Well. They're here.
Initial impressions, so don’t judge my opinion yet....
This is not what i remember them like. They dont sound thick and congested like before. I seem to remember more bass and thicker sound. odd.
Anyway, compared to the HP-2..... well, its hard. The RS-1 is good, yes, but my HP-2 blows it out of the water in so many ways. Tho, my HP-2's have new drivers and have been specially tailored by Joe Grado for the past 4 months (sounding MUCH different then my other HP-2). The RS-1, to me, sits below the standard HP-2 still (my non-altered pair). The biggest difference would be imaging. My HP-2's imaging is so precise, so dead on (you can ask loser101 who came to the Hamilton head-fi meet, he described them perfectly). With the RS-1, i sense more of a mixing across the soundstage and meld of instruments instead of a delicate placement. Its hard to isolate the instruments and pinpoint sounds, something the HP-2 gives me with no restraint.
Highs, the HP-2 seems to go UP UP and AWAY, where the RS-1 seems to go high but as if there is a ceiling on the frequency response. It has its shimmer, but it dosent have the “skys the limit” prez of the HP-2. With the RS-1 I feel as if its hiding the music, limiting to the constraits of its build. But with the HP-2, its almost as if there are no limits, no confines, no stops, Like you were not listening to a headphone anymore, thinking you were actually infront of the Opera singer as she sings to you: Goosebump-inducing reproduction if you would.
Midrange: This ones very odd. Im sensing a bump in the presentation. Midrange just sounds off when compared to the HP-2. A slight reverb effect with the RS-1’s midrange, this is the biggest thing bugging me. All horns, violins, pianos, they all have this congested rolling reverb. When I go back to the HP-2, its like a window opening in terms of midrange. With the RS-1, I find I can only listen to them for so long before the midrange just eats at my head. I did not find this nearly as much with the MSPRO.
Headstage, yes the RS-1's have this cool ability to project a Z depth, I remember this well from the MSPRO. Some recordings this works wonders, but on others its just wrong, most of them infact. I feel as if im listening to the RS-1 and not the music. This could be whats messing with the imaging and X-Y soundstage.
Bass: well, im unimpressed. I remember them having more, tho this was a long time ago, and i may have been so stunned at them then, im expecting too much. The idea that the RS-1's have more bass then the HP-2...? I do not find this at all. Not in the least bit! The RS-1's have a VERY dominant mid-bass, and fail to ever really drop anything that LOW. In some recordings, I can hear the bass go deeper with the HP-2, I can hear notes going down to the pits of hell- Tho not shaking my ears, its a very impressive portrayal of the music. A very delicate portrayal. The RS-1's just seem to show you the music, where the HP-2 seem to bring you inside the music. Overall, I donno, im not impressed. I was hopping for something else, BUT I can see why the RS-1 is popular. It does have its own sound. Now the RS-1’s are used, so they should be broken-in. Im going to give them 100 hours and check back again, overall, from what experience ive had with Johns cans, the burn-in is not going to change my opinion in anything except maybe a slight bass improvement. But, I will not make too many assumptions, I will wait and see.
