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New Grado's

tiga

tiga

Super Member
My wife bought me a pair of Grado sr80e's for Valentines Day. I've always wanted a pair of Grado's. I've been letting them play upstairs all day to break them in a bit but the little I did listen to them was quite nice. Any else here have a pair and how do you like them?
 
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My son got me the model SR 60's for Christmas last year. I don't have enough experience with other models to do a comparison but I do enjoy using them. Completely different experience from speakers, good fun.
 
I have a pair of SR80's, the predecessor of your SR80e's, that I've owned for about 10 years. I would credit them as being the first piece of audio gear that got me into this hobby. They're still my favorite pair of headphones, I use them pretty regularly and they continue to deliver excellent performance. The only thing to complain about is that the foam ear pads starts to deteriorate around 7 or 8 years, but that's a cheap and easy maintenance. I think that you'll be very satisfied with them.

I should note though, that using these with a portable device may result in lower battery life than you are used to. These use moderately sensitive drivers, but are "open-ear", meaning that they let outside sounds in (and leak sound out as well), so you are more likely to turn up the volume to compensate.
 
I was able to give these some listening time last night. Just a little time with my Ipod (320 khz mp3) and some albums in my Amazon Library through my Ipad. Overall I'm pretty impressed with these and enjoyed their sound immensly. Very airy with nice detail and good soundstage. Nice and light and easy to wear. I've read a few places where folks have said they don't produce real low bass, however I'm fine with the bass they do produce (I'm not much of a bass head).

Of the cons I see right now - the foam earpads could be a little nicer (scratchy) and the overall construction seems a bit cheap and plasticky, which makes me wonder how they'll hold up with a little hard use. It would be nice if they collapsed for travel too. It looks like all the money is in the drivers. Also the headphone plug seems a bit short and doesn't work with Otterbox case over my Iphone. But aside from these things I'm very happy with these Grado's and I'll enjoy them for some time.

Are there better earpads available out there? Maybe something aftermarket? Thanks.
 
I have a pair of Grado SR-80i headphones and love them!! Listening to them right now. I did upgrade the ear pads on them to the ones for the SR-125-225 models. They are more comfortable and sound better, you ear fits into them, instead of on them.
 
Like GoldSounds said, they were my intro to nicer equipment as well. Got a pair from a friend for $40 and realized what I was missing in my music.
 
My enjoyment of these is increasing every day. After the kids get to bed I go straight to these and give them some listening time. I haven't geeked out over a piece of audio equipment this much in quite some time.
 
I have had the 125s for many years. Love them and the fact that I can hear what is going on around me while I use them.
 
My wife bought me the SR325is model about a year and a half ago. I use them regularly and I love'm. I plug them straight into my Sansui 2000X using a Grado extension cord. Real sweet imo.
 
Congratulations on your very nice headphones - what a thoughtful wife! Maybe this is her nice way to tell you to keep your music down:music::D

Last year, I picked up a nice pair of used Sennheiser HD280 Pro and have really enjoyed those. I made the mistake of letting my wife use them with her Kindle Fire and they stay on her night stand now - no more ear buds for her!

I can't complain, though. A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a pair of Koss HV/1a stereo phones. Like your Grados, these are "open ear" and do require a bit more power. However, the foam and the open design keep my ears cool and comfortable. I can really hear details with these, especially dialogue if I am listening at low volumes to a movie.

Enjoy!
 
Mr.White said:
My wife bought me the SR325is model about a year and a half ago. I use them regularly and I love'm. I plug them straight into my Sansui 2000X using a Grado extension cord. Real sweet imo.
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I have the 325i also and they get better with every amp I use them with. As I type this I'm using them with a Melos SHA-1 listening to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and it's fantastic! (Love your avatar!)
 
I also have a pair of 80es they are a nice set of headphones, I bought a Topping headphone amp too but I don't really think they need them.
 
Right now I drive them with either a Sansui 9090, an Onkyo 606 AVR, or my iPhone or iPad. The sansui is the worst of them, which seems to really like some vintage pioneer cans I have, but not my new stuff. It may be time to look a separate headphone amp.

What's a good option for portable devices like the iPhone or iPad? In my sansui setup I use a sony Blu-Ray player as the source, which plays CDs, and streams pandora and my music files from a NAS drive. I believe it has a digital audio out function.
 
I have many pairs of Grados, ranging from the SR80e, to the PS1000, and I just love my new SR80e. I have the L-pads on mine, wich I think take's them to the next level, and I think that they have one of the best price vs performance ratio of any headphones out there.
 
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Can I ask what are L-pads? Thanks.

Stacker45 said:
I have many pairs of Grados, ranging from the SR80e, to the PS1000, and I just love my new SR80e. I have the L-pads on mine, wich I think take's them to the next level, and I think that they have one of the best price vs performance ratio of any headphones out there.
Click to expand...
 
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