Grado GS1000i

Nearly three years ago, we reviewed Grado's flagship model, theGS1000. We hardly stinted with praise, describing it as possibly 'thefinest electricity-to-sound transducer in the world'. But three yearsis a long time in audio – long enough for two particular things tohappen.

First, Grado informed us that a new version of theGS1000 was available, sporting the suffix 'i' for 'improved'. Second,Sennheiser weighed in recently with the HD800, a direct competitor at asimilar price, which we wrote about in terms suggesting it might be amatch, or more, for the GS1000.

That gives this new model two marks by which to be judged – itspredecessor and the newcomer from Sennheiser. But what has Gradoactually done to justify the 'improved' tag? All that's obviousexternally is a thicker (and slightly shorter) cable.

Thecompany is invariably coy with technical details, but its website doesgive a few pointers. For a start, the new cable has eight conductors,made of ultra-high purity, long-crystal copper, the same material as isused for the voice coils. The dynamic drive unit is upgraded, while thewooden surround uses a new type of wood and all the tweaks are claimedto give better control and stability of the treble and bass.

Theexperience of wearing these headphones is exactly the same as with theoriginal GS1000, dominated by the bizarre-looking but effective foamearcups which, attached to a moderately springy headband, keep thedrive units stable on the ears with minimal pressure on any sensitivebits of the head.

No headphone is perfectly comfortable over along period, but these do better than most: the headband can become alittle uncomfortable on the top of the head after a while, but it's asimple matter to move it a centimetre or two. Sound seems consistentevery time the headphones are put on – some are very fussy about exactplacement but these are quite forgiving.

Sound quality

There'sno doubting the very high performance achieved by this model. Tried inalternation with the original GS1000 (we bought the review sample andhave hundreds of hours experience with it), it clearly maintains thegeneral sound character.

Tonal neutrality is excellent fromlowest bass to highest treble and detail is superb. And as with all thehighest quality headphones, one is aware from the first few seconds ofmusic that the resolution is in a different league from mostloudspeakers, showing up musical details (and occasionally blemishestoo) that had simply not registered before.

As for differencesfrom the non-'i' GS1000, we had to listen for quite a while before wewere really sure that we heard any at all. Despite Grado's claims, wecouldn't convince ourselves that the treble was significantly changed,but the bass is indeed a touch more secure and indeed is a particularglory of the model; very extended but always clear and tuneful.

Themidrange seems to us just slightly more present and vocals are as aresult slightly more clearly differentiated from instrumentalaccompaniment, for instance. But this is nit-picking, as overall thecharacter seems largely unchanged.

Comparing this model withthe HD800, we'd have to say we felt the latter to have the edge in bothtonal neutrality and detail. On the other hand, the Grado is, perhaps,a little more lively dynamically and that alone will make it theobvious choice for many listeners. It has endless rhythmic vivacity andthat, combined with the high resolution, makes it without a doubt oneof the most convincing bits of audio kit we know.

We've alsolearned that Grado has a new 'professional' model, the PS1000, placedabove the GS1000i. Although considerably dearer, it could be the newpoint of reference. Watch this space.

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