Grado SR80E Review

#Grado #SR80E #Headphonereview

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[michaellampson]

I always appreciated grado’s insistence on putting the money on these into the sound quality and sacrificing flashy outsides. With that being said I’ve heard many times that these things are absolute tanks.

[IonicNuva]

The original SR80's were my first pair of real headphones when I was 10ish and the next 3 years. As a kid, I dropped the headphones a few times and was more rough with them than a mature adult would be. The headphones are still functioning perfectly and they have no outside evidence of that a little kid used them pretty heavily for a few years.


Just my two cents. I think they'll stand up to a few drops here and there & standard usage from an adult.

[auradrifter]

That line of sound that you are describing is what I get from using speakers for a few days and then switching to headphones, but then my ears slowly adapt and brain starts making up for it.

[skullaveraz]

Love your videos Josh! I've an idea for a video you could probably make. Maybe you could create a series on audio terms? Brightness, warmness, harshness, etc. are pretty vague when in comes to defining a headphone's sound signature. I mean sure there's headfi and reddit but I'd love to watch one with your quality editing. Cheers

[kawada]

I've had my SR60's for around 6-7 years. No issue with pad degradation or build quality. Maybe a tad bright sounding after upgrading my headphones 3 years back to NAD HP50 and Hifiman HE400I but overall solid headphones and I am curious what Josh thinks is a better headphone in the $99 range would be.

[josepedro]

I have watched almost all your videos and I have to say that this is the first time that I overall disagree with you as regards the overall opinion on the sound quality/profile. Apart from the SR80e I own several good headphones (Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro, ATH MSR7, Hifiman 4xx, and at the time of writing I'm just waiting for the 6xx to arrive). I also have to say that the latter two I decided to buy based on your reviews :-). But honestly I don't perceive in any of them the soundstage, clarity, separation and detail of the Grados. The only negative point is the comfort, but it is compensated by the fantastic listening experience. Kind regards.

[completestrangeronline]

Very good review. You talk about recommending the headphone with reservations because you don’t know if the build quality will hold up. Wait a minute, hasn’t Grado been making various iterations of the prestige series for 30 years? Did you know that you could also send your headphone back to Grado and they would fix it if anything broke, or if you were missing a part, that they would send it to you free of charge?

And did you also know that they sell roughly around 150, 000 headphones a year and durability hasn’t been an issue the way it has been for some of the headphones you champion like the hi-fi mans?

[Adam-qcmg]

These were my first pair of "serious" headphones back in '99 (though they were just the SR-80 then). I bought them with a pair of the smaller non-stock ear pads (Grado officially refers to them as the "L" pad) shown in your video and promptly threw out the ones they came with, which I found rather muffled and closed-in compared with the "L"-pad.


The "L"-pads eventually disintegrated towards the late '00's and were replaced with the comparable EARZONK's pads, which are still going strong. But aside from that completely expected bit of repair work, my pair of SR-80's essentially look and function just as well as they did 20 years ago. They were used but never abused; placed in backpacks or messenger bags, sitting neglected on top of my computer case for months on end, and left on my head after falling asleep many, many times wearing them. I've acquired many headphones since but these are still, in my view, a very good headphone in the sub-$150 range, especially for music that's of an acoustic nature (female/male vocals, string ensembles, symphonic, etc.).


I lent my pair to my brother a couple of years back and mean to replace them with something like the SR-225 or 325. Only Grado's single-distribution model in Canada (which may have been acceptable in 1999, but certainly isn't now) prevents me from doing so.


EDIT: Your observations about the sonic characteristics are entirely accurate from what I recall (they were the only headphones I owned for 13 years: I remember), especially its characteristic 'echo' effect as you've so aptly described it verbally in a way I was never able to. If I were to listen to these for the first time, coming from the opposite end of the headphone spectrum (something like an M50x, maybe), I expect I would find these to be rather odd.

[HayleyPond]

I like these with the G pads. Yes they are my primary and I don't agree with anything you said about them. To each is own.

[Master-Baiter]

If they built them any better than the price would be way higher considering they are made in Brooklyn, but I've had a pair that I had for 10 years before I finally sold them to my friend for 15 bucks, he still has them too

[warrenquilling]

Why do people seem to only care about bass and “resolution” can’t we all agree when someone sounds good? These headphones have been around four years and stand the test of time.

[Ash-vwbr]

the original sr80 is what my dad has had since they came out, he now has focal headphones for the bluetooth but i now have the sr80 for my bass play through my amp, absolutely perfect.

[joshblank]

The 80e is perfect for rock and metal, mids & highs

[ianmcsherry]

The one thing that is a constant about Grado cans is that they never sound good straight out of the box, it takes a couple of weeks at least. You could say that about many, if not most headphones and speakers, in terms of them getting to the point where they will give their best, but that point seems to come a bit later with Grados.

[zaneta]

SR80e were my "entry drug" to the world of hifi headphones, they may look modest and retro, but they pack a fantastic sound. Unfortunately, as Josh said, their build is a bit underwhelming. While I love how they sound, long listening sessions are quite painful. Luckily for Grado enthustiasts there's a wide variety of mods in all price ranges for them. I now have a collection of Grado cans and I've treated them all with nyczaj audio mods, especially their EP01 nyczaj earpads are a gamechanger for me, they're super soft and to me Grado's sound even better with them than stock pads, as they offer a bit more bass. I also love their aluminum gimbals and rodblocks that save me from the ever twisting cables and in combination with nyczaj earpads and their memory foam padded leather headbands make them one of the most comfortable headphones on the market, allowing me to use them all day everyday, so I highly recommend them to anyone who's put off by the uncomfortable stock build

[hakeswell]

First real negative review I've seen for these headphones, I would be interested to know what you compared them to?

[isnerdy]

Regarding the SR80 build quality, I had the original SR60 for 9 years, until I accidentally left it in a hotel room. I then replaced them with another pair of SR60, which I had for two more years, until they were stolen from my car. I only had one problem with the build on either of them, and that was on the first one, the cable jacket on one of the channels started separating from the Y junction. I noticed that the newer pair seemed to be constructed differently there.

[edjackson]

I bought these, and almost everything you mentioned got way better after about 100hrs of break in. I love them now!

[roverdad]

I’ve had the predecessor for 20 years with a lot of abuse. Only had to replace the pads (twice). Very sturdy.

[flipczech]

I've had mine for 5 years and they look brand new. Now dropping them, not sure is good for any headphone. I don't like them for digital music for the reasons you mention, and so investing in an amp might help lend warmth, but vinyl listening is just amazing, imaging with no fatigue. I think these are not intended for people who listen to music on iTunes on their phones.