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"Great headphones for under $100.00" on by mwv121
Pros: Fantastic sound, crystal clear highs and nice deep bass
Cons: kind of bulky, major sound leakage
Summary: I've had these headphones for almost 4 years now. I still use them at least a few times a week, and I haven't even considered upgrading or buying a different brand. When I first purchased these headphones, I was listening to CDs on a portable CD player that I've owned since 1992. I was blown away at the detail that was revealed in the music I was listening to. Music I'd heard many many times, suddenly sounded different - in a great way. Detail. Presence. Depth. Soundstage.
I can't really compare these to similar headphones in that price category, because I was listening to Sony earbuds before I bought these. The disadvantage of these headphones is that they leak sound like crazy. If you listen to music in a public place, people will look at you as if you are trying to make yourself deaf even when you are only listening to music at normal volumes. Other disadvantage is that they aren't exactly portable. They are about 3X the size of an iPod. I wear mine at home only.
As far as comfort goes, they need a break in period. At first they aren't the most comfortable headphones in the world, but as the foam softens, these headphones can be worn for several hours. -
"10 STAR SOUND! 1 STAR COMFORT & DESIGN" on by randysboardwalk
Pros: THE BEST SOUND FOR THE MONEY, PERIOD!
Cons: TERRIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE.
Summary: I never thought it was possible in this day and age for a company to make such a superior sounding product with a design that falls far short of any expectation of greatness. Listen up! When you build a great headphone, you don't sacrafice comfort & Style, because then your customers get angry and don't shop with you and longer. You think that Grado would have put more effort in the design factor when manufacturing their headphones. Bose at least got their over the ears design down right, now they just have to get better at acoustic reproduction. Sony has the right idea with the design of their Sony MDR-NX1 Earbuds, too bad you can only get them on the Internet and in Japan
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"Fantastic cans for the money. Absolutely superb sound" on by WolfsBane
Pros: Superb sound and presence
Cons: Uncomfortable at first. Takes about 40 hours to break in properly.
Summary: I've had these cans for around six months now. These cans are an absolute joy to listen to. But like any other high quality sound system, you have to break them in properly.
I initially got these as a christmas present. My spouse got them online from Goodcans, (out of Boise, ID). These guys were a pleasure to do business with, by the way. Eager to answer question and provided great level of service. Anyway, having dealt with high end audiophile systems before, the first thing I did with these cans was to connect them with an audio source at moderate level, (in my case my computer at home and at work), for about 48 hours with a couple hours rest every 7 hours or so. Lots of people expect their speaker or cans to sound fantastic right out of the box. While this may happen, it usually takes high end speaker systems a few weeks of average use to loosen up the coils and speaker materials. This was true with the SR 80s as well. After about 48 hours, the can's sound quality was excellent. But after about a couple weeks of general use, these cans really started to shine. Clear details in the mid and highs. And a nicely taught bass. The ear pads get a little used to. They are scratchy to start, but also start breaking in after awhile. The design is a very sturdy retro style, that actually look pretty cool and quite distinct from today's plastic styles. The cans are also pretty light. These cans are inherently of open design, however. They are designed to create an expanded stage, so their sound is not enclosed and those around you will hear whatever your listening at a moderate volume level.
I've been using these cans at my computer, (connected to a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy card). I've also been using them with my main living room system, (a Yamaha multimedia receiver), and these cans really enhance the experience and are an absolute joy to listen to. Since these cans are also very easy to drive, I'm looking forward trying them out with the Creative Zen Touch MP3 player that I will be receiving shortly. I understand from friends that use them to listen to their Ipods, Creative, Cowon, and Iriver high end MP3 players that these cans are the cat's meow and a superb combination with these portable systems. They are supposed to really bring up the high quality of sound in these mp3 players.
Very highly recommended.Updated
On my second day listening to my mp3 player though my Grado SR 80. Fantastic combination. The only drawback, is that these are not really portable cans. But being a sound quality purist, I really have a hard time moving down to a set of in the ear canal headsets. They just don't approximate the full dinamyc range and sound quality of a good pair of full size cans. And these cans are very easily drived by the mp3 player, which is great.
So far... A fab set of cans.... -
"Amazing sound for $100" on by georgesbak
Pros: Great sound
Cons: They are unconformable to wear long periods.
Summary: I love the sound but i don't like the that they feel unconformable. The sponges it come with make you sweat and do not give you enough sound isolation noice bass i would also recommend Sennheiser HD 280 Pro it has more confort and better isolation but weak bass and not as crisp but it has less noise at very high volume.
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"The headphone for those who love music." on
Pros: Extremely good at reproducing music detail. Very entertaining to listen to.
Cons: Comfortable at first but can get uncomfortable after extended wear. You wont want to stop listening to them.
Grado SR80 user reviews
