The PS1000 has been the victim of a lot of dubious drubbings, not because there's anything wrong with its sound but because (a) everybody is an expert after five minutes and (b) Grado generated a lot of bad blood when it priced the PS1000 at $1,700. As someone who once owned the HD800, the PS1000 and the T1 simultaneously, I can tell you that there's nothing wrong with the PS1000 except the price. In certain areas, like speed and soundstage, I'd have given the nod to the HD800, but when it came to dissolving the frame between listener and music, the PS1000 was the winner hands-down.
I wouldn't pick it for classical, at least not symphonic material, because its intimate soundstage doesn't work for a genre where you're supposed to feel like you're in nosebleed hearing everything - including the air - but for most genres, its sound was second-to-none. I didn't like having to worry about scratching up the shiny aluminum housing, nor did I think the headband had evolved with the shells. I didn't like worrying that the cups would roll off my head if I "rocked out" too much. I also think there are times when the 100 Hz slam doesn't work, such as when you need that area to be even, rather than emphasized. But think about it: If those are the downsides, wearing these headphones is a lot like Dudley Moore's character of Arthur in his discussion about what it's like to own a yacht: "It doesn't suck."
I think Grado priced the PS1000 at $1,700 because the PS1000 is a combination of the GS1000 ($1,000) and the RS-1 ($700), which is absurd. Personally, I think all of these post-$1,000 prices are absurd. They're just reflections of a market that has gotten increasingly surreal. Be that as it may, Grado would have sold more of these - and have received a lot more praise - if it had priced them at $1,200. But when I read of negative reviews, or some Grand Poobah's Top 20 - and he leaves out the PS1000 because it's not trendy enough for him - I have to laugh. As ridiculous as it was for Grado to charge $1,700 for these headphones, it is equally ridiculous for folks to run them down, simply because they cost too much. Having worn mine well past burn-in, I can tell you that these 30-minute experts are just idiots running around in a Superman cape.
I've never heard the LCD-2, so I can't comment on how it sounds, though it's certainly the belle of the ball right now - and priced at under a grand - it has entered the dance floor wearing glass slippers. I'm not here to dispute the LCD-2's favored position as the current darling of the headphone market, just the knee-jerk dismissal tossed at the PS1000. Considering the number of people who love the RS-1-sized HF2 (which is a "baby PS1000") it's stupid to knock the PS1000, which gives you an RS1 sound with all of the comfort of a GS1000. Grado wants an awful lot of money for these cans, but anybody who thinks it's slumming to wear them needs to check to see if they're actually listening to their sound or just listening to the crowd.
