Clarity, tight full bass.

They start to distort if volume is too high, but I think that's more of an amp issue.

I love these headphones. They really seperate the instruments in ways I've never heard before. I use them mainly for hard rock/metal, but I do listen to classical on occasion. After they were broken in, the first thing that jumped out at me was how easy it was to follow the bass guitar. For example, in Metallica's Fade to Black - a song I have heard a million times - I can hear something I've never noticed before. During the verses (mellow part of the song while James is singing), Cliff Burton (the bassist) is playing this incredibly melodic compliment to the main tune of the song. It adds so much to an already amazing song, and I never would have noticed it if it weren't for my grados.

My only complaint is that I wish I could turn up the volume a little louder before I start to hear distortion. I can really crank it if I turn the bass down, but if the bass is up the volume has to be lower. I am guessing (hoping?) that this could be solved by buying a headphone amp.

I tested out numorous other headphones, and for under 100 dollars, you can't beat grado's sr80's.

Sound,Price, weight

Long term Comfort

These heaphones are by far the finest I've ever used. The bass and sound detail are incredible for the price. Any time you hear music with string instruments you can actually hear and feel the bow being drawn across the string. When you hear the singers vocals, the headphones are so detailed that you can hear it when they take a breath. With saxs and trumpets, you can hear the attack that the musicians uses. I could go on and on, but you might as well try them yourself.
The bass is incredible. It is so deep and resonant that you can feel it in your chest.
The comfort is pretty good. I' give it 8/10 stars. I have the newer sr-80s with the bigger pads. They are only uncomfortable if you have it more than 2 hours straight. Otherwise, these are incredible cans. BUY THEM!!!!

Similar Products Used:

None

Phenomenal Bass, Natural Midrange and Smooth Treble. Very revealing and precise.

None that I can think of.

After years of waiting I finally got my very own SR-80. Bill Keyser's article in GoodCans helped me decide on SR-80 over the SR-60 because I knew that I will crave for the BASS (http://listeningstation.safeshopper.com/23/cat23.htm?880).
Since I ordered this from AudioAdvisor, I am assuming that this unit has already been broken-in.
The bass is really 'fast', clean and well extended. I've never heard the kind of bass I heard from this unit. The bass from the Grado sounds so much cleaner and holographic. Very musical. That's the advantage of sound coming to your ear with no room acoustics and sound reflections - you get clean music, no boom!
The midrange is very natural. I've never heard claps and finger snaps like this before. Drum sticks thwacking on the rims of drums sounds so real. You could actually imagine the instrument and how it is being played like fingers sliding on strings and plucking. Patty Larkin's Angels Running sounded so very nice with this headphones! The 'air' on Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Session is unbelievable! The treble is very 'right' and 'smooth'. It never sounded harsh and bright from my 'system'. In Eric Clapton's Unplugged, instruments are very well presented. Guitars sounded so 'guitar' and the hands clapping sounds like real hands =)
The overall sound is very revealing. Instruments are well placed and well projected and it's like having the music all in and out of your head =) I tried the 'Mapping the Soundstage' in Stereophile Test CD 3 and the effect was awesome. Sound were extending outside the headphones.
The most wonderful thing about this headphones is that even a portable disc player can drive it. I used it with my old Sony D-121 and the sound is still very revealing. It simply delivers the sound available from the source. The bass may sound 'slower' when used with a portable but it's still very acceptable.
About clarity - in The Simpson's Sing the Blues (1 of my favorite CDs), I can easily hear Homer's voice 'echoing' - probably a reflection from a glass in the sound studio??? - I have never heard this in my system/other headphones before. Lisa's voice in God Bless the Child sounded very dry like she's really in that studio. Overall remark about the album is that I've heard the bass that I've never heard before... again it was SO CLEAN and perfect!
This unit came with the new angled donut like earpads and I have no problem with it. It is very comfortable.
For the price and performance, you got to have one. I am using this as my reference 'system' =) Still have to listen to all my CDs...
Some of the CD album's I've listened so far - made me hear sounds that I never heard before from bass to midrange to treble: Eagle's Hell Freezes Over, Eric Clapton Unplugged, The Simpson's Sing the Blues, Patty Larkin's Angels Running, Rob Wasserman's Trios, Stereophile Test CD 2 and 3 (I could hear 25Hz!), Holly Cole Trio's Don't Smoke in Bed, James Taylor's Classic Songs.

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JVC HA-D510 Headphones, Sony Groove Earphones, Sennheiser IS-450 Wireless

Excellent highs, mids and bass. Durable. Good quality overall. Great sound quality overall

Can be uncomfortable for some people

These headphones are definatly the best money can buy for the price (about $95). The sound quality is excellent. I've listened to my Sony MDR-V600s for about a year, and when I tried the Grados, I could hear so many new things it was incredable. It was like being right up in the front row. After that, when listening to the Sonys I might as well have had cotton in my ears.
The Bass is just perfect, very clear and crisp, not over powered or muddy.
These headphones do require a little time to break in. About 30-40 hours of listening, upbeat music is recommended at a little higher volume.
Some say you need a headphone amp to get the most out of them. I tried an amp, and I must say it is very unnoticeable. I could barely notice the difference with or without the amp.
They are OK, when it comes to comfort. I notice a little discomfort at first, but after bending them a little, they are fine now. For people with sensitive ears, you might try replacing the pads with SR-60 pads, or Sennheiser pads that are a little softer cushions on the ears.
These are open headphones so people can hear your music a little, and you can hear whats going on outside. I don't mind because then someone doesn't have to yell to get my attension. I also dig the retro style look.

Similar Products Used:

Koss A/250, Sony MDR-V600, Sony MDR-V6, Sennheisers

energy

inefficient, leakage

After reading rave reviews of Grado products, I finally decided to try out a pair. I bought a pair of 80's. My first impression - awful. They were overly bright, harsh, and imaging was terrible.

After burning them in for awhile using pure sine waves, they did improve quite a bit. Highs are lively, but are still somewhat harsh and nasal at times. Bass is ok, but could be more focused. Although somewhat thin sounding, they do sound lively.

The headphones themselves are not as uncomfortable as they look.

I think that I am going to return these and try out 325's. You do get what you pay for.....

Best entry-level headphones from Grado or anyone else.Clear,pure transfer of audio formats that will embarrass your wealthy,proud friends who dump thousands into Hi-Fi only to have the listening-room play hopfrog with all their endeavors.Made in USA.

No product weaknesses,just weaknesses inherent to the headphone experience itself,at least not at this price!See my summary about these weaknesses,and how to minimize their effects.

You have heard it before,now you must experience it.And,for this price,who cannot?The $70 you spend on these cans will thrust you into the upper-echelon of HI-FI experience more surely than $10,000 worth of Amps,speakers,cables,and misplaced dreams.Why?THE ROOM,dummy...Did you forget THE ROOM? If you do not have,or cannot spend $10,000 solely on an acoustically-friendly listening space,do not be a fool.A flea-market ghetto-blaster boom-box in an acoustically decent space will sound way better than sexy components in the average listening room!And,good headphones like Grado give you excellent transducers in a self-contained friendly space for as little as $40.The reason that Grados may sound strange to you is because you most likely have never heard a recording before Grado.You have heard the voice of the cave you live in instead,distorting,etc..,as it may.The only drawback is that the headphones are not 10 FT.square all around your head,but hey,what do you want for $70???Here is a tweak you can try if you already own a halfway-decent Hi-Fi system that you can plug your phones into: Listen to your new phones with the speakers on,subwoofer on,at a volume-level a bit below what you perceive your phones to be at by themselves.Sit at the "sweet-spot" in front of your speakers and listen up.If you switch off the speakers while listening to the phones,you should hardly notice a change at first,but go ahead and listen as I have reccomended anyway.What this will do in the context of the whole recording is a helpful remedy for two major faults in headphone-listening:Lack of "visceral-impact",and the overly anal version of stereo-effect that headphones provide.The sub will pressurize the air to remedy the first defect,and the speakers will provide the needed right-side info.to the left ear and vica-versa for the most realistic stereo sound that phones alone,or speakers in less than an ideal space for that matter,cannot provide.This is only possible because of the"leaky",open design that Grado has which lets in most background noise.But,with or without this"tweak",GRADO will have given you the most pure sound for the dollar possible.Try them and see!

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Various brands of lesser headphones,over-priced:Sony,Koss,Etc..,plugged into the very adequate jack on my Onyko-Integra Preamplifier.

Great detailed sound, tight bass

Short cord

I did a lot of research when it was time to replace the Nakamichis. My original intent was to get a pair of Senns, however due to all of the positive things that I have read about Grados, I decided to give them a try. The SR-60s just weren't my cup of tea for the type of music I listed to. But the 80s grabbed my attention. Great detail, great tight bass response, nice controlled overall sound. The 570s, albeit a very full round sound was a bit boomy in the bass for me. The 590s were better but I didn't want to spend that kind of $$.

The SR-80 have a great treble and a full mid. You can actually here the drumsticks hitting the cymbles, the hammers hitting the piano wires, the trumpet and woodwind players taking a breath before their solos. The bass is pronounced but not overpowering. A perfect balance.

I find them just as comfortable as my Nakamichis were, maybe a bit more. I only wish they had a longer cord. Oh well, nothing that a Grado extension won't cure. Audio FX didn't have any in stock at the time of purchase or I would have bought one then and there.

Note: I auditioned the SR-225 as well (the 125s were out of stock)and found that although they had a better sound overall, I found the 80s to be a better value.

Similar Products Used:

15 yr old Nakamichi's, Senn 570

I had a pair of Sony headphones.. Now I guess I can't complain about those because they were $11 (that's with tax). But after listening to them for about 2 months, I returned them. Couldn't stand the shoddy quality. So I went out in search of a good pair of headphones that I can afford. Now Senns were great, but I couldn't afford them. So I looked at the Grado SR-60's which sounded great. But I ended up buying the SR-80's because they sounded better. Smooth, good bass, and very transparent. I heard things on my CD that I didn't know existed while listening with the Sony headphones. While they aren't the best headphones, for the price they are great. If you are poor like me and can't afford a very nice pair of speakers, then I highly recommend these. Cheap way to get good sound. You want to talk cost/benefit ratio, this one's a winner.

I had a pair of Denon headphones ($70), but my cat chewed the cord up. I got some new ones for my birthday (picked out by my wife), the Sony MDR-200(or is it VDR-200?). I was disappointed by the lack of bass output, and a discernable level of distortion (instruments would "break up" at high volumes). I returned the Sony headphones and bought the Grados (after reading about them on the web and listening to them at some high-end shops).
While the bass doesn't vibrate your ear like the Denons did, there is so much detail and spaciousness (the bass is deep and sufficient). I am thoroughly impressed and recommend that those of you who have never heard of these venture out and check out a very high quality product with some serious acoustic integrity.

While packing for a year abroad I realized that there was no possible way I could fit my hi-fi setup into my luggage - even if I just took my bookshelves and JVC Mini. So I went shopping for a nice pair of headphones. I went to a local hi-fi dealer and said, "I need a pair of headphones so satisfy my need for good Audio for a whole year." He presented me with the Grado SR-40s and SR-60s. The 40s were good - perhaps for casual listening. A bit to sharp on the highs and not enough bass. The 60's sounded much better. The mid range was more pronounced and the high's were sharp, but not tinny. I asked if he had any other models and he brought out the 80's. Wow! What a difference. To the casual listener (my girlfriend who was with me) the difference between the 40s and 60s was more pronounced. But after spending some time with both the 60s and 80s, there was no way I could settle for anything less than the 80s. I've been listening to them for 4 months now and they never cease to amaze me. I concur that I hear things on these headphones that I never caught on my hi-fi gear. The bass is nice and tight. I put in a good pop CD, or classical with a lot of low string work and I can feel the bass. There's no lack of midrange either. Voices are clear. The highs may be a bit sharp for some tastes - this seems to be a quality present in all Grados. If you need headphones for a long trip, spend the extra $30 (over the 60s) and go for the 80s. So why only four stars? There's always the x25 series, which have the extra craftsmanship it takes to get 5 stars.