This IS interesting!
For some reason the 414s have almost become the "standard" pads for MS-1(at least at Head-Fi)to replace the comfies.
I use them on the MS-1s m'self and luv 'em!!
But for some reason the bowls; which are used happily by many, if not Most of the Grado fans are almost AVOIDED in these discussions!!
I had commented that I would be trying the bowls that come with my next phones(MS2i or RS-2)but have almost resolved myself to staying with 414s just because of the comfort issue even before I TRY the bowls!!
Crazy, huh?
Ok.....so I tried to post this and the website's down. It's Sunday morning and the Wife and all the kids are still asleep, and I'm enjoying the Beatles on my MS-1s. This is mostly cool.
I could do some chores! Nah.
Anyway.......Yeah; MS2i or RS-2 is the question, at least for me.
......hey, I'm just killing time here!!
I had thought seriously about AKG K701s for my "final"phones, but I know so well about the sound of the MS-1s and how closely they match the tonal characteristis of my speakers, so it's kinda hard to go for an unknown like the AKGs.
.....it was the speakers I was trying to match, that got me here in the first place!
So, MS2i would certainly more closely match the MS-1s, and I do like the 2db more sensitive nature of the MS2, not as important to get an amp. I also think the aluminum of the MS2 make it a very attractive package.
But the wood and leather of the RS-2 are really calling to me! However, the tonal characteristcs are a relative unknown. I "think" that the RS-2 has a little less soundstage than MS2, with a darker presentation and may be even more foreward than MS2i, but that the overall SQ is an improvement over MS2i.
It's a tough choice.(I gotta do even More "searches")
What got me looking at the AKGs originally, was the notion that "Grado was not so good for classical." So I did some testing yesterday comparing my speakers to my cans on some varied classical stuff(which is well over half of my CD collection)and found that the soundstage and imaging on my MS-1s isn't a whole lot less than my speakers in the stereo mode.
It's not that the MS-1s do a poor job on classical, but that they do such a GREAT job on ROCK!!
So the MS-1s do a commendable job on all kinds of music other than the classical types that have a large variation of dynamic range. The MS-1s(and presumably ALL Grados' let in lots of outside noise which makes hearing the quietest passages somewhat difficult. But the SQ is just fine! The MS-1s Will do Classical!
......ok, so maybe I WOULD like to sit a few rows farther back.
But HEY! I could almost live with these MS-1s as a final set of cans! But just like all the rest of us here; we can't be satisfied with an entry-level of Anything! Gotta get something better!!
.......oh, the websites back up.....enough rambling.