids are vivid, the bass is OK, but the the treble can get out of hand, bleeding into a sort of shrillness. I quite like some aspects of the sound now, but a) other people's experience with the RS1i/e and early RS1e has been very different, and b) it is not a settled instrument - it needs therapy and, maybe, surgery. And, as you can tell from the photographs earlier in this thread, I could add that mine seems to have been thrown together after a works outing late on a Friday afternoon.
 
I am hoping for better from the GH1.

 

[Beagle]

 
Now to get stuck in to the Grado GH1 Discussion thread. Lots of reading with many of the same heroes as above... Thanks to all.

 
GH1 is a much better choice. Especially if you like a tight, lively sound.

 

[joseph69]

  I'm looking forward to it! After I have a hundred hours or so on them I'll start to make comparisons with my RS1i/e Frankenstein and the PS500. Those Frankensteins are strange, though. I've seen people say that the treble is rolled-off and the mids muddy. That's pretty much the reverse of my experience. On mine, the mids are vivid, the bass is OK, but the the treble can get out of hand, bleeding into a sort of shrillness. I quite like some aspects of the sound now, but a) other people's experience with the RS1i/e and early RS1e has been very different, and b) it is not a settled instrument - it needs therapy and, maybe, surgery. And, as you can tell from the photographs earlier in this thread, I could add that mine seems to have been thrown together after a works outing late on a Friday afternoon.
 
I am hoping for better from the GH1.

It seems all the higher models have some variations in sound so...
Your going to love it!

 

[stacker45]

   
 
 
 
 
Many thanks to all of the above for their helpful insights/wisdom/experience/information. Beagle definitely steered me away from the RS2e, as did zazex with his criticism about the bass in those cans. stacker45, the GH1/G evangelist, was persuasive as was Joseph69 (whose advice re the RS1i I have not forgotten). So, I await the GH1, in the certain knowledge that a certain female family member will not be able to tell the difference between them and the RS1i/e Frankenstein by sight. Maybe.

 
I'm glad I could be of some help, my child.

 

[Amictus]

Having a moment of frivolous détente as sleep has eluded me... János Starker is playing the Bach Suite for Cello No. 1 in G through my SR60i cans. Bliss. I'm sure that there is something lacking in the sound but, at the moment, like sleep, it eludes me.

 

[Oracle]

Received the RS1e yesterday and have been putting it through my usual line up of test tracks. As you can see below my first pair "version 1" purchased back when the "e" series was released with the protruding drivers and black leather head band while the new ones below "version 2" with flush drivers and tan leather headband. They are much more comfortable with the flush drivers and I love the tan headband but what really matters is the sound. Thank God they don't sound anything like what I remember version 1 sounding like, I now think there must have been something wrong with them or they really did some tweaking since then. Version 1 sounded flat, congested with very little bass, while version 2 sounds much more like my RS2e but smoother with a larger soundstage, beautiful mid range and that's with only 4 hours of burn-in. I need a lot more head time with these but it's clear to me they have changed a lot since my first pair, more to come.
 
Version 1

Version 2

 
 
 

 

[stacker45]

Wow!, the difference isn't subtle. The tan headband does look better.
I'm happy for you.

 

[whirlwind]

  Received the RS1e yesterday and have been putting it through my usual line up of test tracks. As you can see below my first pair "version 1" purchased back when the "e" series was released with the protruding drivers and black leather head band while the new ones below "version 2" with flush drivers and tan leather headband. They are much more comfortable with the flush drivers and I love the tan headband but what really matters is the sound. Thank God they don't sound anything like what I remember version 1 sounding like, I now think there must have been something wrong with them or they really did some tweaking since then. Version 1 sounded flat, congested with very little bass, while version 2 sounds much more like my RS2e but smoother with a larger soundstage, beautiful mid range and that's with only 4 hours of burn-in. I need a lot more head time with these but it's clear to me they have changed a lot since my first pair, more to come.
 
Version 1

Version 2

 
 
 

Wow!
 
Thanks much for those pictures of the drivers protruding and the newer ones

 

[joseph69]

  Received the RS1e yesterday and have been putting it through my usual line up of test tracks. As you can see below my first pair "version 1" purchased back when the "e" series was released with the protruding drivers and black leather head band while the new ones below "version 2" with flush drivers and tan leather headband. They are much more comfortable with the flush drivers and I love the tan headband but what really matters is the sound. Thank God they don't sound anything like what I remember version 1 sounding like, I now think there must have been something wrong with them or they really did some tweaking since then. Version 1 sounded flat, congested with very little bass, while version 2 sounds much more like my RS2e but smoother with a larger soundstage, beautiful mid range and that's with only 4 hours of burn-in. I need a lot more head time with these but it's clear to me they have changed a lot since my first pair, more to come.

WOW!!!
What a huge difference!
I'm glad to hear they sound much better…sound like their going to sound like the RS1e should have…please keep us posted.
Congratulations and enjoy!
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Version 1

Version 2

 

[zazex]

So, we have an unannounced, 'new',  RS1e?
 
I'm a very big Grado fan - but I wish they would have
said something, somewhere about this.
 
It's not like they haven't been prodded to do so.