Grado vs. Grado

[V-DiV]

I've recently moved up from my longtime K701s to HD800s - and loving every minute of it.  I usually mostly listen to classical and jazz.  As an impulse I picked up an SR225i for rock.  I'm enjoying the Grado sound.  It's a nice contrast to the HD800.  But the SR225i is not close to the level of clarity and transparency of the HD800.
 
 I'm wondering if it would be worthwhile to sell the 225s (practically new) and save up for an RS1i or RS2i.   How much of an improvement are the RS 2i and RS 1i over the SR 225i?  Also, would any Grado fans like to comment on the sound signatures of SR225 vs RS2 vs RS1 and/or point me to a good thread.  I've found some limited discussions of RS1 vs RS2, but I don't yet have a clear idea of the differences between them and especially how they sound compared to the SR225.  Some comments have suggested that the RS2 is nearly as good as the RS1 or is as good but with a different sound signature, but costs significantly less.  Why do most seem to go for the RS1 over the RS2, is it because of the expectation that it will be significantly better because of the price difference, or are they actually clearly better (greater clarity/transparency/detail/tonal balance/impact/whatever)?

 

[c540]

 
I owned the buttoned RS-2 and the buttonless non i RS-1 at the same time, along with the 325i and the sr80i (gave the sr80's to a friend...)

I listened to them through a macbook pro > lossless > Apogee Duet 

 

I found the RS-2 and RS-1 to be very different headphones. Though both are very resolving and detailed. I thought there was more of a "fullness" and coherency to the RS-1 ( I remember I thought the RS-1 was "smoother" ) when compared directly to the RS-2. I thought the vocals on the RS-2 were more prominent and emphasized, female vocals were really sweet.

I can see why some people would prefer the RS-2 to the RS-1. The bass was tighter, less of a mid-bass emphasis (?) and the RS-2 had more of a SLAM!  that is not as prominent on the RS-1. 
Overall I preferred RS-1 to the RS-2 and 325i, but the 325i did something to the guitars, and had a "sharper" sound that I missed on the other two cans. I found it was something missing in the "fullness" of the guitars (maybe decay?) that really bothered me when l listened to the RS-2's. I could not get over it. I ended up letting the RS-2 go.

Sometimes I miss the RS-2, but not enough to buy them again, but I think that if I still had them now I would keep them around. 
 
I also recently went with the HD800's. I still enjoy the RS1's on occasion, but I reach for the HD800's most of the time.
I am actually thinking about the Denon D7000's or 5000's  as another can.

 

[SilverS]

Having gone from a pair of 225i's to my own pair of RS1i's I can say without a doubt the upgrade is more than worth it. I'd write up a big long paragraph about what makes the RS1i's better but I don't have time at the moment. Lets just say its like the difference between the 60i's and 225i's times five.

 

[V-DiV]

Quote:

 
I remember that I found the RS-2 and RS-1 to be very different headphones. Though both are very resolving and detailed.

 

I remember that I thought the vocals on the RS-2 were more prominent and emphasized, female vocals were really sweet.

 

I thought there was more of a "fullness" and coherency to the RS-1 ( I remember I thought the RS-1 was "smoother" ) when compared directly to the RS-2.

 

I can see why some people would prefer the RS-2 to the RS-1. The bass was tighter, less of a mid-bass emphasis (?) and the RS-2 had more of a SLAM!  that is not as prominent on the RS-1. 
 

Thanks for the impressions c540.  By slam, do you mean in the bass or a more aggressive attack across the frequency spectrum?

 

[c540]

I think that the RS1's have more bass, when I A/Bed them, I sometimes found a bit of a mid-bass hump on the RS1.
 
The extra slam was apparent as attack or quicker decay? I noticed most after I got rid of them, as a sound signature that I missing on certain songs and music. Sublime's "What I got" never sounded as "good" on any of my phones. Sorry I can't be more specific. This is from memory, it's been almost a year since I had the RS2's.

 

[V-DiV]

Quote:

Having gone from a pair of 225i's to my own pair of RS1i's I can say without a doubt the upgrade is more than worth it. I'd write up a big long paragraph about what makes the RS1i's better but I don't have time at the moment. Lets just say its like the difference between the 60i's and 225i's times five.

SilverS, that's a pretty strong endorsement.  It doesn't sound like the typical Head-Fi diminishing returns.  I'd like to hear what the key differences are between the SR225 vs. RS1/RS2.