The star of this week’s Picture Sunday is the original Grade PS1000. Check out other recent Picture Posts Here, and Here.
After meeting Dimitri for lunch, beer, and a few dry fags, I trotted a couple blocks over to e-Earphone. The mission: re-terminating my MyST Nail 2×2, speccing out an XLR-2,5mm balanced adapter, and finally, repairing my Grado PS1000’s headband. The metal bit slipped out of the plastic nub. It’s crazy that in a 1700$ headphone such chintzy bits hold together the entire thing. E-Earphone told me mine wasn’t the first request PS1000 headband repair request they’ve had. In fact, they gave a quick, experience-informed answer to my question of cost.
Evidently I’ll be out up to 100$, shipping to and from New York included. I’m okay with that. The PS1000 is my favourite top-flight headphone. In my opinion, its only weaknesses are what caused its headband to bite it: weight and size. It is too heavy for its frame. And, even at its smallest setting, is too large for my narrow head.
It’s even more ridiculous an issue considering that the RS1, which appears to use the same parts, fits perfectly, and isn’t too heavy for its frame.
Another thing that makes little sense is my devotion to the PS1000. I’m the guy that appreciates fit and comfort first, branding and build quality second, and sound quality third. But what continues to draw me to the PS1000 is its brilliance. Powerful bass, extended highs, and the mild upper midrange suck out I enjoy for electronic music.
The PS1000 is a frustrating headphone. It is both somewhat delicate and uncomfortable. And yet, it it is my favourite Grado headphone. It is also the headphone of any brand to which I first reach. I can’t wait for it to be back from New York.
dale thorn
Try the newer PS1000e. Large emphasis in upper bass to lower mids, weak to nonexistent lower bass, huge spikes around 3 and 7 khz. And it ain’t just me – lots of folks got stung by that one. I’ve been trying to sell it in new condition for 18 months or so, but nobody seems to want it.
Matt Rimbaud
after having purchased a pair of SR60i in 2009 and then a pair of SR80i in 2012 I decided to take a chance on a pair of PS500e a couple years back when the E series first came out. my initial thought (as the SR60i and SR80i sounded so incredible to my ears) was ‘I know the PS500e will sound marginally better than the SR60i/80i but I bet they don’t sound $500 better) – I’d never been more wrong in my life, the difference in sound quality was anything other than marginal and even after listening to them every single day over the 26 months since they first arrived not one day passes where the PS500e don’t drop my jaw and put the biggest smile on my face.
hands down, the best money I have ever spent on any product. the amount of detail,depth and dynamics are stunning regardless of genre or audio source.and while Grado have a reputation for not being bass heavy,with just the slightest nudge from my Sony Walkman’s clearbass function the PS500e deliver copious amounts of head rattling low end (yet only when called for,i.e. listening to detroit techno,IDM etc) without ever bleeding into the other frequencies or sacrificing clarity.
suffice it to say they are my favorite cans period.I hope to be able to purchase a pair of PS1000e sometime in the future and eventually would love to own some of the RS series as well I love all genres of music from Rock,Jazz,Pop,Hip Hop,Punk Rock,Metal,Classical,
Blues,some Country (think Patsy Cline,Hank Sr.etc) and New Wave and no other cans satisfy like Grado, they have a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ .plus they are easy to mod which is always a plus,there’s just nothing not to love about Grado’s imo.
dale thorn
I had the PS500, and my extremely favorable review is still (as far as I know) featured on the PS500/500e product page. The sound from mids to highs was very nice, but there was a bit of a bass hump around 90-100 hz that I needed to EQ down, particularly because the lower bass fell off rapidly below the hump. Now if the PS500e is better than the PS500, I wonder what happened with the PS1000e? I was astounded at the colorations, and after checking a few reviews, I realized that my 1000e wasn’t defective – it sounded exactly like what others described in their reviews. In any case, mine is in new condition….