GS1000

[postjack]

There is an odd mark that looks like an imperfection on the wood that shows up under T in "statement" in a few of the photos. Can't for the life of me figure out what is causing that, because it definitely isn't there when I look at them.

Impressions to come!

[postjack]

is that the pair from audiogon that i linked to?

One and the same.

First impressions: these cans smell amazing. Thats weird, I know, but they smell great.

[aerius]

Is it just me or is everyone here going on a major buying spree lately?

[JBLoudG20]

Summer: the time of love, heat, and headphones.

[Nanoha]

Is it just me or is everyone here going on a major buying spree lately?

Messed around with 3k this summer. Yep, buying spree is in top gear. I'm actually slowing down though and selling off almost everything.

[aerius]

you'd better join in.

I have been on a buying spree, I currently own an olympic-sized swimming pool's worth of crude oil.

[Iron_Dreamer]

Is it just me or is everyone here going on a major buying spree lately?

Damn straight, yo! Though it was preceded by a selling spree

[granodemostasa]

I haven't purchased a single thing since the VDA-2.

[Iron_Dreamer]

I haven't purchased a single thing since the VDA-2.

I think your wallet needed to catch its' breath

[granodemostasa]

I think your wallet needed to catch its' breath

yea it did, and my curiosity for constantly switching gear has been satisfied by mini meets and Humanflyz's system.

now i want to hear what you think about the GS1000! (and can someone set up a bass shootout between the GS1K and the L3K and ED9?)

[Iron_Dreamer]

I listened to the GS1000 at the last meet for a little while, it sounded nice enough, without as much of the typical John Grado sound colorations, but there definitely wasn't the sense of holyshitbass I've had with the Ed9 or L3K at first listen. That would be a fun comparison though. Some would say the PS1 would be more appropriate than the GS1K, but I've never been too taken with it. Hopefully I can get my hands on an Ed9 one way or another...

[n_maher]

you'd better join in.

Heh, if I could just get a couple things wrapped up I'd be on a selling spree.

[JBLoudG20]

I have been on a buying spree, I currently own an olympic-sized swimming pool's worth of crude oil.

Enough with the teasing already, How's it sound?!?

[aerius]

Enough with the teasing already, How's it sound?!?

Given that it's in the form of an oil futures contract, and the way oil prices have been going up this year, it basically sounds like $$$CHA-CHING!!$$$

[JBLoudG20]

Ah. So its got some sweet highs then. CHIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG Any sibilance there? How is the bass response?

In all seriousness, that sounds like a pretty good investment. Oil can only get more expensive (until we come up with a nice new way to reduce our dependency).

[postjack]

now i want to hear what you think about the GS1000!

Okay, this is based on just one night of listening, and during this night I kept switching back to the W5000 because I want to listen to it as well. This is the problem with buying two high end cans at the same time I guess. The previous owner claims to have about 3 hours on the cans, so after last night bring that total to about 5 or 6. I'm not a huge believer in burn-in past the 20 or so hour mark.

On bright recordings, the GS1000 is sibilant. No way around it. Some people say that this is the case with "bad" recordings. Well I don't think say, the Depeche Mode SACDs are bad recordings at all, they are just bright. With the GS1000, Gahan's vocals get all slippery and fly up into the highs, and the result is sibilance. Now I know I've been talking about vinyl a lot lately, but with vinyl this is not so much of an issue, because vinyl simply cannot get as bright as redbook: too much treble and the needle would pop off the record. So I did a lot of listening with vinyl and the GS1000 last night.

But this is not to say the GS-1000 is sibilant with all redbook. Lets talk about bass. I listened to Massive Attack's Mezzanine last night, and was pretty doped up by the bass response. Flowing, pulsing, and very alive sounding, but never once did I really feel the bass was "out of control". And while the highs were certainly bright, they did not approach sibilance. Vocals, both male and female, were smooth, lifelike, and imaged well.

Tangent: One of the biggest differences between my current amps (Melos and Dynahi) and my old amp (PPX3 Slam) is the bass. The Slam really accentuated the bass. To illustrate, I rarely ever listened to the RS-1s with flats with the Slam, because the bass was so prevalent it drowned out any semblance of a soundstage. With bowls the bass was excellent. With the Melos and the RS-1, flats is definitely the way to go. With bowls the sound is a bit tinny and thin. With flats the bass is excellent. I really hate blaming amplification for what sounds like a headphone's inherent flaw, but basically thats what I'm doing here. I think reports of out of control bass with the GS-1000 could be more due to amplification not appropriate to Grados in general. Or it could just be my ears. End Tangent

There was maybe one time on one album when the bass briefly sounded a little hokey and inaccurate, but I can't remember what recording that was.

The much talked about soundstage is nice and kind of neat with a Grado. The midrange is not as recessed as I thought it would be, sometimes I still got a hint of that Grado midrange magic, but not nearly on the level of an RS-1 or HP-2. More listening is required to do a better evaluation.

At least at this point, I do not think the GS-1000 does dynamics well. Earlier I talked about Gahan's vocals getting slippery and flying off into sibilant space. When a sound goes from one spectrum to another, especially when it is leaving the midrange and heads into the highs, it gets confused and sibilant. This could change with "burn-in", but again I'm not a huge burn-in guy.

I found the GS-1000 is not a great straight rock can. It performed well with slower folky type rock (Wilco Sky Blue Sky: in general acoustic instruments have a nice timbre to them) and with more consistent electronic type fare (aforementioned Massive Attack) and with some 80s era type new wavish pop (Talking Heads, New Order). I haven't listened to any jazz yet. With some recordings I could crank up the volume comfortably, but with others the shrillness of the highs was simply too much.

In short, the GS-1000 is a drastically different can then any other Grado I've heard before, which includes the SR60, SR225, SR325i, RS-1, and HP-2. The GS-1000 has some good things going for it. The bagels are ultra-comfortable, there is a rather nice soundstage that I think is unique in the headphone world, acoustic instruments and some vocals sound pleasant, and in my opinion, on my system, the bass is fantastic. Having said those nice things, the shrill and sometimes sibilant highs make me think that the GS-1000 just might be a fundamentally flawed can, which is a sad thing to say about a headphone that approaches a four digit MSRP. A bit more listening time will tell if this is the case.

[humanflyz]

Yeah, the GS1000s are pretty bright IMO; in fact, in comparison, the K1000s sound more laid-back in my system than the GS1000s, which is why I never understood why people say the K1000s are really bright headphones. In fact, I don't even know why people say Grados (GS1000 excluded) are bright. With flats, I think they are actually warm-ish.

Although I am tempted to give the GS1000s another try now that I've upgraded both my headphone amp and source.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Actually gs1000's are quite warm with flat pads. Its just that the bass gets out of control. The bagels are to blaim for the bright highs.

Biggie.

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I have been on a buying spree, I currently own an olympic-sized swimming pool's worth of crude oil.

Hey, can you pm about this? Sounds interesting. ^^

Biggie.

[Patu]

This must be the first time when I completely disagree with you Iron_Dreamer. I just don't like GA1000 at all.

Usually we have quite similar impressions.

[postjack]

Actually gs1000's are quite warm with flat pads. Its just that the bass gets out of control. The bagels are to blaim for the bright highs.

I did try them with flats, and they aren't bright, but the bass is a little ridiculous.

[postjack]

Update: The GS-1000 does club/dance music better then any can I have ever heard.

Its too bad I don't listen to too much of this, because damn! Pounding bass and tons of air, stereo effects border on the eargasmic. Wow!

[aerius]

Ah. So its got some sweet highs then. CHIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG Any sibilance there? How is the bass response?

In all seriousness, that sounds like a pretty good investment. Oil can only get more expensive (until we come up with a nice new way to reduce our dependency).

Pretty smooth highs, but the midrange & bass is pretty thick and syrupy, and dark. Oil will indeed become quite costly in the near future, read up on Peak Oil and then head over to The Oil Drum with their wealth of technical articles, then be prepared to be seriously depressed and angered.

Hey, can you pm about this? Sounds interesting. ^^

Biggie.

Step 1: Find about $75k-80k in spare change, depending on the current price of oil

Step 2: Open an account at ICF Holdings or other such securities company which lets you trade oil & gasoline futures

Step 3: Research the shit out of Peak Oil, oil reserves & production, and politics in oil producing & consuming countries

Step 4: Wednesday is the magic day, that's when the DOE oil inventory report comes out each week at 10:30am

Step 5: Make a shitload of money

Step 6: Remember to set aside a bunch of money to cover the capital gains taxes

Moving back on topic, the GS-1000 just didn't agree with me. I'm addicted to the RS-1 midrange and the GS-1000 unfortunately doesn't have it.

[Patu]

I can't understand how people find GS1000 highs smooth. Smooth would be the last word I'd use.

[deepak]

I can't understand how people find GS1000 highs smooth. Smooth would be the last word I'd use.

Same here. It's good for music that doesn't go beyond the midrange.

The other BS I here tooted all the time is "they're high end you need to system match". System match with tubes that roll off everything after 7K Khz?