NA Blur
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2011
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I was hoping for larger improvements especially in the treble and bass region.
If you like your rock (and goodness do I ever!), Grados are fantastic. The advantage I find with the PS1000/PS1000e is that they work very well for jazz and classical too (pretty much everything I listen too).
I've tried the GS1000/1000i on tube amps as well...not even the MAD Ear+HD could get them to where I wanted them. Luckily the GS-X Mk2 works brilliantly with the PS1000e's...funny, I haven't found a headphone or IEM that doesn't sound great with the GS-X.
Once again, I agree with just about everything. The MAD Ear+ HD did not do the job with the GS10000 for me either.
I have not tried too many amps with the GS1000 but I did one thing that improved matters quite a bit: I replaced the stock ear pads with the ones used on the venerable HP-2--Todd has them. This brought the drivers a tad closer to my ears and did improve the presence in the midrange by moving the image a little forward with not perceptible damage to the soundstage.
For amps, I found that the EAR HP-4 did a very good job of bringing the center image of the GS1000 forward. So did the SS Bakoon HA-21 but surprisingly from the Voltage Output rather than the usually more accurate Current Output. The GS1000 sounded a little warmer with both amps than with the GS-X Mk2. Unfortunately, the upper bass with the Bakoon/GS1000 was almost too much for me except when I listen to rock. LOL, the bass kick felt like a body slam!!!
Your are so lucky to have the GS-X Mk2 in your system. It took me about a dozen amps before I found it. That is by far the most flexible amp I know. For IEM, you should listen to the JH Roxanne on the GS-X Mk2. The silky details will blow your mind!
My Rudistor amp works nicely with the GS1000i.
The PS1000 is NOT a bright headphone and it has no sibilance. It is an audiophile headphone of the highest caliber and it is ruthlessly TRANSPARENT. If your DAC and amp send it an unrefined signal and are not up to the task, or your source material just plain sucks and was recorded poorly, the PS1000 will be sure to let you know and claw your ears out. Upgrade your front end and the PS1000 will reward you.
I agree that they can be terribly bright sounding, but really you are just hearing deficiencies in your front end components and source.
I use the NEW Ayre QB-9 DSD dac and Bryston BHA-1 in single ended configuration with Transparent Audio cabling and a bank of PS Audio Noise harvesters and these headphones give $12,000+ speakers a good run for their money.
They also just plain sound good with every source. They kill the Sennheiser in my opinion. These new e series phones are probably crazy good.
Yes the build quality and comfort sucks. The rod blocks are a joke, the headband is insufficient and needs aftermarket replacement. The German made Sennheiser is a better designed product. I'm sure they have certain deficiencies, but understand that these phones can properly service $3500+ dacs and front end gear. These phones can do incredible detail retrieval AND not sound harsh, at all, if your dac and amp is up to the challenge. Most simply are not.