When I first started this thread, I wanted to enable a discussion where those of us who had bought a RS1i/e Frankenstein (RS1F) or RS1e could compare notes and impressions and try to work out either a) the extent of the disaster, or b) whether there is a worthy headphone in the new model just waiting for the right mod or long enough burn-in to bring it out.
Since then, there has already been a surprising development, in that Grado seemed to have ‘tweeked’ the design in response to community criticisms and expectations, opening up the possibility that a serious successor to previous iterations of the RS1 and might be on the cards for us all.
Thank you all for your contributions so far, which I, for one, have found really helpful (although costly - you guys persuaded me to buy a GH1!). I am now comparing the PS500, the 'RS1F' and the GH1 with the same music to try and see how things are developing. The major surprise is that the sound of the RS1F has changed very substantially since I first got them and that they are now good for some music. I must say that I was surprised by the consensus that the treble is 'rolled off', as the bright, and sometimes harsh and chaotic, treble was a major source of dissatisfaction to me when I first heard them. Comparing them with the GH1 (which has less than 10 hours on them), I can hear a difference in the treble which is difficult to characterize. I have tried 'The Lark Ascending' by Vaughan Williams for the stratospheric violin solo, and now I am trying the first of Messiaen's Trois petites liturgies de la Présence Divine for its manic treble-oriented twiddling on piano and chorus (sorry, Messiaen). The RS1F is forward and exciting with a tendency to brittleness which the GH1 seems to avoid. I think that I hear more treble overtones with the GH1, too. So I have learned something here: headphones can have a rolled-off treble and still be a little shrill.
Well, I shall continue to report back on my 'RS1F' and look forward to reading stuff from those who have acquired the more recent version... while trying to persuade myself not to get a later RS1e to add to my increasing Grado collection. This way madness lies.