[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinnamonandgravy im sorry, im just a bit stressed. i bought these headphones because i found all these reviews yelling at the top of their lungs how much they love the rs-1 and rs-2 headphones. i should of spent more time researching them i suppose but i figured great reviews and a $500 price tag couldnt yield horrible results.

yeah..all those great reviews....they fail to mention that IN ADDITION to the $500 phone, they spent $2000+ on associated equipments...LOL..luv those reviews

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinnamonandgravy im sorry, im just a bit stressed. i bought these headphones because i found all these reviews yelling at the top of their lungs how much they love the rs-1 and rs-2 headphones. i should of spent more time researching them i suppose but i figured great reviews and a $500 price tag couldnt yield horrible results.

i actually don't think there are too many reviews either negative or positive about the RS2, it's not a common choice of can here on head-fi. in fact i'd like to own a pair just because it's a bit of a mystery. from listening to them in the store they seem to have a narrower soundstage than the RS-1 and are more forward with a more pronounced midrange, but warmer than the SR325i or MS-2.

if you liked your father's rig with your cans, probably the last step is to get a dedicated headphone amp instead of the receiver's headphone out. that would show a truer character of the can imho.

 

[Teerawit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert yeah..all those great reviews....they fail to mention that IN ADDITION to the $500 phone, they spent $2000+ on associated equipments...LOL..luv those reviews

The headphone gets to be the least expensive part of the rig.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

what headphone amp is recommended for grados? i know grado makes one, but is there any one that particularly excels for under $600 or so?

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinnamonandgravy what headphone amp is recommended for grados? i know grado makes one, but is there any one that particularly excels for under $600 or so?

Gilmore Light
Used..and very rare Gilmore GS
M3/PPA/Millet

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

my father's denon reciever yielded unsatisfactory results as well. then again, its paired with 5 very large klipsch floorstanding speakers and i feel that result is underwhelming too. im slowly warming up to these rs-2s though. ill buy the flat pads, a new sound card, a new reciever, and eventually a head amp. hopefully thatll make me change my mind. i feel though im disrespecting the headphones slightly by buying the flat pads. well i suppose im disrespecting them even more so by driving them with an audigy.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

i dont want to search for a rare head amp, not at least yet. as it must be obvious now, head amps and the like are new ground for me. any generally well-liked head amp you recommend?

 

[Jahn]

you actually don't need the receiver. you can bypass it and hook the headphone amp directly into the CD Player. the less stuff in the chain the better. if you have a budget of 600 just for a headphone amp, i suggest looking into the sale forums here and buying used. for that price you can even snag a Melos Pre-Amp, like a modded SHA-1 or a stock SHA-Gold. They have great synergy with Grados. But if you just want to test the waters before diving in, something like a cmoy or CHA47 or GoVibe is perfectly acceptable to test with the line out of your soundcard, and portable too with the line out of your portable player. Remember, try to use the line out not the headphone out.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinnamonandgravy my father's denon reciever yielded unsatisfactory results as well. then again, its paired with 5 very large klipsch floorstanding speakers and i feel that result is underwhelming too. im slowly warming up to these rs-2s though. ill buy the flat pads, a new sound card, a new reciever, and eventually a head amp. hopefully thatll make me change my mind. i feel though im disrespecting the headphones slightly by buying the flat pads. well i suppose im disrespecting them even more so by driving them with an audigy.

or...to make it easy...just buy whatever headamp, headroom or ray has to offer that you can afford...

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn you actually don't need the receiver. you can bypass it and hook the headphone amp directly into the CD Player. the less stuff in the chain the better. if you have a budget of 600 just for a headphone amp, i suggest looking into the sale forums here and buying used. for that price you can even snag a Melos Pre-Amp, like a modded SHA-1 or a stock SHA-Gold. They have great synergy with Grados. But if you just want to test the waters before diving in, something like a cmoy or CHA47 or GoVibe is perfectly acceptable to test with the line out of your soundcard, and portable too with the line out of your portable player. Remember, try to use the line out not the headphone out.

I agree. buy something cheap to try it out and go from there.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

id really like to have a x-fi (due to the optical out) connected to my reciever so i can have all the audio in my room play through my loudspeakers. but if another sound card will sound much better for my headphones than the xfi-reciever combo, please let me know.

 

[Borat]

I think you should give them a couple of days and if you still don't like them after that, just return them or sell them and get your money back. It's not worth the stress. This hobby is supposed to be fun.

Honestly, if you think they are too bright, the Grado sound may just not be for you. And a source or amp change may not remedy that part of the sound. You are not alone. There are several members of the forum who just believe Grados are too bright and these people have used them on high quality sources and amps.

 

[Yikes]

First the old computer adage holds true for audio “Garbage in garbage out””

I’m also surprised that no one has suggested that the headphones need to be broken-in. I wouldn’t make a final determination as to whether or not you like the headphones until they have 150 to 200 hours on them.

There is a chance that you actually don’t like what usually passes for good sound. So you either have to retrain yourself or go back to listening to what you like.

If possible you should attend a headphone meet. This is a way that you can audition a good cross section of equipment without killing your wallet.

1st Brake them in!!!

2nd Attend a meet.

3rd Consider a better source/amp, something like the Meier Corda Aria that includes a better D/A that can use USB to hook up to your computer.

http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/aria.htm

 

[arnaud]

Cinnanomandgravy:

A few years back, I started through the exact same path as you did (RS-2). I forced myself to like them to justify the expensive purchase. With time and experience, I realized Grados are not for me. Way to bright, unrealistic soundstage, agressive, unrefined, overpriced... I switched to Sennheiser and have never regretted the move.

A headphone amp or a new source will NOT change the basic character of the headphones. People will drag you into spending a whole lot of money into upstream equipment. It helps, but won't drastically change the nature of the Grado sound...

Don't be fooled with the race to better source and amp just yet. Rather, find a way to explore different headphone brands (AKGs, Sennheisers, Beyerdynamic, Sony) and identify what sound you are after. THEN think about getting the right amp / source / cables.

Good luck, Arnaud.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

thanks. i suppose only time will tell. im not one for tons of bass, and i greatly respect ultra-clear treble and brilliant highs. these headphones sound like they could just very well satisfy me, eventually. ill give them a few months and see what happens.