Grado SR125
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"Awesome headphones with some quirks" on
Pros: Orgasmic sound. That is all :).
Cons: These headphones take a very long time to "burn in." Many headphones show their true quality right out of the box, but I noticed that with Grado headphones, you have to leave them running for a long time (like a day or two) before you'll realize their fu
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"the sound is ridiculous" on
Pros: Here is the bottom line, if you dont know anything about audio, you will write a review like whoever knocked these for a pair of sennheisers (what a joke). Im assuming that whoever gave the thumbs down must work for sennheiser. The sound coming out of th
Cons: Your typical consumer will be put off by the light weight feel of these, and the unimpressive packaging. It was a turn-off that they don't package these with a 1/8 adapter, but maybe that is Grado's snooty way of saying that these were only meant for 1/4
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"Why would I ever want anything else?" on by ivorygate
Pros: Excellent sound, great comfort (with the "flat" ear pads)
Cons: "Bowl" ear pads nowhere near as comfortable as the "flat" ear pads that originally came with my headphones
Summary: I'm not even sure how long I've had my Grado SR125 headphones, going on 7 years I believe it is. Bottom line is it was probably the best $150 I've ever spent on anything!
Now, what any given person gets out of a headphones is totally subjective to their personal tastes and expectations, so I can't help in that regard; having nowhere near tried out every model and make of headphone ever made, it would be pointless for me to try to make comparisons. The only frame of reference I can give is that for my home theater I have Definitive Technology ProCinema 80s; if you think those sound great, then I would expect/hope you'd think these Grado headphones also sound great.
The one thing I do want to point out, however, is that the ear pads that came with my older pair of SR125s are apparently *not* what Grado currently sells. They now have a thicker, "bowl" shaped ear pad, which I unfortunately received as part of the replacements I bought in 2004.
Having seen no reason to replace these excellent headphones, just because the ear pads wore out (from my thousands of hours of use), I was shocked to get this newer kind. Until I received the "bowl" ear pads, I could never understand why some reviewers of Grado SR headphones complained about comfort; I wouldn't have kept them all these years, regardless of sound quality, if I couldn't wear them for *hours* at a time!
So, after wasting $15 on the replacement pads, I searched and finally found toddthevinyljunkie.com who sells the "original, flat" 5/8" thick Grado ear pads, for $30. For what it's worth, if anyone has Grado SR125 headphones and don't like the thick, bowl type ear pads, I recommend checking out the flat kind I *very* much prefer! -
"These have replaced my Sennheiser 600's" on by Uncle Vic
Pros: Soundstage was nice and broad throughout the spectrum
Cons: Had to stretch the headband for a better fit.
Summary: I had originally bought these to be my mobile headphones-I couldn't see keeping a pair of $450 Senns in my carry on. I followed the directions in the box and slightly stretched the metal headband and hopped on my flight from SFO to Dallas/Fort Worth.
These headphones reproduced things I didn't even know were part of the track. And the passages I knew were supposed to be there had much more presence. There was no ear fatigue after 5 hours straight, but I think stretching the headband helped with it. -
"Grado's Rock" on
Pros: Grado makes the best sounding rock-n-roll headphones on the market, bar none. Extremely detailed, warm, lively sound with plenty of bass and a wide sound stage. Be prepared for you CD's to sound completely different. You will hear subtle tones and back
Cons: Grados are slightly forward in their presentation--kind of like sitting in the first row at a concert. This is not a con if that's how you like your music, but some people prefer a more laid back sound that is more like being somewhere in the cheap seats
