Grado RS2 Reference Series Headphones

CNET
By: Steve Guttenberg

Grado Labs headphones are perennial audiophile favorites, with support running all the way to its budget line. We've reviewed some of those "entry level" models here at CNET including the SR60, SR80 and the SR125 so we were curious about how Grado's top-of-the-line Reference Series models would sound. Donning a set of RS-2s, we felt right at home the headphone feels much like the more affordable models while exponentially improving the sound. The RS-2s are essentially the same as Grado's flagship RS! Headphones, except there is a smaller wooden air chamber and a slightly narrower range of frequency response.

The low-end Grados are mostly of plastic and metal, so the first things you notice about the RS-2s are their mahogany wood ear cups, their machined metal parts, and their real leather headband. The handcrafted wood parts are said to be specially cured over many production steps in an effort to perfect the "Grado sound." The left and right drivers are matched to extremely high tolerances. Also crucial to the sound are the ultra-high-purity, long crystal oxygen-free copper cables and high-powered neodymium magnets. The seven-foot-long double-sided cable terminates in a gold-plated ¼ inch plug. It's also worth noting that the RS-2s carry an impedance 5rating of 32 ohms – far more efficient than the 120 ohms to 300 ohms of competing high-end headphones. That extra efficiency allows the RS-2 to work with your iPod, but the Grados still won't play all that loud and might not cut it with whimpier MP3 players. They're best suited to plug into an A/V receiver or other home stereo equipment.

Flightplan, a thriller starring Jodie foster, sounded spectacular over the Grado RS-2s. We not only felt every tremor and shudder of the gigantic plane, we heard even the most subtle details, such as the ice cubes rattling the passengers' plastic beverage cups. The combination of an engrossing film and an impressive set of headphones made it feel as though the RS-2s disappeared and the sound seemed to be coming from far outside the actual confines of the headphones.

By comparison, the Sennheiser HD650s have a lot more bass, but they're boomier than the RS-2s. The RS-2s certainly aren't lacking in deep bass, but they're tighter and firmer, with significantly better pitch-defined bass than the 650s. Led Zeppelin's Presence CD rocked out over the RS-2s but felt (comparatively) just a little blah on the HD650s. With the RS-2s, the sound wraps itself around your head and puts you in the room with the musicians. The music's dynamic punch and speed have the quality of live sound.

The Grado RS-2s big foam ear pads aren't as soft or comfortable as those of other high-end headphones we've tested, such as the AKG K 601s, the Beyerdynamic DT880s, and the Sennheiser HD 650s. This is partially because the foam is relatively stiff and applies more pressure on your ears. We also noted that the cable is stiffer and bulkier than average. At the end of the day, though, the RS-2s big-hearted sound won us over. Its more vivid than that of other high-quality headphones, bass is reach-and touch-realistic, midrange is clear and true, and treble livelier than any other headphone we've ever tried. We never tired of the RS-2s' sound, but if its price is out of reach, go ahead and audition the Grado SR325i, a close sonic cousin to the RS-2s.

CNET / Steve Guttenberg

Jazz - Now

GRADO RS2 Reference Series Headphones
By: Jim Merod.

Perhaps no aspect of a Jazz lover's life is as frustrating as the need, late at night when one's spouse or housemates are asleep, for a serious listening session with say, Duke Ellington's Orchestra or Cal Tjader' ensemble. Jazz is often a late night appetite. If your family is fast off in dreamland but you are wide awake with an inch to dig into your record musical archive you can solve that problem with a good pair of headphones. What headphones should you purchase?

There are many good phones on the market that will make you very pleased you are still awake and digging the rhythm. Among them is a new model from the legendary headphone and phono cartridge manufacturer Grado Laboratories. The RS2 Reference headphone is a handsome instrument that attracts attention with the usual virtue of its beautifully crafted exotic-wood earpiece housings. Its a gorgeous piece of gear. It also employs very high-grade, well insulated cable for the interconnect between each earpiece and your sound systems phone jack.

Everything about the Grado RS2 is elegant. It has the classic functional appearance of a turn-of-the-century Singer sewing machine. Grados design is simultaneously sturdy and simple. These phones define what a headphone was meant to be in the first place: a nonintrusive, altogether no-nonsense way to sing carefully (and caringly) in your ear.

The Grado RS2 has been designed by John Grado and his expert technicians to sound like no other. It carries a gloriously unruffled, deeply relaxed musical character regardless of the kind of music or the dynamic range put through it. You put these phones on your head and begin, immediately, to feel close to the music, but not in the least assaulted, pushed, pained, or in any other way attacked by too much dynamic force, tonal brightness, sound coloration, force, or aggression.

If you wear headphones as often as I do- as a recording and mastering engineer- your closest associates and family sometimes think you've grown appendages on your noggin. The nearly constant use of headphones is part of a recording engineers occupation. It can become a hazard because using headphones can be dangerous to your hearing unless you are very careful not to listen at high volumes. And theirs the rub. If you need to hear every, note, and tonal shift in a recording underway. In a recording undergoing mastering for a CD, then you must be certain to give yourself sufficient volume so that you have sufficient tonal information. The startling and wonderful thing about the Grado RS2s is that you can accomplish precisely that discovery of full information without cranking the phones to ear -damaging levels.

This is perhaps more important for ordinary musical listener than it seems at first. When you can enjoy music at relatively low sound level, your listening experience is less fatiguing. You can listen longer with more sense of the musics force and meaning.

The relaxation of a headphones music reproduction delivery is the secret of its success in terms of listening for any sustained length of time. The unique tonal quality of the Grado headphones is difficult to define but not difficult to live with. Its gentle (but not truncated or roll off) quality seems to caress sound all throughout the midband of the tonal spectrum. This, in turn, produces a slight and altogether pleasing warmth that does not deform the accuracy of its musical reproduction.

Perhaps, since few people are trained to hear the luxurious majesty of music that only a superior auditorium can create, the special sonic virtue of the Grado headphones will seem somewhat obscure or too subtle for the average listener. I do not think so. Like the famous Grado phono cartridges-the $1200 Reference cartridge, or its less expensive companion, the $500 Reference Sonata, Grado headphones carry a degree of harmonic integrity that is rare.

These headphones are not entry-level pieces of the quick, over-the-counter variety. They are serious components that greatly enhance a persons listening soundstage. At $495, they represent a genuine investment in your ongoing enjoyment of music, late at night or anytime at all. Grado RS2s are more expensive than the highly regarded Sennheiser models at 580 (at $280) and 600 (at $350). And they are quite distinct from those two estimable sets of phones-both of which I use frequently, and neither of which has the ease and beguiling seductiveness of musical reproduction found in the RS2s.

The spectrum of headphone options before a buyer is daunting to chart and difficult to sort through. On one side, the AKG K240M is a very good headphone at a bargain price ($149), while the Sennheiser HE60/70 series is essentially state-of-the-art but expensive ($1500). Well positioned in between (at a price that is otherworldly) the Grado RS2 is not only the cost-effective partner to the more expensive Grado RS-1 ($699). It is a very good value in absolute terms, as well.

Anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of the music in a personal archive of CDs, LPs, and the rest will find, with help from the truly charming RS2 headphones, that one can find respite from noise, distraction, and inferior musical reproduction. Such a person will discover, also, just how magical the listening experience that can be. With these Grado phones, you are in the realm of sound that is rarely created at any price- a world of musical experience usually dependant upon large speakers which demand large amplifiers, both costing thousands of dollars.

If you audition the Grado RS2s, you may find something you never heard before: the calm artistry of well-made sound.

By: Jim Merod.

Grado Reference Headphone Series RS2

Expensive but superb sounding. The RS2s are superbly transparent, detailed and sophisticated

The Reference Series is the top-notch range of headphones from Grado, of which the RS2s are the second most expensive. In this category you're competing with the likes of Stax and the top Sennheiser, both of whom have electrostatic designs. The Grados however aren't electrostatic, but open backed design. The fish, as befits the price, is very fine, with use of real wood - and they weigh very little. Consequently you can hardly feel them on your head, such is their apparent lightness. Despite this lightness they are by no means fragile, having a controlled and stable fit. Sound wise the Grados were superb. Midrange and treble detail was awesome, but their response was also smooth and highly sophisticated. There was a wonderful sense of airiness and transparency. Big orchestral pieces had both scale and presence, plus timbre richness, which is rarely found. These are a true high-fidelity product so don't expect synthetic or forced low bass response. It's only there when it's on the recording, but if it slow and powerful, the RS2s will play it with speed and depth. Highly recommended if your listening is mainly through cans, where the heavy cash outlay will be justified. A good (preferable the RA1) headphone amp will make them really sing, so it's virtually a must do.

HI-FI WORLD

Grado RS1 and RS2 Headphones

Stereophile Vol.21 No.2

The $695 Grado RS1s have been around for about two years. The $495 Grado RS2s are brand new. They were quietly introduced right before Christmas.

I call the RS1s the Grado 'woodies' with deference to the late Beavis and Butthead. The sound is typically Grado - warm, full bodied, rich, non fatiguing in the treble. (This applies to all Grado phones, including the lightweight SR 40's for 39.95 - an ideal choice for joggers.!)

The RS1s have even greater warmth and richness than other Grado 'phones, perhaps because of the mahogany earphone chambers. By the way, the "specially cured" mahogany (from mahogany trees specially grown in Brooklyn, New York - yes, a tree grows in Brooklyn) is surprisingly light.

Is it the mahogany that gives the RS1s their special richness and resonance? No question - the RS1s and RS2s sound like no other phones. With bodies tuned like musical instruments, these phones are especially kind to Classical music. They impart richness, body, and sweetness, particularly to strings. For this reason, the Grado RS1s remain some of my favorite phones.

However, the Grados can sound sluggish and bass-heavy, even lacking in resolution especially for the first 50 hours or so. So you need to run them in! They can also sound sluggish and lacking in detail when driven directly off the likes of Radio Shack Optimus CD-3400 portable CD player. Not only do they need run in, they need power .

For me, the Grado RS1s come into their own with the Cary CAD-300SEI, the McCormmack Micro Integrated Drive, or the Creek OBH-11 (provided you use the optional OBH-2 power supply upgrade). I'm somewhat less than keen on the Grado RS1s with the Musical Fidelity X-Cans, even with the X-PSU power supply, because the bass is not as tight and taut as I like. The midrange and treble are magnificent with this combination, however.

The Creek OBH-11 headphone amp is something else-especially with the OBH-2 power supply upgrade. With this combo, the Grado RS1s not only sing -- they fly. There's no sluggishness. Bass is tight, taut, yet lusciously full - this fullness and richness of bass is something you don't quite get with the Sennheiser HD 600s. The treble is sweet and extended, yet not over the top.

Fortunately, now there are the Grado RS2s for $495. That's $200 less than the RS1s, for 'phones that look and sound almost identical. Good news for those who find the price of the RS1s out of reach!

The RS2s are made from the same Brooklyn mahogany, but the gimbal assembly is plastic, not metal. The phones are probably rugged enough, though - if my five year abuse of the SR60s is any indication. As with the RS1s, the voice coils are wound from ultra-high-purity long crystal, oxygen-free copper. And the diaphragm of each driver is "de-stressed" to "enhance inner detail."

You don't get a wooden presentation chest with the RS2s, though-just a plain cardboard box with foam packing. As I said, Grado headphones take a while to break in, and I've had the RS2s for only a few days. Still I can remember what the RS1s sounded like before they broke in: the RS2s are very close in sound quality. Again, it's the full-bodied sound-especially the luscious, rich, resonant bass - that makes the Grado 'phones special. Be sure to give them good amplification, though.

Stereophile Vol.21 No.2