Grado RS2 Headphones

The Grado RS2 headphones borrow heavily from the features of the RS1, Grado's flagship product.

While the basic characteristics such as the handcrafted mahogany earcups, the upgraded driver and the new 8-conductor cable design are retained in the RS2, the difference is a smaller air chamber in the RS2 resulting in a slightly narrower range of frequency response.

This does not however impede its overall excellent quality of sound reproduction.

Grado RS2 Headphones Click to enlarge

Like the RS1, the rich mahogany wooden ear cups, the fine machined metal parts and the leather headband of the Grado RS2 are striking features that grab your attention.

Again, as with other Grado headphones, you may find the large foam ear pads a touch uncomfortable when compared to other high-end headphones.

The Grado RS2 headphones are based on an open air design which means that they have an open back covered by a protective mesh, a metal grill in this case.

These headphones leak sound in and out and would be a poor choice for listening in noisy environments.

The benefit however, is that this open air design eliminates all echoes and resonance - the more open the enclosure, the cleaner the sound reproduced.

The Grado RS2 uses ultra-high purity, long crystal oxygen-free copper (UHPLC) wiring, same as in the RS1, both in the voice coil as well as the connecting cord.

The left and right drivers are matched to extremely high tolerances. The RS2 has an impedance rating of 32 ohms, which is much more efficient than most of the competing high-end headphones.

It has vented diaphragms and is provided with top quality wiring. While most headphones use a standard 3 wire configuration, the RS2 uses 4 wires, improving the quality of the sound reproduction.

Although the extra efficiency of the Grado RS2 allows you to play the headphones with your iPod - they also come with an adaptor to hook up to an iPod - they just may not be loud enough.

They are most suited to be played with an AV receiver or a home theatre system.

Listening to music on the Grado RS2 gives you the feeling of not just being at a live performance, but on centre stage surrounded by musicians.

The RS2's design makes it most suited to reproduce the best of rock music and incredible with metal, but not so good with classical music.

This is because the narrow soundstage is unable to separate so many musical instruments as in classical music. For anything simpler, however, they are simply amazing.

The Grado RS2 headphones are practically similar to the RS1 and are retailed at almost $200 lower than the RS1.

With almost identical features and looks hardly distinguishable from a fair distance, the RS2 are great headphones and exceptional value for money.

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