I really enjoy listening to these heaphones. I don't have to be concerned with lousy room acoustics (which would cost a fortune to correct), amplifiers and high end cables. Heaphones make sense if you are on a tight budget and/or cursed with a lousy room. While they are no substitute for a good speaker/room combo,they can sound quite satisfying! I'm thinking of purchasing a HEADROOM amp in the future but I am not sure if it will make a huge difference. I've listened to the X-CANS before and the results were not very overwhelming.

I listen to headphones quite a bit. For the money you can't match the sound. Ilisten to 'classic rock' and jazz. I have listened to quite a few headphones
and wanted the best sound for the money. If you are a classical music listener
than I believe that the sennheiser 580 is the best headphone out there even
for the money. Like I said I like rock and jazz and I was really sold on the
Sony mdr-5706 at $90 a pair, a real bargain. I was very satisfied with them
until I listened to the Grado line. WOW! After listening to most of them I
decided upon the sr125's. The sr60's are the best bargain in the line but I
wanted more detail and better bass. The sr125's bring out so much detail, like
Paul McCartney breathing into the mike at the beginning of Hey Jude, but yet
the headphones sound like wooden cabinets, warm and full! The Grado's are by
far high-end sound at an affordable (unbelievable) price.

price

horrible comfort, or lack of!!

These headphones were so damn uncomfortable that they made my ears numb. Read the reviews at goodcans.com and they will tell you about the comfort problem. Anyways they sound alright but get some Sennheisers and you wont' bother with the terrible fit and finish of GRADO's

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser 600's

Incredible sound and comfort. Pleasing retro-style looks.

Lots of plastic, give the impression they might be a tad fragile.

Bought the Sony 600s seven years ago and lacking anything better for comparison thought they were pretty good. Well, they're certainly better than the $25 sports 'phones sold at the local Circuit City, but for any serious listening they're sorely lacking... Bass is non-existent and highs are shrill. For the price they suck. Anyway, having recently upgraded my living room A/V system I decided to look into some better phones. First tried the 240s. Was very impressed with their comfort and extraordinary sonic spaciousness, but they lack any real bass and are very hard to drive on portable players or PCs. Next looked into the 7506s. They're a huge improvement over the 600s but I found them to be uncomfortable and thought the bass was much overemphasized, to the point of obscuring the mids and highs. Being closed they lack much in the way of any spacial feel to the sound. Also, the "pleather" lining of the pads is obviously paper-thin and prone to wearing out as was seen on both demo models at the local Mars Music outlet.

So, after much reading here and elsewhere I finally made my way to a local high-end dealer and brought home these sweet Grados. At first the were very uncomfortable and sounded nothing like the demo model I'd listened to in the showroom, but that wasn't too bothersome: I simply took the salesman's pre-purchase advice and let them play on their own for a few nights to break them in, and carefully tweaked the easily bendable headband until they fit my head like a glove. Having done all that I can say these cans produce a breathtaking sound, one so detailed and balanced they leave all the others tested in the dust. The 125s aren't terribly cheap, but in this case you most definitely get everything you pay for. Can't say yet how they'll hold up over the years, but given reasonably careful handling (no backpack carrying, please) my guess is anyone lucky enough to bring them home will be well pleased.

Similar Products Used:

AKG-240DF, Sony MDR-7506, Sony MDR-V600

Everything that needs to be said about this pair of phones have already been said in the reviews before mine. Astonishing sound staging and amazing clarity. The midrange and treble really comes right through and bass response is one of the best I've heard. After getting them, I find myself listening to my cans more often than not. The only bit I can say is that they aren't one of the most comfortable pair of cans I've owned, get a pair of Senns if that's what you want. Apart from that, I'd recommend them to anyone.

I've had these phones for a little over a week now, and still run them overnight, cuz the sound just keeps getting smoother. When I was in the audio store, I was doing the last round of comparison between the SR80 and SR125's. I had pretty much come to the conclusion that the SR125 presented _way_ more of the image, when the left phone of the SR80's conked out. I don't know what this says of the quality... but they had been the demo model for a couple of years now. Anyhow, when the new ones were brought out, they had the improved ear cups and were way more comfortable than before. Of course, these were fresh out of the box, and sounded kind of sibilant in the highs. Easy proof that you need to break these puppies in. Now that I have the SR125's at home, I'm hearing new things in every CD I own. I'm talking about bass riffs that don't even come through my 12" woofers, and the clarity to discern the tone of each note. If you play guitar, you'll get a kick out of the way you can hear fingers sliding on the strings, and the pick bouncing off a power chord. When an artist slams a deep piano chord, I smile at the clicking sound that the strings make for a heartbeat. Plain-old more information.
And forget about the old comments about comfort. The new cups on this model are excellent, and so light that you don't even feel the phones after a few minutes.
Simply superb.

The SR 125's are an absolutely phenomenol value. At approx. 150 dollars they aren't cheap but they'll blow away anything that you get in a home stereo for the same amount. Bass is deep and extended. The best thing about these headpones is thier ability to articulate every detail in the music. If it's there you'll hear it! everything sound stands out and yet fits in at the same time. Highly recommended.

Clear mids & highs. Bass is much more extended than the SR-60's. Hearty wires and gold plated 1/4" plug. Price.

Exposes bad recordings.

I got into headphones a few months ago. My old Koss phones were adequate and I didn't believe headphone sound could get much better for under 100 clams. Then I found the Grado SR-60's and was floored.

After three months of listening to the SR-60's and reading reviews, I decided to audition the SR-125's and never looked back. For less than 150 dollars, I think I've found the headphone I can stick with for years, without complaint.

Some find Grado's uncomfortable, but I've had no problem with them (using the donut pads that came with them, not the
new "comfy" pads). The only problem I have is now some of my CD's don't sound so high quality to me, not because of the headphones but because new details have been revealed.

The highs and mids are astounding. The bass is punchy and clear. The difference between these and closed headphones
seems to mirror the bass difference in ported and un-ported
speakers. Any closed phone listeners might not find these
boomy or bassy enough, but I prize the clean and accurate
punch they convey. And these aren't even fully burned in.

Finally, because they're easy to drive (32 ohms) and I'm always on the run, I find the SR-125's particularly suited
to those who cannot afford headphone amps, use their protables, and don't want to sacrifice sound. I'm using a
portable CD player that's only rated for 9 milliwatts (JVC) and it's still enough to rattle my glasses.

Before plunging into the very expensive headphone world, audition these cans. You may save enough to buy yourself
some other nice gadget like an amp or cd player. Great
sound doesn't have to mean deep pockets. 5 and 5 at this
price range.

Similar Products Used:

Grado SR-60
Koss TD-65

Lots of bass, but boomy

These hurt my ears so much I had to sell them

I previously had a pair of Sennheiser 570's that I loved. Unfortunately, my little brother "borrowed" them to take away to college. He (and I love those phones).

Well, after abut 3 months I was missing earphones so I read the reviews here and at a place called goodcans.com. Goodcans really recommends the Grado line - in particular the 125's so I thought I would give them a shot.

Let me say that I found the Grado's more "boomy" and less musical than the Sennheisers. I also found the treble sounded very grainy. That wasn't the worst part. Try as I might I simply could not listen to these earphones for longer than a half hour at a time.

Dispite adjusting AND buying new cushions as recommended by Goodcans.com these earphones fit so tight and uncomfortable on my ears that I had to take them back.

Avoid like the plague!

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser 570

clarity, detail

ergonomics, build

First impressions weren't very good. The plastic enclosures looked and felt cheap, as does the vinyl headband. But the SOUND! And all is forgiven. The mids/highs are extremely clear and sharp, and incredibly detailed. The bass is good and very tight with no trace of muddiness. Overall, an extremely dynamic headphone.
If i had the money, i'd go for the sr325 for the aluminium enclosures. But for the money, the sr125 sonically is right up there with the most expensive phones.

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Sennheiser HD500