theobservatory.
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2004
- Posts
- 200
- Likes
- 15
having been seduced by all the grado goodness [and i REALLY dig their vintage cosmetics], i had to do it... i had to get my hands on a pair of rs-1's [and sr225's] and audition them for crying out loud, and the opportunity finally came a-knocking yesterday.
i was browsing at one of the malls we have here that caters pretty much to hifi enthusiasts and audiophiles. initially i wanted to audition the sr60 and 80 once again, to see if my perceptions had changed. alas i lay me eyes on a pair of sr225's that lay atop a grace m902 and what seemed like a pretty high-end cd player [i think it was a cary audio player or something, the shop carried a number of these] – i just couldn't resist.
so i put them on, put on some james blunt in the cdp, and hit play. at the first instant, i wasn't really impressed. coming from the sr60 [which i enjoyed] and the sr80 [which i found had shrill highs and no fullness in body] i was kinda let down. [this is not a good sign, really, it seems that the higher i climb the more disappointed i get, i guess my expectations are just too dang high, anyway on to the case...].
these had the bowl pads, which as i've mentioned before don't cover me ear completely they rest on the edges of my ear, though i didn't find it painful at all. in terms of sound, i found intstrument seperation to be either extremely minimal or practically non-existent. the music just sorta melded together in a somewhat messy consortium. bass slam was there but not impressive. and i didn't get much of the liquid mid-range goodness that i really enjoyed on the sr60 [i reckon once again that all this might just be due to the pad issue, i think the either the senn 414 or the comfies or the flats are my only alternatives, but these weren't available at the shop so i didn't get a chance to try them on]. on the plus side though, i found the sound to sort of resonate in a very musical, foot-tapping and fun way. it was pretty subtle but detectable, and made listening to them a pretty enjoyable experience. i didn't get this on the sr60 and 80.
now on to the holy grail... the rs-1. which for the price was a pretty hard kick in the face [if anything, this audition has thought me the law of diminishing returns and its painful consequences, so far i've been able to discern the difference going up, save for the sr80, but the ratio between improvement and increase in price is one tight slap in the face... don't really have the right words for it, still recovering from the shock]
i found the sonic character to be similar to the sr225, with less but more refined bass slam, a slightly better mid-range, better instrument seperation and more of that enjoyable musical character. when listening to them i could just visualise the sound waves sorta resonating within that grogeous wooden enclosure. on the downside as i've said in the parantheses, for the additional price you pay, the improvement is embarrasingly dwarfed. it costs about 4 times more here, yet the improvement if i had to quantify it is nothing more than about 10-20%. gosh audiphilia is really biting my ass.
so i left the store pretty disappointed. [but not after trying out some awesome speakers, the cary 303 to cary sli-80 on a pair of stirling broadcast v2 ls3/5a and a pair of vienna acoustics haydan grands. i did enjoy them tremendously! though they do cost many times more, i really do think their worth the price, as opposed to my experience with high-end headphones, at least in the grado line. the music really jumps out at you and needless to say soundstaging/imaging and clarity, treble, bass..... my gosh everything is just better, save for the loss of intimacy which only headphones are capable of]
got to another store which sells alessandro's. dropped in to try the ms-1's again. previously i found them too uninvolving and boring. but this time around they were hooked up to a better cdp [some marantz cd99 or something, the last time it was some dodgy sony] to a firestone spitfire dac and then to a firestone icute beyond head amp. this time around i found them to be better over all. still pretty engaging and involving, but not as in ur face and shrill as the grado's can sometimes get. crux of the issue is that, i might have been too harsh with them last time around, and now i'm even considering them for my own setup.
also tried the um2's, which are amazing really, what i'm truly looking for in an iem, but the price once again was a little too hard to swallow, given the fact that my ex51's kinda come close [i know its def not true sonic superiority, but heck after modding them and for portable use, at that price i ain't got no bones to pick]. also tried the e6i, which as i'd suspected were too thin and anemic for my preferences.
oh boy, this is probably the longest post i've done here. please excuse me for any incompleteness or noobness. pretty shagged after a long day but i really had to post this up. pls do feel free to ask me any questions if they so arise.
i was browsing at one of the malls we have here that caters pretty much to hifi enthusiasts and audiophiles. initially i wanted to audition the sr60 and 80 once again, to see if my perceptions had changed. alas i lay me eyes on a pair of sr225's that lay atop a grace m902 and what seemed like a pretty high-end cd player [i think it was a cary audio player or something, the shop carried a number of these] – i just couldn't resist.
so i put them on, put on some james blunt in the cdp, and hit play. at the first instant, i wasn't really impressed. coming from the sr60 [which i enjoyed] and the sr80 [which i found had shrill highs and no fullness in body] i was kinda let down. [this is not a good sign, really, it seems that the higher i climb the more disappointed i get, i guess my expectations are just too dang high, anyway on to the case...].
these had the bowl pads, which as i've mentioned before don't cover me ear completely they rest on the edges of my ear, though i didn't find it painful at all. in terms of sound, i found intstrument seperation to be either extremely minimal or practically non-existent. the music just sorta melded together in a somewhat messy consortium. bass slam was there but not impressive. and i didn't get much of the liquid mid-range goodness that i really enjoyed on the sr60 [i reckon once again that all this might just be due to the pad issue, i think the either the senn 414 or the comfies or the flats are my only alternatives, but these weren't available at the shop so i didn't get a chance to try them on]. on the plus side though, i found the sound to sort of resonate in a very musical, foot-tapping and fun way. it was pretty subtle but detectable, and made listening to them a pretty enjoyable experience. i didn't get this on the sr60 and 80.
now on to the holy grail... the rs-1. which for the price was a pretty hard kick in the face [if anything, this audition has thought me the law of diminishing returns and its painful consequences, so far i've been able to discern the difference going up, save for the sr80, but the ratio between improvement and increase in price is one tight slap in the face... don't really have the right words for it, still recovering from the shock]
i found the sonic character to be similar to the sr225, with less but more refined bass slam, a slightly better mid-range, better instrument seperation and more of that enjoyable musical character. when listening to them i could just visualise the sound waves sorta resonating within that grogeous wooden enclosure. on the downside as i've said in the parantheses, for the additional price you pay, the improvement is embarrasingly dwarfed. it costs about 4 times more here, yet the improvement if i had to quantify it is nothing more than about 10-20%. gosh audiphilia is really biting my ass.
so i left the store pretty disappointed. [but not after trying out some awesome speakers, the cary 303 to cary sli-80 on a pair of stirling broadcast v2 ls3/5a and a pair of vienna acoustics haydan grands. i did enjoy them tremendously! though they do cost many times more, i really do think their worth the price, as opposed to my experience with high-end headphones, at least in the grado line. the music really jumps out at you and needless to say soundstaging/imaging and clarity, treble, bass..... my gosh everything is just better, save for the loss of intimacy which only headphones are capable of]
got to another store which sells alessandro's. dropped in to try the ms-1's again. previously i found them too uninvolving and boring. but this time around they were hooked up to a better cdp [some marantz cd99 or something, the last time it was some dodgy sony] to a firestone spitfire dac and then to a firestone icute beyond head amp. this time around i found them to be better over all. still pretty engaging and involving, but not as in ur face and shrill as the grado's can sometimes get. crux of the issue is that, i might have been too harsh with them last time around, and now i'm even considering them for my own setup.
also tried the um2's, which are amazing really, what i'm truly looking for in an iem, but the price once again was a little too hard to swallow, given the fact that my ex51's kinda come close [i know its def not true sonic superiority, but heck after modding them and for portable use, at that price i ain't got no bones to pick]. also tried the e6i, which as i'd suspected were too thin and anemic for my preferences.
oh boy, this is probably the longest post i've done here. please excuse me for any incompleteness or noobness. pretty shagged after a long day but i really had to post this up. pls do feel free to ask me any questions if they so arise.
