Grado’s RS1 has achieved a cult status above others current-production Grados. People say that the RS1 is the pinnacle of the “Grado sound”. When Grado introduced the GS1000 with its massive soundstage as the new top-of-the line above the RS1, people were very excited about it. Yet after some time, the hype died on the GS1000, and people comes back to the RS1 as their favorite Grado. Recently Grado introduced an even higher priced model, the $1700 PS1000, supposedly designed to improve on GS1000’s weaknesses.
Though the final verdict is still not yet out, many initial impressions from people who has listened to it are not that favorable. Other than the RS1, the truly desirable Grado are the out of production HP1000 and the PS1 models. But their price of $1500 and upwards are prohibitive to many.
At the same time, a lot of people have been wondering about RS1’s sibling, the Alessandro’s MS-Pro. Though priced at the same price level as the RS1, it sees less fame than its brother. We are curious if that’s due to the lack of exposure/reviews, lack of distribution, or if the sound is simply inferior than the RS1. This review will attempt to answer that.
The RS1 has undergone several variations. The vintage RS1s with the brown leather headband (the current one is black leather) is famous for a smoother sound than the current in-production RS1. The current RS1 has undergone 3 variations: Buttoned RS1 (refers to the small button on the grill, with “RS1″ engraved), Buttonless RS1, and the RS1-i. The unit we are reviewing is the Buttoned RS1.
Related Posts
Alessandro MS1i Review
For a long time, people have been recommending the Alessandro MS1 as a more neutral-sounding alternative to the Grado the SR60/80/125. Priced at the magic number of $100, it is regarded by many as one of the best sounding $100 [...more]
Grado HF2
The HF2 has a very smooth and liquid sound. It's like listening to a smooth vacuum tube amp (although we were using a solid-state Beta22 amplifier). Although the MS-Pro has a smooth sound, the HF2 is even smoother. No other Grado sounds like it; not the HP1000, not the RS1, and definitely not the GS1000. [...more]
Stax SR-Lambda Review
With a little bit of patience and luck, I managed to get my hand on a Stax SR-Lambda Earspeakers, which is admittedly a bit rare, and expectedly so, since it was discontinued more than two decades ago. Introduced in 1979, [...more]
1 Comment
Join the Discussion
Recent Posts
Living Legend: The Zana Deux
As a headphone enthusiast, one of the gear that has ranked very high on my audition list is the Zana Deux. What an amplifier! The sight of the Zana is breathtaking, and it looks much bigger in person than it [...more]
IBasso PB1 Toucan Unboxing
The buzz on the Ibasso PB1 amplifier has been growing quite steadily on the local headphone community. Ibasso has been making good amps for a while now, but my friend told me that the PB1 is quite on another level [...more]
Glad you loved the HF2 as much as I do brother.