postjack

Few questions: I read at HF that the original "stock" pads for the RS-1 were flats. Is this true? What were the stock pads on the HP-1000s and the PS-1? When was the bowl pad introduced, or has it always been available? I'm making myself listen to a few tracks on the RS-1 with the flats tonight, I still have mixed feelings about it. Listening to Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" SACD right now, and while the bass line sounds smoother 'n shit with the flats, I miss the tiny amount of soundstage the bowls provide.

The Royal Tenebaums, to me, is the quintessential dark comedy movie. I'm also a fan of Life Aquatic, Rushmore, and Bottle Rocket, but in my opinion none of them were as perfect as the Tenebaums. Probably a Gene Hackman thing. I Heart Huckabees is another good dark one.

Great movie. I can't think of any reason why anyone shouldn't see this flick. It took me a little while to see it, because when it was first recommended to me it was called a "dark comedy". And while in general I like "dark comedy", sometimes I find the term "dark comedy" actually means "boring" and "not funny" (think Death To Smoochy). Lots of fantastic acting, from the oldest actor (heroin using grandpa played by the always kick ass Alan Arkin) to the youngest actor (little girl, character named Olive), the characters are all real and engaging. Also starring Greg Kinnear and Steve Carrell, who continues to impress me with his incredible talent range. He'll snatch a Best Actor Oscar before its over with (people laughed at me when I said Phillip Seymour Hoffman would get the best actor one day, so eat my shit, people who didn't see Love, Liza and Owning Mahoney. The man's got talent). Also, the storytelling device is a journey, and I am always a fan of travel motifs. Gives plenty of opportunity for situational comedy (which LMS has in spades) as well as character development. So check it out if you haven't, and if you have, tell me if I'm wrong or right.

x2 x2

Yeah I'm a total nerd. I've been watching Next Gen since grade school, but I had never watched a single episode of DS9, and I decided to pick up Season 1. I'm almost done with it, and have bought Season 2. I've read that in season 2 is where the over arching thread arc begins to develop. Its a cool series; if nothing else Quark and Odo make it worth it. Also, definitely check out BSG, it is not just a great sci-fi show, but a great show, period. You need to watch the four hour mini-series/pilot first. I don't know if this is available on DVD, but it is available on iTunes. Then hop right into season 1. Adama is such a badass, he will fuck you up man. also the hot chix. Avoid spoilers around the internet if possible, the writing, dialogue, and acting are all top-notch. Well, you can tell a few of the actors aren't as experienced as some others, but... for the most part its great. No stupid cheezy shit: when the show gets emotional, it feels true.

Sounds like a decent enough show, but I think I'll steer clear of it. I can't stand those types of characters. Back to the DS9 DVDs then.

So is 24 a bad show? I was thinking of renting the DVDs of season 1 to do some watching on the weekends. However, I heard the mom and daughter characters make stupid decisions and always get themselves in trouble. Nothing, I repeat nothing, makes me more angry and frustrated then characters who make piss poor choices. I see it as shitty writing which serves only to lengthen conflict.

Received the RS-1 today. Initial impressions without being detailed, because I want to spend some more time listening to it. This is my first high-end Grado; I own the SR225, and have owned the SR60 and SR325i. Once I got the box at work, I was excited to get home and listen to it, but I wasn't super-pumped juiced or anything. Got home, powered up the 999es, the PPX3 Slam, and made dinner. After dinner I opened the box, and pulling out the RS-1, was surprised at how light weight it was. The finish is beautiful and dark, I'm glad I have one of these as opposed to the newer, lighter wood. All I have listened to is a touch of Clapton Unplugged before the tubes were through heating up, and currently Grateful Dead, Dick's Pick's 5. When the first notes of "Cold Rain & Snow" hit my ears, I was kind of shocked to feel a little heart flutter in my chest. I simply wasn't expecting that great of an improvement over the SR series. The biggest shock so far is the increase in soundstage and space. I'm not really good with audiophile terminology, so I can just say what I think, but the soundstage has increased greatly on horizontal axis: the sound is wider, not necessarily "taller". Still, this is surprising. The presentation, detail, and air around the instruments is what made my heart jump a little bit. Drums simply sound more real, and the keys sound as close to live as on any headphone I have heard. Bobby and Jerry's voice come through sweet and clear: damn it sounds like a DSO show (which is my only comparison since I never went to a Dead show!) I'll continue to narrow down what I feel the RS-1 does well and what it doesn't do so well; after all, the only thing I've listened to is a Dead show from 1979, but in short, I think these are a keeper.

No, you all watch it because you think spaceships are cool.

Ah, okay, thanks for the clarification.

The first time I have ever done any research into the Melos was today. The most immediate downside I see is that they break, and there is no one immediately available to fix them. But hell, if I could get one for $250 and get a few years out of it... regardless, more research/reading to do, I know almost nothing about it except it was designed as a preamp, but it has a headphone out that people say is kickass with the RS-1. Also I heard it eats tubes up.

Is there anything it can't do? The Extreme is certainly the wonder amp of the moment. Actually I do believe the hype on this one, I am sure it is a totally kick ass amp. It will be interesting to see how time treats it, and how it holds up against the super secret mystery amps coming soon from SP.

The SR225 certainly sounds good with the 5687s, to these ears anyway. I was just hoping to hear aerius elaborate on his statement. When the RS-1s get here I'll do a bit of A/Bing with the SR225 and then sell one of them. I'm hoping the RS-1 will offer me significant benefits over the SR225. One thing is already certain: the RS-1 is better looking.

Aerius, in your opinion, what headphone amp has the juice to bring the RS-1's to their full potential? I'm a total tube amateur so I can't think off the top of my head what amp uses power tubes like the EL34's or 300B's.

I didn't see Iwo Jima, but The Departed was a fine piece of film-making, fun as hell to watch as well. I'm glad he won. And yeah the Academy always does that, doesn't bother me really.

Well I went ahead and bought them. We'll see how that works out.

I always forget about the Oscars. I don't think I was too excited about any of the movies this year anyway. Yeah The Woman King was pretty dull, I can't really see how it fit into the greater scheme of things. But check out last night's episode on iTunes or a repeat if you can, it was a good one. BSG is just so chock full of interesting characters.

The past few episodes in season 3.5 have been only okay, probably because of the lack of a real cylon threat, but I really enjoyed tonight's episode. Chief has always been one of my favorite characters, and I love it, LOVE IT when Odama places the role of the totally cold badass like he did tonight.

Anyone else think this show is just the fucking bees knees? I got into it this past fall. I downloaded the miniseries off iTunes because it was strongly recommended to me from some friends, and from there I was hooked. Watched every single episode until I caught up somewhere in the middle of season 3. I'm enjoying the new episodes (and for the record, I'm enjoying the Dresden Files which is airing before BSG on Sundays, but still not as good as the books).

About one listening sessions every few weeks I am enjoying listening to my SR225s. The lack of soundstage is a bummer, but that comes with Grado territory. A quick grado-fix always cures my Sennheiser blues when I start growing weary of the HD650 sound. I'm listening to the SR225 right now, and no doubt tomorrow night I'll be back to the Senns and be just a pleased as punch with them. I've done lots of listening with the bowls, ttvj flats, and quarter-hole cut reverse HD414 yellow pads. To my ears, the bowls are just the best. I like the Grados for the sparkley highs, and the flats make them fat bass machines. The HD414 is the most comfortable pad, and sounds good, but the bowls just sound better.

How are you enjoying them?

Larry at Headphile as a pair of old-style darker wood RS-1s for sale for $445. No box or anything, but these really are attractive headphones. I am toying with the idea of picking them up, but I just don't think I'm ready yet.

Reading through this thread and its sister-thread over at HF has piqued my interest in the K340. The HD650 is my favorite can, and it sounds like they share a lot of similarities. Has anyone ever heard these out of a PPX3 Slam 6SN7 amp, or can anyone make an educated guess as to how this amp would synergize with the K340?

Last concert I went to was Phish's last concert in Coventry, VT, August of 2005. I haven't been able to bring myself to see live music since. :'( <--sad college hippie fucking awful concert btw.

Diddy calling Bjork made my afternoon at work, thanks for that.