RS-1 + bowl or flat pads = best Mapletree combo?

[MKAL]

I just tried a search and could not pull up much about the RS-1 with flats + the Mapletree Ear Purist HD. Do the head-fiers who like this combo prefer flats or bowls in the set-up?

 

[tuatara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MKAL /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just tried a search and could not pull up much about the RS-1 with flats + the Mapletree Ear Purist HD. Do the head-fiers who like this combo prefer flats or bowls in the set-up?

I'm happy with bowls, but have never liked flats .
I dont think the type of amp comes into it too much, really just a choice of which way you prefer the Grados with any source.

 

[Sanddancer]

I was happy with the bowls that came with my RS-1, but after a while I started to get curious about flats (in no small part to all the threads debating the issue on here) so picked up a pair going cheap from the FS forum.

I put them on and thought it was an immediate improvement. There was more impact, more bass and generally more weight to the sound. Listening to something like Dire Straits - Sire Straits was amazing, you could really feel every note from the guitar and I thought I was set - I was a flats man. But after a while I found I was listening to the RS-1s less and less. I didn't have any conscious reason for passing them over when I'd sit down to listen, I just never felt in the mood for them. Then after about a month of neglect I tried listening to them for an extended session to try and regain some of the magic I felt when I first got the RS-1/Mapletree combo worried that what I thought was a special sound was only down to the honeymoon period of new gear. After a long listen I found myself bored with the sound. Too thick, too closed in and congested. Then I noticed my neglected bowls sitting there and thought I'd give them a shot. Wham, the magic was back. The sound was crystal clear, airy and just seemed to sparkle in a way that it never did with the flats. Soundstage returned and although there was a reduction in the quantity in bass, to my ears the quality of it improved.

Since that day I've never had the flats back on the RS-1s and the RS-1/Mapletree combo accounts for 50% of my home listening time.

 

[CooLBieRe]

+1 for bowl

 

[MKAL]

So does the Mapletree take some of the harshness off the top end when using bowls, but take off too much sparkle when using flats?