Grado SR60 phones: Not thrilled so far.

Also headphones are very sensitive to what amplifier they are plugged into.

By way of example, I was demoing Redboy's DIY headphone amp with my SR 80s today at work. The sound from the headphone port of my Yamaha CR 620 was vintage warm, yet a tad "flabby" and ill-defined. I'd call it "thick." Not bad, but certainly not stunning.

On Redboy's DIY CMOY amp, bass was taught and highs were stellar. Much more separation. A small "wow" factor.

Same cans, different amps.

Mind you, I don't listen to cans that often and the SR 80s reflect the price point I was looking for based on expected usage.

I plan to use the Redboy amp with a tube linestage at home for the occasional late night listening session when the wife and kids have gone to bed.

Will Redboy's amp cause me to upgrade? I'm always looking for an excuse.

Ken
 
I think you hit it on the head when you described your reference tone as the KG3.2...the Grados are going to be VERY "wooly" sounding in comparison. Sounds like you might be looking for something with a bit more midrange and high frequency output. Lots of great options for your in the Pro Audio world. I'm a big fan of the Ultrasone headphones...a bit more $$ than the Grado, but they have tremendous slam and get the details too...

my $.02 anyway
 
I was expecting thin and tinny before they break in, I find them dark instead. Well, I'll reserve final judgement for a while.

That is amazing. Where do you think the cut off freq is for your hearing? I did an online test and it was about 14KHz. I thought they had great mid range and highs. In fact I had to turn down the treble setting on my Sansui 5050 by 2 notches compared to when I listen to speakers. And like everybody says, you have to keep turning down the volume control as you listen because they are so bright. I hate headphones at emphasize low bass frequencies above the others. On Head-fi they still consider the SR-60 to be the best under $100 headphone. I sold mine to some kind for $25 bucks the other day, and they only had about 15 hours on them. They do not block out noise though because of the pad. That is one knock on them. Also they don't stay on your head at work if your moving around.
 
Started my Grado life with SR80s and now have SR325Is and yes they need a while with pink noise before they sound good.
 
As long as you arent using a portable device,you might want to try the AKG 240 series.They fit around your ear,and are very,very comfortable.And they sound great.I wasnt that impressed with the Grados,either.
Jimmy
 
What are you running them from? IME, headphone jacks that don't deliver current to the load will make an SR60 sound dark and muddy. They do require some "oomph" to drive them correctly...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
That is amazing. Where do you think the cut off freq is for your hearing? I did an online test and it was about 14KHz. I thought they had great mid range and highs. In fact I had to turn down the treble setting on my Sansui 5050 by 2 notches compared to when I listen to speakers. And like everybody says, you have to keep turning down the volume control as you listen because they are so bright. I hate headphones at emphasize low bass frequencies above the others. On Head-fi they still consider the SR-60 to be the best under $100 headphone. I sold mine to some kind for $25 bucks the other day, and they only had about 15 hours on them. They do not block out noise though because of the pad. That is one knock on them. Also they don't stay on your head at work if your moving around.

I played a test tone track through my stereo recently and I couldn't hear much above about 16k. The Head-fi reviews, while not universally positive, were a big reason for this purchase. I don't need them to block out external noise, nor does the small amount of spill concern me.
 
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What are you running them from? IME, headphone jacks that don't deliver current to the load will make an SR60 sound dark and muddy. They do require some "oomph" to drive them correctly...

Regards,
Gordon.

Currently running them from a Marantz 2230. I'll probably soon switch back to my Dynaco SCA-35 by adding a headphone jack with resistors per the factory manual. Hopefully not too much more time after that I'll have my Fisher 400 in the system in place of the Dynaco. I'd really love to have a nice headphone amp, but my main source is vinyl and I don't have a stand-alone phono preamp.
 
OP, everything you have written so far suggests that you have a defective pair of grados. Grado's are known as the cans that have the most detailed sound. they would never be described as "warm" or "wooly". it just doesnt happen. with burn in, the highs actually relax and become more smooth. I think your first step is to exchange those cans. I dont doubt your ears, but something is wrong here.

as far as burning them in, that will actually relax the highs, so I dont think that is your answer.

It very well could be that the grados just dont have as much detail as your home speakers at the entry level "sr60". if that is the case, you should look into the grado 225. its the best bang for your buck in the grado line. if you dont like that one, then you dont like grados. they can be had for well under 400 bills as well.

someone suggested trying sennheiser for more detail. this will not work. senns are VERY warm in comparison to all the grados. plus, they are very difficult to drive properly. a typical hp jack is usually not good enough to bring out their abilities.

Keep in mind that HP listening is just a different experience. you wont get the body impact that you do from a speaker. but the level of detail can really be stunning on the right cans.

if you exchange the grados, and they are still too dark for you, then it very well could be that your hp jack is wacky as well. audition them at the store, even with an ipod. they are easy to drive.

also, if you want some other suggestions for cans, here are my tops.

Denon hd2000 - very easy to drive, probably sound great out of your marantz
sennheiser 600 - more detail then the 650, but both are difficult to drive. often a hp jack is not enough to bring out what they can do.
Beyer dt880 600 ohm version. a great can, also hard to drive, but has more detail then the senns.
All of these can be had under 400 bucks if you look around.

I use a vintage stax electrostatic system that I picked up for 300 bills. I'd put it up against most of the top cans, especially for jazz, classical, and acoustic music of any kind. run it off a marantz 2226b. sweet indeed.
 
For the same price you can probably find the Sony mdr-7506. They are closed cans and are the standard for recording studios everywhere.

True.

If you want cans that hold their own against most any speaker, try AKG K701's. Can be found for as low as 225 now. Need at least 25 hours of break in to sound good. Mine have about 200 hours on them now and they crush any speaker I've had real experience with.
 
I just bought a pair of Grado SR60 headphones so I can listen to music at reasonable levels when my neighbors are home. (My apartment is in a private house with thin walls. My neighbors would be shocked about what I know about their marriage!)

So far I find that I just do not get engaged with the music while wearing the phones. Compared to my speakers, they are slightly thick and muddy sounding, and lack the liveliness that I love in my system. The phones are not yet broken in at all (20 minutes, maybe). I hope they liven up. This is not what I expected based on the reviews I've read, in fact it is almost the opposite of my expectations. Anyone care to offer their observations on these?

Now tell us what you know about your neighbors marriage.:D
 
Currently running them from a Marantz 2230. I'll probably soon switch back to my Dynaco SCA-35 by adding a headphone jack with resistors per the factory manual. Hopefully not too much more time after that I'll have my Fisher 400 in the system in place of the Dynaco. I'd really love to have a nice headphone amp, but my main source is vinyl and I don't have a stand-alone phono preamp.

I run my Antique Sound Labs tubed headphone amp connected to the tape monitor loop of my Audible Illusions preamp, you should be able to do the same thing with any stand alone headphone amp and any device that has a tape output....

FWIW I use SR-80's....no problems with fuzziness or lack of detail here!
 
True, but some tube components require an additional buffer stage for their tape-output's or the linestage gets loaded down.
 
OP, everything you have written so far suggests that you have a defective pair of grados. Grado's are known as the cans that have the most detailed sound.
seriously?
they would never be described as "warm" or "wooly". it just doesnt happen.
I have to respectfully disagree. I can totally understand how someone could call the Grado sound warm and wooly.--- So it does happen.
someone suggested trying sennheiser for more detail. this will not work. senns are VERY warm in comparison to all the grados. plus, they are very difficult to drive properly. a typical hp jack is usually not good enough to bring out their abilities.
It's a funny world. I have to say my experience was the opposite. I found Senn 650's to be much more open and detailed than the Grado 325s. Even comparing both being driven with several different amps including the HP out of a couple integrateds.
Your opinions surprise me.
 
I'll also fall on the side of the fence that the Grado headphone sound is not rolled off and woolly, at least on the SR-80 and above...and that I found the two TOTL Sennheisers to have less in the top end...and this is with the Cayin HA-1A, Creek OBH-21SE and Antique Sound Labs MG Head DT OTL MkIII headphone amps...

Grado Prestige cartridges, OTOH, do have those attributes to me...
 
Just to clarify... I didn't describe the sound as "wooly." Warm, and "thick," yes, but not "wooly." To me that would imply fuzzy, which it isn't. I think it is that the 'phones to my ears have an emphasized upper bass and lower midrange, and a subdued high end -- just about the opposite of how I'd describe my speakers. I listened to the speakers again this evening and the difference is staggering. I'll spend an hour with the phones again shortly.
 
I'm going to have to agree with Brett here 100%. As a long time Grado and Senn user, warm is spot on, and they do mellow considerably over time (I've had my 325's for 9 months now.) But, Grado's appeal is that they're very punchy on the low end. I think if I was looking for something brighter, I'd go with 650's or even 600's. Sennheiser tends to be thinner on the low end but with really brilliant highs.

There's time that during casual listening, I'll even punch in my BBE to help the top end, the Grado's are *that* lax. I've even considered picking up a pair of 650's just to have both camps covered.
 
Just to clarify... I didn't describe the sound as "wooly." Warm, and "thick," yes, but not "wooly." To me that would imply fuzzy, which it isn't. I think it is that the 'phones to my ears have an emphasized upper bass and lower midrange, and a subdued high end -- just about the opposite of how I'd describe my speakers. I listened to the speakers again this evening and the difference is staggering. I'll spend an hour with the phones again shortly.

Then I suggest running them in and getting the pads like on the SR-80's...I do not like the pads on the 60's at all...Just let them play for at least 30 hours and see where that takes them...you don't have to listen to them, just let them be playing when you aren't around, but play the heck out of them and see if that loosens them up...

I also know that the Grados are lower in impedance than the Senns and sound best on the ASL amp with the transformer coupled output selected...OTL just doesn't have it for me, and won't get very loud with the Grados, either...but Senns or Koss? OTL is the way to go...

I never have run the Grados off of anything but a dedicated headphone amp for any even semi-serious listening, so running it from a receiver or integrated may have a totally different sound depending on the headphone section of them...I know that they are just OK out of the outputs from any of my R2R or cassette decks, and any of the CD players headphone outputs, but do not have anywhere near the drive that they do with a real amp, and there the sound is probably more alike to what you are hearing...with those I'll usually use a set of Koss Pro4AAA/T's as they block out the outside world better when I am making recordings, but do not have the clarity of the Grados...

The Grados do sound better through even a CMOY type headphone amp I built than any built in phone stage I have, too....in fact, I ran one of those for nearly a year before the ASL amp showed up....

Then again, you use Klipsch...I haven't heard many accusations about Klipsch speakers as being mellow and subdued! ;)
 
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