recstar24

Hey I know I got my tires taken care of. Tell that to the other folks who are slipping and sliding and crashing into the median. Or the people with the big SUV's that think they can do whatever they want in whatever conditions because they have "4WD." You would think that people in the Chicagoland area know how to drive in snow but apparently not, IMHO.

My longest commute in snow was last winter. Huge blizzard. It's about 25 miles, combination of local and expressway, that normally takes 35 minutes. That day took me 4 hours. I am pretty sure I could have walked home sooner.

I concur - very focused and precise.

That is correct, but that does not change the fact that the vintage is across the board smoother and more balanced. The impressions are consistent and we are not talking about newbies with limited listening experience that are making these statements. Any number of reasons could be the result of why they sound different. Personally, I think they are the same drivers but may have been tuned just slightly different from current stock, but again I couldn't tell you the transition of when that occured. The wood itself, the mahogany looks so different from current stock that I wouldn't be surprised if that didn't play a part in it as well. I do not think its burn in because a lot of these vintage sets probably haven't been used very much (or I know that my last set of vintage rs-1s werent used very often at all and were probably forgotten in a drawer or something). Even with bowls they sound much smoother and balanced than current stock. Mulveling made a very similar statement as well, and believed that someone who could not tolerate RS-1's with bowls (such as myself) can now magically listen to vintage rs-1's with bowls perfectly just fine. The reality of the situation is that we will never know and John Grado will never tell us. It is kind of comparable to what Klipsch used to do with his speakers back in the day. Take the cornwall I's - at one point Klipsch changed the drivers to something completely different yet didn't tell anyone. Another point he changed the crossover and never told anyone. Another time he changed the material of the cabinets and he didn't tell anyone. Guess what, all versions sound different. To make it worse, he did not record nor did he care about serial numbers and when he made those changes, so its near impossible to figure out which version is which by looking at the serial number, you have to look inside the guts and see yourself. Not coincidence either that the original version of the cornwall is the best sounding.

Agree. Bowls were created because some of the reviews criticized the sound saying it sounded congested and muddy and too narrow. Basically reviewers who didn't really know what headphones could sound like with decent amplification. Rs1's with flats and good amplifcation sounds open, with nice depth to the soundstage. Its still a grado but the out of head experience is more evident on a good amp.

OT - thanks Nate for that. I thought maybe my comp was messed up.

Thanks for clarifying that. So we have no idea which GS1000 he is referring to, his current new one or the previous prototypes that he has.

Maybe Zanth can chime in but I believe he owns the original gs1000 prototype (or one of them). If you believe that the proto sounds different from the production as others have reported, that may be the reason.

There have been enough comparisons from enough reputable people out there that have compared the vintage rs-1's to new stock and the conclusions have all been pretty similar. Warm full bodied sound, no glare, no harshness, very smooth throughout. New stock has a glare and harshness that is simply not present on the vintage stock. My rule of thumb for myself is when I can listen to them with bowls and not become deaf from the shrill highs, and get some of the deepest fullest bass with bowls, then there is something going on. My sonic impressions have almost always coincided with Mulveling's (Mike) and they do with the vintage vs. current stock rs-1's. I believe Ian in his post from the NYC meet is pretty similar to our impressions as well. Now if that difference is worth about 16-1700 bux, can't help you there. At that pricepoint I would just get the HP1000. But if your comparing a $650-$700 vintage rs-1 set vs. a $1500 HP1000, then the cost/value ration is heavily favored to the vintage rs-1 IMHO.

Did you just compare Billie to Rihanna? Get out.

I bet those tapes sound utterly fantastic - the selection will definitely always be limited though. I mean if Steve Hoffman has a hard time finding classic titles to remaster because of greedy music business suits than I am sure these guys will have some big obstacles to get the real good classic stuff.

Is there anything beneficial about the magic eye tubes or is it purely a cosmetic light show? I tried to open up the pdf on mapletree's website that goes into detail about the circuit and design, but it doesn't pop up anymore. Nate if you don't mind chiming in I would like to get your thoughts specifically on the circuit design if you are aware of it. I believe its a parafeed transformer coupling with the tubes operated in a cathode follower configuration, any more details would be great.

Thanks Nate - I really trust your opinion on these things for sure. I will look into an Ear+ Purist HD, hopefully used, and what the heck I will snag it up, I've always wanted to hear it anyways, and I am sure I can unload it later.

I have not heard one, but have read a lot of favorable impressions with grados. My issue is that there are so many different models and it seems like they are constantly revamping their line. So if I were to pick up something used, I might not be able to recoup a big chunk of my costs, which is key because I will be upgrading shortly after. Though that new super HD with increased power output seems really intriguing. A local headfier is letting me borrow his EC/SS for a bit, the latest version, which should definitely tide me over. As for the singlepower, I am sure if I ordered a custom made one it could get here like tomorrow. Yes.

Basically one of the wires that is hooked up from the channel to the pot broke off during shipping, and when I turned it on, it must have fried the whole side of power supply transistors (according to craig). Also there was a rattling sound inside, a heatsink from one of the power supply transistors had broken off. I am sure Craig could possibly fix it, but I also know he's busy and has a lot of stuff going on, so probably figured just refund my money which is totally cool by me.

Thanks Nate - and yes I was assuming going used because I would need to turn it around quickly and for minimal loss when I eventually get the amp that I want to get. I will check out one for sale right now.

Well, I had to send in the red hat proto to craig to fix. Unfortunately, it is deemed "unfixable" and Craig refunded back my money. So I'm ampless. I will probably end up getting the balance discrete he is coming out with, but he gave me a time frame of late January. Knowing craig it will probably be a couple of months after. So in looking for somewhat affordable options that I can use now and sell later when its time to get the balancing act from EC, i thought of woo audio. Affordable and KG has had nice things to say. The woo audio 6 is a transformer coupled amp that uses the 6DE7 tubes for driver/power and a 5ar4 for tube rectification. The only question would be how good those tubes are and how good can those transformers be for a $570 amp. Any impressions from my fellow head-casers? Random thought - I didn't even bother posting this on head-fi, as I trust the opinions of those here much more than the general mass public on head-fi.

Yes I got them for a very fair price, tyrion's offer is right around the ballpark where I would value them (or at least that is what I sold my last set to JP nums for). I highly doubt someone really offered him that much for RS-1's even if they are vintage set. He is either saying that because he wants people to pay more, or he is giving false information, like saying they have the HP1000 drivers or something (yes that rumor is circulating around and I have had to debunk a couple of newbs from spreading that).

That is correct - he simply does not see the SE version of the red hat/top making business sense. There really hasn't been a lot of interest and its really a big endeavor to take on something new when you are really unsure if it is going to sell or not. However he feels the balanced will attract more attention, as the price will be around 1500 or so, and compared to the 3000 apache it should be a no brainer. The proto that as of right now is mine is still being looked at and hopefully can be repaired. As it is the only SE version that will ever come out. I will probably end up with the balanced version anyways so no biggie.

I would agree - even though there is something really special about the vintage RS-1 sound that I almost prefer it over the PS-1. My set the bass on bowls is absolutely amazing, its full and goes really deep and you can hear it resonate, and the highs are so smooth. There is absolutely no glare up top whatsoever. The current RS-1's with bowls I just want to kill myself. harsh, grainy, ugh.

Ah...the one he picked up on audiogon for $475. I love this country. I think I would rather pick up some PS-1's or HP1000's or even save up a little more and go with L3000's. I do love my vintage set but there are other cans for sure.

The guy is a headfier - I believe his username is Wil, something like that. He has two sets - he is keeping the vintage, selling off his new stock. If you search headfi you will see his posts in regards to his particular vintage set. My interest has been piqued as well by the HPA1. Supposedly the same circuit as the RA1 (or the RA1 is the same circuit as the HPA1 if your into semantics), but with better parts. Hirsch has commented I think on headfi in the past that the HPA1 is considerably smoother with less grain than the RA1. A lot of users have felt the amps are good with grados, but lack the bass punch of solidity of other amps.

Hmmm...I have seen those two, my last vintage RS1 set the box was the normal brown and said headphones on it. The clasping mechanism though on this current black one is a very nice tight locking one, my last one not so much. Yup Rhydon got them from audiofiler, nice person to deal with. Unfortunately do not have the hp's anymore, when my finances settle in the future, might look to getting another set, and hopefully the prices will have settled a bit as well.

The seller tells me that is how he received it. I have seen the black box before, from posts, I remember reading the 1st 100 were with the black box, which also had the gold L/R lettering. Looking at the box it definitely looks like it has been painted, certain parts that have chipped it really looks like its some kind of nice lacquer or something that is thick

Oh don't worry I do have flats, never leave home without them Basically, I took my expensive "hi end" rig and downgraded to a cheaper "mid fi" version. Meridian 508.24, Eddie Current Red Hat proto, vintage RS-1's. Plain and simple. Simply could not justify keeping the G08 around knowing the 508 is really close but with bigger bolder bass. Loved the HP1000's, but again just can't afford to have that kind of luxury. The rig that I have now is less than half the price of my last rig but as musically involving and more financially responsible for me.