[Joseph]

Hi, there,

There is a classified on audiogon with a combo of HPA-2 Reference Headphone Amplifier and HP-2 Reference Headphones. Anyone has any experience with these products? How is the HPA-2 compared with RA-1? What's the difference between HP-1 and HP-2? How are they compared with RS-1 and RS-2?

Thanx.

 

[mbriant]

By the time you get your answers they will be long gone. Probably purchased by Joe(Grado)longwood.

 

[KR...]

HOLY MOLEY!!!

That amp is insanely rare!

RUN and buy them as soon as you can, you be never, ever get that chance again.

 

[KR...]

Oh, I have the HP-2's, they are only one of, if not , the greatest headphone ever made.

Good Luck!

 

[joelongwood]

Damn!.......I check Audiogon every day....except today!

Maybe they're still available.

Does anybody even know what the amp looks like?

 

[KR...]

Like an amp

No one knows, expect for that one guy who used to post at Headwize who has it.

I did say it was extremely rare right?

Go for it Joe!

 

[joelongwood]

Im tryin'! Hope I'm not too late.

 

[Joseph]

Joe, good luck! it's really nice that one of the head-fi/headwizers can get the combo. Pls give us a review and post some pics after you get them.

I really want to have a taste of the HPs, however, it's a little above my budget for now (A combo of RS-1 and RA-1 almost drained my bank account).

Hey, Joe, if you are selling one of your HPs after get the combo, pls let me know in advance.

 

[joelongwood]

Well, I e-mailed the guy, but haven't heard anything yet. As soon as I do, I'll post here.

 

[KR...]

Oh, if you do get them, you can compare the two mighty HP-1000's!

good luck!

 

[AndyD]

check out the pic of the hp-1000s at ebay

I wonder how much these will go for.

 

[joelongwood]

Quote:

check out the pic of the hp-1000s at ebay I wonder how much these will go for.

Well, Andy, the last pair that I know of on e-bay went for $676.00.........more than a bit high, I think.

But for anyone considering buying RS-1s for over $500, I would strongly recommend looking into the HP-1s. To my ears, they are sonically superior to the RS-1s......they are simply more musical. And as far as build quality goes, there is absolutely no comparison. The RS-1s seem delicate, while the HP-1s exude strength and durability.......no plastic to be found anywhere!

 

[KR...]

 

[joelongwood]

Missed the HP-2s and amp! Oh well.............I guess I gotta check Audiogon more than a few times a day. Geez, I feel $675 richer.

 

[KR...]

Sorry to hear that.

But, it's not like you really needed them.

BTW, the RA-1 and the HPA-2 sound exactly the same, no difference in sound, only in looks and built.

The HP-1 and HP-2 are the same, expect for the switches. However, their were HP-2's made with ultra high end headphone cables that are a big improvement over the old ones. As far as I know, I don't think that any HP-1's were made with this cable (what does your cable say?). So the HP-2 w/ this newer cable (which, btw is not the same thing as the cables that grado uses now) sound better than the HP-1's.

However, on the other hand, the HP-1's are still Worth more money, because they are more rare, since their are two different kinds of HP-2's and more were made than the HP-1's.

However, the HP-3 is even more rare than the HP-1, but they only have 85% of the sound of the HP-1's (which is a lot in Hi-Fi terms), so not as many people want them, so they are worth less money than the other two.

...and there you have it!