analog'd
1000+ Head-Fier
Moved from Todd's forum to here since it's of general interest -- Mod
I got lucky today at 11:30 a.m. when a box was delivered from The Grado Labs. And I mean REALLY LUCKY, cause right outta the box these are the most incredible headphones I have ever heard!
I put on a vinyl copy of ABBEY ROAD (Japanese "pro-use series" pressing which I use to test changes in my main rig), dropped the needle, closed my eyes and...SONIC HEAVEN!!! by the time I heard the boys complain that "you never give me your money..." the sound had settled in enough for me to be very glad I gave Todd my money as soon as he had given me his very accurate positive impression of a pre-production pair.
The first thing I heard that amazed me, in a soundstage I can only call remarkable, were highs as glorious as the famous Grado mids (topping even the highs from my AKG K1000's)!!! Is such a thing possible? Yup!
The next thing to cross my mind (while a HUGE smile crossed my face) was "thank God John Grado didn't sell his soul to the devil - these SOUND LIKE GRADOS!" John somehow managed to gain a huge amount of territory in highs, soundstage, integration of mids, lows and highs, detail, hell you name it; without loosing the essence of what has made so many people around the world Grado lovers. maybe as someone else has said the GS1000's put the listener a bit further back from the stage then the rest of the line (which makes them possibly more accurate and less colored for those concerned with these things); but as they present the most engaging and simply MUSICAL presentation that I've ever heard on headphones, I am not too concerned with giving up a bit of the "in your face" presentation of the RS1's. Not when I'm gaining a refinement in all areas that I, frankly, didn't think a Grado headphone could accomplish. my apologies to Mr. Grado, I shouldda known better!
Another little correction to my perception: these are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. and they're Grado's, right? who'dda thunk it?
now, mind you these are not broken in, so from experience I know that all I'm describing is only a jumping off point for these phones; so I am very happy to report that the bass I am hearing even at this early stage is just beautiful: deep, tight, and superbly integrated within the entire picture. do some people like less bass? sure they do. but this bass is not bloated in any way, it is simply presented as recorded; and sweet and rich as really great chocolate. it's ok that some folks like it more vanilla (ice ice baby!) but I'm looking forward to hearing the bottom of the orchestra on my fresh Classic Records pressing of the Munch/Heiffetz recording of Beethoven's violin concerto, and to Bonham's bottom on zep one also.
hmmm, are these the only phones I'll ever need? could be. but I was pretty certain ahead of time that with these for rock and most everything else; and the AKG k1000's for classical, I might be all set. now it's up for grabs whether I'll need to switch out the Grado Statement 1000 for anything at all. In the meantime, I've left them on repeat play on the cdp, breaking them in partially to Jennfier Warnes "the well", and it's time to check in with how they're doin'.
did I mention that I haven't heard this much "liquidity" through my gear before without the loss of some edge, some "prat"? well, I haven't.
thanks Todd, and thanks to everyone involved at Grado Labs.
In the words of the great one: how sweet it is!
I got lucky today at 11:30 a.m. when a box was delivered from The Grado Labs. And I mean REALLY LUCKY, cause right outta the box these are the most incredible headphones I have ever heard!
I put on a vinyl copy of ABBEY ROAD (Japanese "pro-use series" pressing which I use to test changes in my main rig), dropped the needle, closed my eyes and...SONIC HEAVEN!!! by the time I heard the boys complain that "you never give me your money..." the sound had settled in enough for me to be very glad I gave Todd my money as soon as he had given me his very accurate positive impression of a pre-production pair.
The first thing I heard that amazed me, in a soundstage I can only call remarkable, were highs as glorious as the famous Grado mids (topping even the highs from my AKG K1000's)!!! Is such a thing possible? Yup!
The next thing to cross my mind (while a HUGE smile crossed my face) was "thank God John Grado didn't sell his soul to the devil - these SOUND LIKE GRADOS!" John somehow managed to gain a huge amount of territory in highs, soundstage, integration of mids, lows and highs, detail, hell you name it; without loosing the essence of what has made so many people around the world Grado lovers. maybe as someone else has said the GS1000's put the listener a bit further back from the stage then the rest of the line (which makes them possibly more accurate and less colored for those concerned with these things); but as they present the most engaging and simply MUSICAL presentation that I've ever heard on headphones, I am not too concerned with giving up a bit of the "in your face" presentation of the RS1's. Not when I'm gaining a refinement in all areas that I, frankly, didn't think a Grado headphone could accomplish. my apologies to Mr. Grado, I shouldda known better!
Another little correction to my perception: these are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. and they're Grado's, right? who'dda thunk it?
now, mind you these are not broken in, so from experience I know that all I'm describing is only a jumping off point for these phones; so I am very happy to report that the bass I am hearing even at this early stage is just beautiful: deep, tight, and superbly integrated within the entire picture. do some people like less bass? sure they do. but this bass is not bloated in any way, it is simply presented as recorded; and sweet and rich as really great chocolate. it's ok that some folks like it more vanilla (ice ice baby!) but I'm looking forward to hearing the bottom of the orchestra on my fresh Classic Records pressing of the Munch/Heiffetz recording of Beethoven's violin concerto, and to Bonham's bottom on zep one also.
hmmm, are these the only phones I'll ever need? could be. but I was pretty certain ahead of time that with these for rock and most everything else; and the AKG k1000's for classical, I might be all set. now it's up for grabs whether I'll need to switch out the Grado Statement 1000 for anything at all. In the meantime, I've left them on repeat play on the cdp, breaking them in partially to Jennfier Warnes "the well", and it's time to check in with how they're doin'.
did I mention that I haven't heard this much "liquidity" through my gear before without the loss of some edge, some "prat"? well, I haven't.
thanks Todd, and thanks to everyone involved at Grado Labs.
In the words of the great one: how sweet it is!
