I have always found Grado's to have a more "manipulated " sound then I prefer. If the following graph is representative, the GS1000 is even less neutral than Grados generally:

http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=561

Grados typically have a boosted low end and a strong high frequency peak. These particular Grados have even more of these characteristics than usual for a Grado.

Here is an illustration of what I mean:
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=561&graphID[]=141

Note the major peaks in each graph and how the GS1000 peaks even more than the SR125.

Accordingly, the GS1000 is even less neutral; that is, that much further from a flat frequency response. I bet they sound good at lower volumes however.

Note however that all headphones appear to be voiced and are not neutral. Thus, they sound quite different from each other.

i own a set of gs-1000 that have replaced a set of older stax electrostats. they are comfortable to wear and far more importantly they sound like music. i would guess they bump the bass a little on absolute terms but since i listen at background levels i do not find this bothersome in the least. they sound like music and are not tiring to wear which are the 2 primary points that i used for purchasing them. they are not for portable (ipod)use as they do not isolate. for that you must use etymotics or shures.

Excellent. Nothing like a review from someone who has actually listened to the product, always the best test.

I listened to them awhile back at a Head-Fi meet at the place of the person who owns the Blackie Pagano made 300B amp and found the treble much too bright (and if I recall, it had an overly exaggerated bass--my memories of them were not good). They're hardly neutral. There were some metal housed Grados (HP-1000?) that seemed closer to being neutral.

I have owned the GS1000's for about 4 months now. Before those I owned a pair of Grado Sr125's, and before that, a pair of sr60's, so when I say I am a Grado man, you will agree.

So I am not biased, I have always enjoyed the sound of Grado's.

I believe the GS1000's are pretty damn amazing. HUGE soundstage, impressive dynamics, smooooooth midrange. Amazing with guitars and strings.

There are not without fault, the don't play quite as loud as the SR125's, for example. Probably somewhat due to the increased distance from the driver to the ear drum due to the large wooded "room" that the 1000's bowls create.

They are certainly NOT noise cancelling, like all Grado's they will leak sound into the surrounding room. I get a few looks from passengers on the subway.

Yes I do wear these on the subway. I have the Grado headphone amp that runs on 9 volts hidden away in a laptop bag, and I am all over New Jack City with these big cans. I get a few looks and I honestly could not care less.

These cans have considerably enriched my day-to-day life. For me they are a bargain at twice the price.

Save $750 and get the AKG K701s. At least,don't trust an AA review, EVER.

Go over to www.head-fi.org and ask for some comparisons if you're seriously considering them. There are lots of Grado-huggers over there and a number of people that own several brands of headphones. (To my ears there's a Grado-sound, but I haven't heard this particular model). Anyway, you'll get lots of strong opinions at head-fi, but you can usually find useful feedback if you carefully sort through the bombast.

Ah, this reminds me, my recabled AKG 701s should be back next week.

Dave

Quote:
Ah, this reminds me, my recabled AKG 701s should be back next week.

Dave

Dave,

I have a pair of AKG 701's which have been recabled with a Moon Audio Silver Dragon cable - single entry. When I bought these cans they had already been recabled so I have no basis for comparison regarding the sound of stock AKG 701s therefore I am very interested in your thoughts on your recabled AKG 701s. And of course, all the details about the recabling - what kind of cable and who did the work. Thanks

Back on topic, my only experience with the GS 1000 has been at various headphone meets and, while I agree that the high end and bass responses are both a little elevated, again not unlike that of the old "loudness" circuit, which was quite popular back in the early days of solid state, this notched frequency response suits these headphones rather well and they have always sounded quite good to these ears.

That being said, if one is going to spend that kind of money on a set of headphones, then you owe it to yourself to at least given a listen to the Ultrasone Edition Nines. Yes, they list for $500 more than the Grados but if the dollar keeps falling against the euro, then that US price becomes quite a bargain. Besides which these are about the best sounding headphones I've ever heard. The best sounding headphones I ever heard were a pair of Sony Qualia MDR-R10's. These things were absolutely amazing but just so damn expensive, around $4,000 when new, but who knows what today's price is.

I've heard great things about the GS1000. But $1K for headphones is a bit too much for me... my AKG-701s are more than good enough for me. Maybe I'll get them re-cabled like Dave... Dave, did you go w/ Cardas? Make sure to do one of your reviews for them, pls!

Quote:

Dave,

I have a pair of AKG 701's which have been recabled with a Moon Audio Silver Dragon cable - single entry. When I bought these cans they had already been recabled so I have no basis for comparison regarding the sound of stock AKG 701s therefore I am very interested in your thoughts on your recabled AKG 701s. And of course, all the details about the recabling - what kind of cable and who did the work. Thanks

I will report here when I've had them for a week or two and burn everything in again. I'm getting dual entry mod with 12' of Cardas and 1/4" termination.

Dave

I have a Cardas cord on a pair of Sennheiser 650s. Very nice - even though the cord is 20' long.

Thus, I would be very happy to try Cardas on the 701s also.

I'm partial to the Equinox, although the Cardas is a close second.

The guys doing Equinox wanted almost twice as much which I coulnd't understand.

The stock cables are clearly a limiting factor for these great cans, but that's true for almost all cans. My Audio Technica W5000s cost considerably more than the AKGs, yet their cable is crap also.

Dave

Quote:
I will report here when I've had them for a week or two and burn everything in again. I'm getting dual entry mod with 12' of Cardas and 1/4" termination.

Dave

And who is doing the work?

I have a Cardas cable on my Sennheiser HD 650s which is very nice, although the stock HD 650 cable is pretty good, in fact, way better than most stock headphone cables. I didn't need anybody to do the work since Sennheiser cables are removable/replaceable by the user.