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Posted

I wouldn't. The HP-2 is great on a technical level, but the presentation leaves me wanting. It's like a flawless supermodel who won't get intimate or sleep with you. The RS-1 is like a cute GF who fucks you silly every night till you can't pee straight. She may not be perfect, but she's a hell of a lot more satisfying.

Yeah, kind of like the GF with the bloated bottom, shrill high pitched voice, and tummy a little out of shape of everything else. Very satisfying. ;)

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Posted

Yeah, kind of like the GF with the bloated bottom, shrill high pitched voice, and tummy a little out of shape of everything else. Very satisfying. ;)

With the RS-1, I immediately noticed the shrill, piercing, hight pitched voice and that was enough. For me, the RS-1 is unlistenable. The HP-1000 is another animal altogether. I first tried an HP1 connected to Frank Cooter's amp. I've been in love ever since.

Posted

I wouldn't. The HP-2 is great on a technical level, but the presentation leaves me wanting. It's like a flawless supermodel who won't get intimate or sleep with you. The RS-1 is like a cute GF who fucks you silly every night till you can't pee straight. She may not be perfect, but she's a hell of a lot more satisfying.

The HP-1000 were very, very musical on my SHA. Great combination. But I prefer a headphone that doesn't add much to the music.

Posted

With the RS-1, I immediately noticed the shrill, piercing, hight pitched voice and that was enough. For me, the RS-1 is unlistenable. The HP-1000 is another animal altogether. I first tried an HP1 connected to Frank Cooter's amp. I've been in love ever since.

I used the HP-2 with my SDS and (mainly) with an old Gilmore V1 amp. The best thing I can say about them is they absolutly were beyond painful with my head and glasses.....However i still loved the way they portrayed the music and listened on a daily basis. IMO far and away the Grado I have had. including RS1 (SE and balanced), PS-1(balanced) 225, 325,

Posted

I guess there are two Grado camps (three if you count Alessandro) every current Grado I've heard sounds wrong to my ears. I'd have an HP-1 in a heartbeat, not because they're rare, expensive or fabled, because they just sound better than most other phones I've heard so far. I don't think they're better than my Ks or modded Stax, but on the same level with a different sound. Now I understand what people were saying about them. ;D

Posted
My 'stats also kick most other phones I heard there to the curb. The ATH 3000 leatherhead was pretty nice too but not $3000 nice. Oddly, this time around when I listened to the ATH 5000 they sounded a little honky in the mikds. I think there was way too much contrast from the previous phone I was listening to.

Anyway, more later. Off to brunch with wifey.

Meets are fun.

Well, the ATH-HA5000 was voiced for the W5000 not the L3000. If you want to hear what the L3000 can really do check them out with the DHA3000, Extreme Platinum, or Single Power Supra with high voltage tubes. Mulveling tried his L3000 with just about every headphones amp including PPA, Sugden, HA2002, Melos Sha Gold, HR Max, stock supra SDS, Zana Deux, Micro Zolt, Pico, and Woo WA-5 and his favorite is the Supra SE (high voltage tubes) that he bought from me.

Posted

As you know, it's not always easy to find ideal colmbos at meets. They were nice and I didn't get as good a listen as I would have liked but at least it was playing something I know well which helped. I certainly didn't find them to be bass heavy as some indicate, nicely balanced is how I'd describe them.

They didn't give me that 'Aaaah' moment of the HP-1 or the old Koss 'stat. Guess my ears have a definite set of things they latch onto and why most of my phones share many similarities sound wise. I have a hard time with smooth and relaxed sound or upper midbass emphasis.

The little ATH ESW9 was quite nice, though somewhat boomy and clamp way too tight for me. Those and the minuscule AT clip-ons were mini works of art and very cute.

Overall I'd have to say I'm extremely happy with the choices I've made and found no setups there I'd trade with. My amps are a little lacking in some areas and my sources need some improvement but even running directly from my UMPC headphone out to my ancient NAD/Hafler combo sounded better to me than the majority of other gear I heard through their phones.

Not the most Hi-Fi but some of the best sounding for all it's paper limitations. If you saw how I had my table setup most of you would be horrified. No DAC, cheap-ass wires and mostly 20+ year old gear ;D

Posted

Overall I'd have to say I'm extremely happy with the choices I've made and found no setups there I'd trade with.

I advise you to never listen to neilvg's electrostatic or Voltron's dynamic setups if you want to keep this feeling intact. I have a pretty nice setup and I'd trade it for either in a heartbeat! ;)

Posted

Well, no sooner had I written that, I changed CD's and threw on Ratatat. The highs are a little bright. Do they get tamed a bit with the bowls when compared to the flats?

Posted

I've never heard the highs get tamed by bowls. If anything they get more pronounced.

i concur. also i could make a weed joke about the above quote but I'll hold back.

Posted

Overall I'd have to say I'm extremely happy with the choices I've made and found no setups there I'd trade with.

I have to say that this was mostly my views at the end of the day as well. Especially for the money I paid, I was mostly happy with my setup. Obviously, I would like to have a K1000 with a F1 or something but I know I wont be able to afford that until I get a job (not anytime soon)

The only thing I can think of upgrading is headphones. If I can get a pair of HF-1s for cheap...

Posted

Hmmm... I don't know my pads, but just figured that having the drivers farther from your ears would help.

Well, it's only with a couple tracks so far, so I think I can live with it. :D

Posted

My APS RS-1's don't sound harsh or shrill at all in my rig. I'm really sensitive to that too and listen quite loud, so I would definitely notice it.

I probably forgot, but do you or the jack (new nickname?) think that the APS cable softened the highs?

Posted

No idea, I've only heard this pair modded. Though, I don't remember the highs being harsh on non-APS recabled RS-1's in my rig when I heard them at meets. Maybe Jack can chime in.

Posted
I guess there are two Grado camps (three if you count Alessandro) every current Grado I've heard sounds wrong to my ears. I'd have an HP-1 in a heartbeat, not because they're rare, expensive or fabled, because they just sound better than most other phones I've heard so far...
Yup. I'm not a fan of the current line of Grados at all (I did like Juan's RS-1 with the...flats, was it?, but not enough to own them), but own the HP-2's and PS-1's. Despite not liking their comfort issues.
Posted
The HP-1000 were very, very musical on my SHA. Great combination. But I prefer a headphone that doesn't add much to the music.

To me they absolutely require tubes and a turntable rig, preferably with a warm fat sounding cartridge to give it more fullness and punch. Even with a Capitole or Simaudio Andromeda and some of the best amps money can't buy, they don't quite do it for me. I just like the RS-1 & PS-1 sound a lot more.

Posted

To me they absolutely require tubes and a turntable rig, preferably with a warm fat sounding cartridge to give it more fullness and punch. Even with a Capitole or Simaudio Andromeda and some of the best amps money can't buy, they don't quite do it for me. I just like the RS-1 & PS-1 sound a lot more.

That's fine.

To me they weren't lacking in punch in the least bit. I did prefer my amp rolled with some more organic sounding tubes. What the HP-1000 lacks is the very last bit of low and high end frequency extension. But still extremely musical to me. I just can't accept the prices they go for, plus the fact that drivers will probably no longer be available when Joe Grado isn't with us.

I'm actually looking for a turntable and arm combination in the $1000 price range (used is fine). Any suggestions?

Posted

The meet was alot smaller than I expected. I went to listen to the Cary 303/O2 setup, but could only get sound out of one channel, so I just put it back down and moved on.

I listened to vcoheda's setup and on his, I couldn't listen to the HD650's/Zui(?) cable for more than a few seconds. (Meridian G08 -> Apache) I did enjoy the HD600's/Cardas cable alot. It sounded great, or at least I thought it did.

Then I listened to the AR Transport -> DAC1 -> Supra with HD650's and it blew everything away. It was really just awesome sounding and probably the only time I've ever liked the way the HD650's sounded.

I only listened to the HE1.2b's/SS amp for a minute or so, and it was some Norah Jones song that someone else was listening to on the HE1.2b's/Woo amp, so I'm not sure entirely how much I like it, but what I can say is that it's ruthlessly revealing. Wow that CD was mastered horribly, either that or the HE1.2b/SS amp was fucked up.

I think the Grace m902 sounded fantastic as a 1 box setup. The bass is great on it and I think I prefered it to the MPX3 that was right next to it. But then I enjoyed the O2/McAllister amp next to that... all running off a MSB Platinum CD player.

Posted

Nikongod's K1000 was the highlight of the meet for me. For some reason, until now I had never really been into the K1000.But I really liked them this time around. Perhaps the relatively quieter meet conditions helped. Regardless, now I want one.

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