[not_sure]

Hello,
I would like to try Grado and I would like to get if possible the best. I can chance listen only GS1000i, PS1000. Others can buy only blindly. I have heard something that possible best Grado is HP2i, I guess almost zero chance find them from second hand. So if there is someone who had chance compare these four headphones or at least two of them. I will be happy for opinons what you think about them, character of sound etc...
Thanks 

 

[cifani090]

THe HP-2's are not impossible to find, they come up a handful of times a year. The PS1000's has been IMO somewhat a miss for Grado since people have complained significantly about there build quality (on all phones too) and the sound being, i think i read it somewhere, similar to the HS1000's. The RS1's are regarded to be the best can from Grado on the market as of right now, without hassling to trying to find, say a signed pair of HP-2's.

 

[not_sure]

Yes you have truth about HP2 it can be found but I thought HP2i which is pretty rare, even I have never seen them on FS. But this thread is not about these headphone, neither RS1! I am sure RS1 can be unique for certain music but overal I hardly believe there will be on level MS Pro Ulti, Magnum V4 Ulti, PS1000/GS1000i.

 

[cifani090]

I better understand the question now after a little research. Its pretty much modified higher end Grado's. This is were you'll get your answer

 

[not_sure]

I would like to get some opinions here if there is some owners who had chance try them.

 

[cifani090]

Id just post in that thread i showed you.

 

[devouringone3]

Magnum drivers in a PS1000 carcass.
 
Anyone ever tried or thought of trying?
 
There are at least two head-fiers I have seen who preferred the PS1 Pro to the HP2 by a fair margin, and they both have experimented with all of the high ended Grados. Namely Larryminator and NeilPeart.
 
 
v Thoughts about my own RS1, irrelevant to the topic, but my mind just needed to speak v
 
I personally enjoy a lot my RS1 Classic (plastic rod tips, serial numbered, rounded gimbals cutout), but only with flat TTVJ pads... a new love I just discovered as I only had bowls prior to recently.
 
They have a lot more impact, in every possible positive way. They feel more evenly distributed on the spectrum, they sound a lot more comfortable and full. I need less volume to reach my saturated, best possibly perceived quality level (you know when music you're focusing onto gets immensely fun, and that less is less, and more is too much), and I can reach for higher volume without having my middle ear muscles starting to contract, which allows me to connect more with the music, in a physico-anatomically / organic way. I don't like reaching for high volumes on many headphone, actually only my modded T50RP (still the effect is even more pronounced on my flat padded RS1! which is incredible I find) . With the bowls, my point of saturation for highest perceived quality and enjoyment was higher, I needed to reach for volumes where high pitched cymbal crashes would feel near uncomfortable (that's only an exemple, overall it was a much less enjoyable experience just because of that)... and everything is comfortable with the flats.
 
I don't know if it's me only me (if I'm a weirdo or I have defective ears) who thinks the flats are fitting the older RS1s so well.
 
The effect was similar when changing pads on a SR325i, but the effect wasn't for the better. The bass wasn't as good and I felt like the flats removed too many details. On the RS1 the details were smoothed out, and equalized on more frequency bands: instead of just having detailed textures for (say) some types of cymbals (or focused only on only the higher part of the spectrum), you had more details in bass, guitar (well you get the idea, the details were spread and more omnipresent). Coming back to the SR325i, these were tuned to match the bowls better and it shows when you try to put something different on them... all in all I recommend using flats big time to anyone who is a owner of a RS1 old enough... I clearly described my headphones before stating my impressions about using flats, you can position your RS1 in the timeline according to those specifications (the timeline itself : http://www.head-fi.org/t/420092/classifying-versions-of-the-rs1-your-guide-work-in-progress). Mine were purchased in 2001, and I'm their fifth Head-fier owner (but two of them resold it very quickly, and that's when I got it), probably the sixth in total.
 
I did some quick impressions just here, sorry if it's REALLY out of place.
 
I just needed to say that it's real love between me and my RS1, haha.
 
^ End of my thoughts about my RS1 ^

 

[MohawkUS]

The Magnums are supposed to sound like a combo of the RS1i and Senn 650. The MS series is more nuetral than the Grados, and a lot of people seem to prefer the RS1i to the GS/PS1000s not that many people have tried both the 1000s and RS series. I wish I could give you more than that, but I'm just passing on what I've heard.

 

[devouringone3]

Go there: http://www.head-fi.org/t/596028/joe-grado-hp1000-modifications they are talking about RS1, Magnums, and HP2i.
 
I'm becoming more and more a hardcore fan of the HP1000 drivers.
 
I'm hanging onto my other best John Grado, my RS1, but I always find myself returning to listen to either my SR100-0 or my HP2.
 
To everyone out there who can't afford a HP2, grab a SR200-0 or any other headphones with HP1000 drivers in them. They are magical, by themselves, and they don't depend as much on the the enclosure as many Head-Fier pretend. They are worth it, no matter in which support they come in, and they sound like what they sound.
 
I listen to my SR100-0 just as much as my HP2. Their difference in sound is minimal, don't let the appearances fool you, because they fooled me. I will also say that the difference between my RS1 and my SR100-0 is radical. Where people say these two drivers are "different" me I say that the HP1000 drivers are "better". I do not find their neutrality boring at all. Some people still believe they are better at it than a HD800. Me I don't know, yet they are supremely resolving, balanced, full-sounding and lush.
 
Oh yeah just make sure you use them this way, for a gain in everything, sound quality, stage, openness, balance, extension, everything:     
 
    
It only works well with the HP1000 headbands (and the effect is for the better with the HP1000 drivers, I have done extensive testing with my Grados).
 
Also come and ask me if you have problem with comfort. I have found my way around mine and I have done 20 hours marathons in week-ends, comfortably, almost not feeling them on my head. But there's really a trick though.
 
I don't know too much about the HP2i but Pcf certainly does. Go in that thread about.
 
They will all always tell you that the upgrade is for the better partly because they have paid 1500 for it, and that is our unconscious' play.
 
Yet I do believe them, and that it is true, when they say that the increase in sound quality is very real (without expecting it to be dramatic), and also because I believe in Joseph Grado's ear and talent.
 
I have found a HP2 in immaculate condition and I don't want it to be opened just yet, not until another 20 years, so I'm trying to find a HP1 that has had a life and some use through it, to have it upgraded and switches disconnected... because I do want to hear and have this upgrade, lol.

 

[pcf]

Quote:

 
They will all always tell you that the upgrade is for the better because they have paid 1 500 for it, and that is part of our unconscious. 

I don't. 

Don't give a damn about how much money I paid for certain headphones or what anyone else ( or the chart) says, if I don't like it I will say so. 
Take PS1 for example- you have to pay over $3500 for them now if you can find a pair. Do I rate them above HP1000? NO!!!! 
Will I buy another pair of Audeze? Unlikely.
 
 

 

[devouringone3]

Yeah sorry, my post wasn't too clear; but I do want to relate the fact that you own (or have owned?) at the same time and compared the two (upgraded and stock). I was thinking about it when I wrote my post.
 
I have edited to make it more truthful and clearer at delivering the message. Sorry lol. I just found that I sounded so ambiguous.
 
In shot I wanted to say that the increase in sound quality is perceived unconsciously (or consciously; I don't even know what the unconscious precisely is) only because it's real! and not a figment of one's imagination to preserve his face.
 
It could be a placebo effect but it's not.

 

[marts30]

I prefer my MS2's to my Magnum v4's

 

[spierce]

Haven't heard the PS1000s but I was very disappointed in the GS1000s for the price. Either the RS1 or RS2 I think provide just a marginal decline in sound quality but save a ton of $$$. 

 

[devouringone3]

Quote:

I prefer my MS2's to my Magnum v4's

 
I'm happy to hear the Magnums V4 weren't an end-game for you.
 
I'm kind of afraid of getting a Magnum pair, affraid that it will render pointless all of my other Grado headphones and that I will stop using them altogether.

 

[marts30]

Since I listen to a lot of metal, I just find my MS2 do it better, I don't find the magnums different enough to warrant keeping them over my MS2.
 
Quote:

Quote:
 
I'm happy to hear the Magnums V4 weren't an end-game for you.
 
I'm kind of afraid of getting a Magnum pair, affraid that it will render pointless all of my other Grado headphones and that I will stop using them altogether.