Punchy bass, shimmering highs, great with rock music price

not so great (still good) with classical or jazz where mids are highlighted comfort (not terrible) materials are a bit cheap--obviously spent the money on the drivers

First off, my reference: my Senn 600s through Little Headroom amp. This combination is second only to the Stax Lambda Pros through the Stax tube setup (that I've heard anyway). What about the SR80? Well, I'm very pleased with the sound. They're open, detailed, a little bright and sibilant, but the great bass punch makes the overall sound very balanced. This is especially evident in well-recorded rock music, which I listen to a great deal. I did a side-by-side comparo with the Senn 600s through the Little amp and I immidiately justified spending over 3x what I paid for the Grados--the Senns are superior in every way when driven with an amp. They have much better low-end response, the bass is more articulate (you hear individual bass tones with more definition) and the midrange is more forward. The highs are more subdued, but seem to extend further. They're way more comfy, and they disappear after several minutes and the music takes over. Now, this is not to say that the Grados aren't good--quite the contrary. The SR80s are the best I've heard for under $100. They are ideal for listening at work or on a portable or on a system that doesn't have the juice to drive the difficult Senns. I'm really happy with them so far, and they're even more comfy than I had hoped (read some reviews that said the comfort was their weak point). I would recommend these phones highly to someone on a budget that wanted the best sound for use without a dedicated headphone amp. (They work well with those, too!)

Similar Products Used:

Senn HD600, various Koss, Sony (horrible), AKGs, and Beyers...

- Sound - Sound - True bass - Flying treble - Crystal clear midrange - Sound - Sound...... - Can be used without a headphone amp and still achieve professional sound - Sound better than the fantastic SR-60 - True bass (and not exaggerated like others) and did I mention... sound?

- Open structure cause sound to also be heard by others - Because of its sound accuracy, you must buy high quality CD player and play good quality CDs. Beware, Grados reproduce every detail clearly, I mean EVERY LITTLE DETAIL. - Looks like antique, but I actually like it now --> very unique design!

When was it when you had goosebumps while listening to anything? For me, it was when I first tried Grado SR-60 headphones 6 years ago. On the first few notes, my mind went numb, and then the goosebumps came, in waves... The sound was simply amazing, better than anything I had heard until that very moment. If you want to hear music the way you want music to sound, then simply go get a Grado. SR-60 are truly excellent. SR-80 are, amazingly enough, even better. You absolutely cannot fail with a Grado, trust me.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser 590, SR-60, Sony V-600, Sony 888 earphones --> All of them do not stand up to SR-80 sound

Deep, quick bass, and a broad, detailed midrange. Price/Value. Well built. Excellent gold connects. 2 sizes of standard jacks. Thick, anti-cat cords ;)

None , Really. Especially at this price point. Not much to look at. Be glad they invested in the sound, not esthetics.

I've tried everything, and owned most of it. Including headphones. Stax electrotatics to Sennheisers to, well, now, Grado. I bought my wife a pair of Grado SR 60s the year before, and she complined I used them too Much ("Hey, those are MINE, remember?") Well, I used that as an excuse to buy the SR 80 model, which had a HUGE improvement in base, and a bit more detail in the midrange. Midrange overall is seamless all the way throough. The best headphones under $500. Really. Buy 'em. They're "A Good Thing".

Similar Products Used:

Stax. Sennheiser. Grado SR-60. Sony. (Sony? Hey, I was a poor Private in the military at one time!)

Sound quality, sound quality, price

Bass a little quiet, comfort

I'd been shopping around for a pair of good listening headphones to suppliment my main system. These cans offered the best blend of sonic quality (mind blowing sonic quality, but more on that later) and price. They looked a little funky, but when I heard them they blew my hair back. The sound coming out of these phones is increadible. The highs are super detailed and clear. The mids are velvety and transparent. The lows are deep and tight, not boomy or overdone. I've been using my djing headphones (mdr v700dj's) to listen to casual music, and I know realise how much they butchered the sound. My only complaint sonically is a somewhat quiet bass section (at least compared to my sonys). The foam is hard and scratchy and not too comfortable. The open diaphragm design makes them pretty noisey when i have them on (as a result i would not advise getting these if you have a roomate) Overall though, these are increadible headphones for the price. They really convey nuances of music and are worth every penny.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDR V700DJ, Sony MDR V600, Sony MDR V500DJ

Detail, accurate, Bass very clear and tight and not boomy I know not as deep as HD600 but man this baby not at the same price range as HD600 so be fairly, sweet midrange, clarity and overall for $ 95 very reasonable price.

Comfort but I don’t care much about it, quiet cold in classical but the transparent were good. A little bit coloration if I compare to AKG 270 but I’m not a sound engineer so I just closed my eyes and feel the emotion of the singer…

I used these cans about 3-4 months and I already break-in with XLO Burning Test Disc about 70 hours even more. I try to gift some fairly opinion so I don’t want to rival with HD600 this is very unfair. From my perspective I think for Jazz specially Jazz Vocal this cans perform very awesome when listening to Jacintha vocal you can feel the emotion of the singer and hear her breath when singing Moon River. If you ever listening to Patricia Barber Companion album you will feel that you are at the same room and trying to clap for her live performance, the naturalness looks very real. For classical music maybe a little bit bright but it’s depend of your taste. Naturalness and detail maybe the advantage of this cans. I never audition this cans before so I just searching from several websites in the net and trying to compare every plus and minus but major I think everyone over the world knowing this cans never sound worst from the price vs. performance perspective, I don’t tell that any model from Grado or even any brand are worst or better because every person have different taste and opinion about their cans so happy listening…

Similar Products Used:

HD600, AKG 270S

Full, loud, precise, clear, balanced reproduction of music, overall sound quality. Tight, clean and smooth bass. Excellent highs. Can't get a better set of headphones for this price

drivers and foam pads take some breaking in. The pads aren't the most comfortable for extended listening. Also leak sound pretty bad, not good for public places.

This is a great pair of headphones for some one who does not want to reach for the very high-end but want's a clear, accurate, full sounding pair. The headphones take some time to break in, and so do the foam pads (not the most comfortable things ever). Really for less than $100 Grado's sound quality is unbeatable.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser 570, Grado SR-60 and SR-125, various Sony DJ crap.

Allows the owner to get a decent "taste" of what a true high fidelity system can provide for a ridiculously low price.

None

I was not blown away by the sound quality, but I was blown away by the value. Let me explain- this is my first set of "real" headphones, but I am not new to high-end audio. If I never would have heard a legitimate high-end system before, the sound quality from the SR80's would have been a revelation, but this was not the case with me. I mention the following to in order to provide a reference viewpoint- I suppose I fall into the category of "audiophile". I have about $13,000 invested in my 2-channel home audio system (YBA, Totem Accoustic, Classe, Nordost, M&K sub) which was carefully and painstakingly compiled to reach a point of rapidly diminishing returns for the dollar. A good friend of mine owns Primus Audio Pleasure which is one of the best hi-end retailers in the country and he has indulged me many times by allowing me to listen to various setups that are considered the very best money can buy (Electrocompaniet Nemo Monoblocks, Lamm, Kharma,JM Labs Grand Utopia, etc), so I know what is possible. I estimate my current system to have about 85% of the sound quality of these "ultimate" setups. Now on to the Grado's.... Having read the Stereophile review of the lesser SR-60's I was expecting great sound- but I was skeptical. I am not disappointed. These headphones really allow a person to do high-end audio on the cheap. The phones are very natural sounding and flat across the sound spectrum. Although I would still rather listen to my system through my speakers, these phones provide a sound quality that is not that far off and is entirely enjoyable. Great resolution, not bright and very articulate bass. I am astounded by the value!!!

Extremely Accurate Endless, tight bass Crisp Highs Smooth Sound Makes you do the "air conductor" Sounds great without a dedicated headphone amp Low price, high value

Sound awful and dry directly from a portable---amp required for portable use. Accuracy can reveal problems in lower-quality recordings--makes them less enjoyable.

Wow, I am truly taken aback. I had read many reviews of these headphones, and went to an AudioCenter location expecting to just try out a pair of Grado's 60's, 80's, 125's, and RS2's, and then would wait and weigh my options. It's a bad idea to assume things, because I walked out of the place an hour later, after doing some serious listening, with a pair of brand new SR-80's. They are as good as everyone said they were---and even better. The employees at AudioCenter were nice enough to sit me in a chair in front of about $10,000 worth of audio equipment, and had me listen to each of the Grado's through a Rotel HDCD player and Stereo Receiver. I couldn't believe how incredible the 80's were for the price. The 60's were OK, nothing special, and the 125's were more expensive and needed an adapter for portable use. I thought the 125's were more refined than the 80's, but I actually couldn't justify passing up the 80's for $79. The biggest suprise was listening to the RS2's---they really didn't wow me as much as I had expected. I really felt the 80's fit the bill, and listened to a few selections from my record collection with glee. I could not believe all of the little details that I was previously unaware of. I walked out of the store with a grin on my face. One tip---the break in time is not a joke. I left the headphones blasting some loud rock in a loop, came back two hours later, and could already hear a difference. The soundstage continually expands and expands during the first 24 hours of break in. It has shed a whole new light on my music collection now---I can enjoy it even more. You owe it to yourself to get these cans.

Similar Products Used:

Sony MDR-EX70LP AKG K-66 Grado SR-60, SR-125, RS-2

Open circumaural design. Sound,of course. Very sensitive! Can be used for your portable player and stereo amp with a possibility of adjusting volume and tone controls(I personally like direct flat sound on my NAD). Cheap-looking, yet simple robust design. Comfortable enough for me, though for $100 the headband could've been made of leather, like RS1, instead of cheap vinyl that cracks over time.

Average quality materials used to make the phones. Regular wires that may break in time, since they contain no silk threads between the strands of wire, no big deal, since new cord can be easily resoldered using silver-based solder. Open design allows sound leaks - may disturb other people around.

Purchased a pair of RS80 last week to use it with my NAD stereo setup as well as a portable solution with a iRiver MP3 player. Stunning sound, exceptionally detailed and spacious. The phones are very musical and pleasant for listening for a long time. After I bought it, I plugged them into my extra CD player at full volume playing my special burn-in cd. After 3 hours, the sound really revealed itself: bass was softer and deeper, trebles more natural. Being an audio enthusiast for a while, I can tell the difference between a real audio product and a market hype like overpriced SONY or BOSE kind of thing. In other words, GRADO RS80 is great piece of audio! Try it and you'll see. RS1 or RS2 are better than RS80, of course, but the differences in sound are rather subtle compared with the price difference. Get RS1 if you have extra $600 burning a hole in your pocket, otherwise, go for RS80.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser(most of them), KOSS(Portapro, 700), SONY, Panasonic, etc.