A Headphone Ferrari In Disguise

The RS2 is billed as the "baby brother" of the classic Grado RS1. At $495, it's a pricey set of cans but its saving grace is the fact that it's more than a "baby brother." It's almost a twin. If you just have to have an RS1, accept no substitutes. But if you're looking for the SOUND of an RS1 - and you've become fond of the cash in your wallet - this pair of cans could save you $200.

Until the introduction of the thousand-dollar GS1000, the RS1 was the flagship headphone of Grado Labs, the Brooklyn-based company that specializes in phonographic cartridges, killer headphones and headphone amplifiers. Priced at nearly $700, the RS1 is not the kind of product you'll find hanging from a hook at Circuit City. But its trademark sound - clear, detailed and "up front" - has long been a favorite of musicians, DJs and sound engineers. But what about the rest of us? In all honesty, who would plunk down $700 to try out a pair of headphones?

That's where John Grado, nephew of company founder Joe, has dropped the ladder and tossed us all a life preserver. While John Grado shares his uncle's commitment to the war on resonance - which muddies up the sound of all those pretty cans in space-age plastic - most of the Grado line is about finding the right price point between uncompromised excellence ($700) and tradeoffs that give you as much of the Grado sound as your budget will allow.

Like all Grados - from the $1,000 GS1000 to the $49 iGrado - the RS2 is based on the idea that an open-air design produces the best possible sound. Open-air means that instead of a cup or ashtray, Grados have an open back, covered by a porous protective grill. Open-air phones leak sound in and out, making them a poor choice for listeners who want to rub shoulders with their neighbors. They don't cancel sound or contain it. But the benefit of "going leaky" is the elimination of all those echoes and standing waves known as resonance. In fact, there's probably no way to completely eliminate the sound signature of a headphones enclosure, but the more open the enclosure, the cleaner the sound. Grados are notoriously open, making their drivers sound notoriously clean.

But on that front, not all Grados are equal, at least not in their degree of transparency. Some Grados are more open than others. The RS1 maximizes transparency - and fluid air flow - by using a metal grill. Both the RS2 and the top Prestige Series headphones - the SR325i and the SR225 - use similar metal grills. All the lower Grados - the $150 SR125, the $95 SR80, the $69 SR60 and the $49 iGRado - use plastic grills. The result is less airflow on the cheaper models and the acceptance of a bit more resonance, which adds to the "clarity gap."

Another factor in the Grado sound is the wiring. Like the RS1, the RS2 uses ultra high purity long cystal copper wiring - both in the voicecoil as well as the connecting cord (which Grado tops off with a gold-plated connector). The idea is to provide the best delivery device for reproducing the sound signature of the original recording. All Grados have vented diaphrams but the driver's performance can only rise to the level of the wiring. Both the RS1 and RS2 share the same top-quality witing. In the Prestige Series, only the SR325i contains the same formula of using UHPLC copper wire, in both the voicecoil and connecting cord. The SR225 and SR125 use UHPLC copper wire in the voicecoil but use standard wire for the connector cord. The SR80 and SR60 simply use standard wire. These latter phones still have an awesome Grado sound, but there's a detectable difference in clarity. The best wiring produces the best sound.

While we're on the subject of wiring, it should probably be said that the RS2 uses four wires instead of three. Most headphones use a standard three-wire configuration, where the two drivers share a common ground. It's less expensive - in terms of materials and labor - but it makes a difference. Think of video. Just as there's a difference between composite video (red, blue and green pumped through the same cable) and component video (red, blue and green separated), it pays to treat each driver as a separate speaker with its own connecting cords. This is less of a distinction between the RS1 and all the other Grados from the SR80 up, but it's yet another example of why Grados are Grados.

Back in the old days of analog, there was a saying about custom sound systems: Your system is only as good as its weakest link. At the sound-system level, it paid to follow the link between turntable, amplifier, equalizer, connecting cables, speaker cables and speakers. Any soft link in the chain could render the other components less effective. In constructing their headphones, Grado Labs doesn't care so much what you'll look like (These monsters hang around your ears, making you look like a bombardier) or even comfort (on-ear headphones are prone to eventual ear fatigue). Grado is more interested in the sound, and to that end, it pays amazing attention to the fine details. When it comes to questions like, "Three cords or four?" Grado errs on the side of sonic clarity.

Another Grado feature of the RS1, but one it shares with all Grados from the SR80 up, is the use of large cushions (what I like to call the "radials"). In its attention to detail, Grado knows that cushions count. All of its phones are constructed so that cushions can be slipped on or off easily. This not only allows fo easy replacement of worn cushions. It allows for experimentation and modification. The low-end Grados (iGrado and SR60) use smaller pads that put the ear directly up to the driver. This improves bass response but narrows the sound stage. Because the pads cover the driver, they also filter out some of the sound. The larger radials put the ear further from the driver, providing the listener a more open soundstage. Because they don't cover the driver, these cushions don't filter out any sound. At a replacement price of $15, they're the least expensive part of the RS1's architecture - nor are they exclusive to the RS1 - but they're yet another example of Grado's attention to detail. To the extent that they filter sound or put the ear closer to or further from the driver, cushions make a difference.

The biggest difference between the RS1 and the other Grados is the air chamber. In the cost-conscious Prestige Series, almost all Grados come equipped with plastic air chambers. As plastic has no beneficial effect on sound (Imagine a plastic violin), these chambers serve only to provide the driver a "protective shell." At the top of the Prestige Series is the RS325i, whose shell is made from a non-resonant aluminum alloy. Sure enough, the 325i sounds better than its less-expensive siblings but the best Grados (GS1000, RS1, RS2) "get wood."

Like the GS1000 and the RS1, the RS2 incorporates an air chamber made from cured mahogany. As these things go, the air chamber on the GS1000 is the largest of the three. The air chamber on the RS1 is the smallest. But we're talking about millimeters here, not inches. In fact, the air chamber on the GS1000 may look significantly larger, but that's because it has a wider, flatter, "hat" surrounding the rear metal grill. If you look at the business end, the air chamber on the GS1000 is only slightly larger than its counterpart on the RS1 - and the air chamber on the RS2 is only slightly smaller than its counterpart on the RS1.

So what difference does wood make? Probably not as much as the quality of the driver, the purity of the copper wiring, the number of connecting cords and the transparency of the rear grill. If anything, mahogany adds a subtle resonance (the famous HP1000 use aluminum alloy, like the 325i) but wood coats the music with a slightly warmer sound. It's in this respect that the RS2 is virtually the same pair of headphones as the RS1. The wooden air chamber is SLIGHTLY smaller than the one on the RS1, and I would challenge any sane individual to distinguish the two at any appreciable distance. The biggest tip-off is the button, posted on the rear grill, that says RS2 instead of RS1. Newer RS1's - like mine - don't even have such a button (which only narrows the rear grill). If I were purchasing an RS2, I'd simply pull off the distinguishing button. As the air chamber proudly announces you've bought a Statement Series headphone, people will assume you purchased an RS1.

In fact, while I can tell the difference between an RS1 and a GS1000, as well as the difference between the RS1 and the SR325i, I don't hear any difference between the RS1 and the RS2. To my ears, the RS2 is an RS1 for $200 less. We can debate whether it's worth an extra $200 to encase your drivers in mahogany over alluminum alloy (though there's little debate about whether either material is superior to plastic). That's as much a fashion debate as a quarrel over sound. Mahogany has certain sound characteristics. Aluminum has others. By and large it's not a huge difference (making the 325i a better deal for the price) but there's something very cool about mahogany, something classy. Maybe there's a bit of male rivalry here, over whose headphones look and sound the best, but that's a fight between the RS2 and the SR325i. If you're looking at the difference between the RS2 and the RS1, consider this "substitute" for Grado's famous classic as the most transparent substitution imaginable. For $200 less, you're getting an RS1. Vendors can't call it an RS1 but behind the winks and nods, this is the RS1 at a discount.

If it matters to you what the headphone is called (and you've forgotten all the Grado lines - like the HP1000, SR325, SR40, SR100, SR200 and the HF1 - that have been replaced, or renamed, by the current line), by all means - buy the RS1. Pay the full $700 for the "real thing." I did and I have the bragging rights (I even own a GS1000). But if you're just looking at sound, I would seriously challenge anyone to make a meaningful distinction between the RS1 and the RS2. That may sound like heresy to some, but remember that the RS1 is the classic flagship of the Grado line. Everything Grado has produced afterwards has been in reference to this product. If you look at the product line reaching downward, it has been a series of successive attempts to reproduce RS1's at various price points. At only $49, the iGrado represents an amazing disosable Grado (something you could practically wear in the rain) but nobody is seriously contending that the iGrado, or even the famous SR60, is the same headphone as the RS1. What they're saying is that these phones are really great cans for the money.

If you're looking for an RS1 substitute - and one that will really press you to find a difference - the RS2 is your phone. These cans are practically the same cans as the RS1 - and at a $200 discount. Because I already own the RS1, I don't see any point in buying the RS2 (I also have a GS1000, an RS325i and a pair of the iGrado). But if I were in the market for an RS1, I'd seriously consider the purchase of an RS2 - and then I'd pop off any distinguishing buttons. Some people are so anal, they can't live with the idea that their headphones aren't "really" the classic product - and while I say this, I acknowledge (like an alcoholic at an AA meeting) that I own BOTH the RS1 and the GS1000 (even if the SR325i sounds fine at a fraction of the price). For the absolute geek, there's no substitute for the RS1 (not even the GS1000, which has a wider soundstage but less Grado presence). For anybody who can watch a naked emperor walk by and utter the obvious, the RS2 is as much of the RS1 as you will ever need.

P.S. The higher-end Grados come with a caveat. While the lower-end Grados burn in faster, the higher-end cans take more time. You'll need at least 100 hours of use before the sonic secrets of these cans will come out of hiding. Straight out of the box, they sound great but to the discerning Grado fanatic, there's always a bit of sticker shock. The new buyer pulls off a burned-in pair of SR80s or SR225s and slaps on the fresh out-of-the-box big boys - and if they're being honest, they say, "What's the big deal? These don't sound any better than what I've already got."

They don't. You have to burn them in.

My 325i's were a disappointment I tried to smile off. My well-worn SR80s sounded so good, I simply didn't see why I'd just bought a pair of headphones three times the price that didn't sound appreciaby better. Weeks later, I started hearing things that both freaked and dazzled my puzzled skull. Those "rip-offs" turned out to be a buried treasure. Because I bought them so close together, my RS1 and GS1000 are still burning in (with the RS1 a bit further along). I can honestly say these cans are not the ones I bought. The burn-in effect is real.

P.S. II - The Grado Sound is not everyone. If you're used to "laid back cans" like the Sennheisers, the Grado midrange may drive you nuts. Because they're open, the Grados offer a cleaner sound, but for bass heads who could care less about clean sound - as long as their skull is rocking with THUNK, THUNK, THUNK - why buy steak when ground beef will do? Grados have a notoriously narrow sound stage, one that puts you in the front row - or right there on the stage. For those who like to feel that "live" sound, there's nothing like a Grado. For those who want to feel more concert hall, some 20 rows back, Grados are annoying. The distance between ear and driver plugs your ear into the fine details, as if your ears had a zoom lens, but you're not going to get the more "balanced" feel of a sonic wide-angle. Some complain that Grados are too upfront, that their sound is too brash (though when I bought my GS1000, the smooth refinement was eventually replaced by nostalgia for the grit and detail of the Grado "house sound").

If you've never owned a Grado, the RS2 is still too expensive a product to experiment with, unless you have money to burn. The best introduction to the Grado sound is the SR60, which has won award after award for producing audiophile sound at a bargain price. My first pair - the SR80 - was a delight. As I broke them in, they broke me in - so to speak - giving me an appreciation for the "Grado sound." I wouldn't buy a pair of RS2s unless I were already a Grado fan - or I'd had enough experience with high-end headphones to appreciate what $500 can buy.

P.S. III - The RS2 comes in a padded box, with an adapter, so you can play them on an iPod. Unlike most high-end headphones, you don't need a headphone amplifier to enjoy these cans. Because of the Grado focus on natural acoustics, not even the GS1000 needs an amplifier to run off an ordinary iPod. That's not to say that you won't find an amplifier helpful. As the old guys remind us, your system is only as good as its weakest link. So, if your weakest link is the player, it doesn't hurt to invest in a decent headphone amp. But none of my Grados - not even the GS1000 - ever NEEDED a headphone amp to blow my socks off.