I have the Grado RS-1/RA-1 combo and it is near perfect; improing on my older Stax by quite a bit (to be fair the Stax were over 15 years old).
I found that pluging RA-1 directly into the source (in my case, a Sony SCD-1) greatly improves te sound. This contradicts others who have suggested that a good tube preamp (Audio Research, Joule, BAT, etc.) helps the sound over direct out. I will be reviewing the RA-1 with three preamps later this month (a Classe 60, a Placette and my current First Sound Refernce passive) and I will post the results here. I will also be testing the Grado's arch rival, the Sen 600's. The earcan audiophile crowd seems somewhat divided as to which is better the Grado RS-1 or the Sen 600 -- but the general thought is that they both sound very good -- just different.
As, for tube headphone amps, Headroom sells the Wheatfield H2, an amp that is very favourably reviewed. Go to headwise.com and headroom.com and read the reviews.
I found that pluging RA-1 directly into the source (in my case, a Sony SCD-1) greatly improves te sound. This contradicts others who have suggested that a good tube preamp (Audio Research, Joule, BAT, etc.) helps the sound over direct out. I will be reviewing the RA-1 with three preamps later this month (a Classe 60, a Placette and my current First Sound Refernce passive) and I will post the results here. I will also be testing the Grado's arch rival, the Sen 600's. The earcan audiophile crowd seems somewhat divided as to which is better the Grado RS-1 or the Sen 600 -- but the general thought is that they both sound very good -- just different.
As, for tube headphone amps, Headroom sells the Wheatfield H2, an amp that is very favourably reviewed. Go to headwise.com and headroom.com and read the reviews.