Great Set Of Cans!

I purchased these cans (British term for headphones) back in October from an online source (goodcans.com)

Sources Tested with:

- Computer as source
EMU0404(Pro sound card) -> Monoprice Toslink -> Entech 203.2 DAC, Monster MKII400 IC -> Corda Headfive headphone amp.

- Ipod Nano (1st gen)-> Custom dock to line out -> custom IC -> Go-Vibe 4 headphone amp (I used to have a Pocket Amp 2, and I used that for this review)

- Sony vintage portable CD D-33

Specs:
Tranducer type: Dynamic
Operating principle: open air
Frequency response: 20-20
SPL 1mV: 98
Normal impedance: 32ohms
Driver matched db: .1

There similar to the SR60 model, but the SR80 utilizes a 4 conductor connecting cable, and a different ear cushion. The SR60 uses a flat ear cushion, that sits flat on your ear and the SR80 uses a bowl shaped ear cushion with the center cut out which raises the driver off your ear some.

Cord Length:
At 6'5" some reviews say the cord is to long for portable use, I would never recommend these headphones for portable use, they leak allot of sound. At home it's about a perfect size really.

To amp or not to amp:
On a main headphone reseller website they state that they do not recommend these headphones with out a headphone amplifier, as they will sound muddy. Where I purchased my headphones they also brought up this review and called its bluff and stated that the SR-80 are more refined then the SR60's and do not require an amplifier. I agree with that, these headphones sound fine with out an amplifier (once broken in of course) but I happened to have an amplifier anyway (Pocket Amp V2 from Electronics Avenue) so I tested these cans out extensively with and with out the amp. The amp does add more bass, but these headphones never sounded muddy.

*Update, appears that the above mentioned reseller has revised there review.

Appearance:
At first when I saw these online, I thought they where down right ugly. I have to say though in person they really do grow on you and are really not that bad. Then again this is coming from someone that would rather shoot an old manual range finder camera then be seen with a new state of the art DSLR camera.

Comfort:
This is an area that Grado Labs really needs to hire an R&D team to sort out. Well I didn't have the issues with the Pleather headband that others have; I did find the foam ear pads torturous at first. After owning them for over a year now, they have softened up, and soften up further if you wash them with a mild shampoo (make sure to let them throughly dry before putting them back on)

Sound:
These cans don't sound too great when you first pull them out of the box and slap them on your head. You may be tempted to put them back in the box and ship them back BUT just give them a chance after they are broken in you will be rewarded with some of the best sounding headphones you may ever hear.

I decided to burn the headphones in (let them play with out listening to them) over a period of several days.

I then tested the headphones again with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon (Mobile Fidelity version) on track 1 Speak to Me/Breath the synth Heart Beat was just unbelievable, and I herd parts of the song I have never herd before, the rest of the album was the same, unbelievable.

After that I listened to Eric Clapton unplugged, I couldn’t believe the level of detail, you can hear the plucking of the strings, and his hands moving down the strings. It was like being there live.

**Update
When I first tested these headphones out, I wasn’t to impressed with the lows, but I have since upgraded my source, I have replaced the pocket amp with a dedicated mains powered headphone amp and purchased an external DAC (Digital to Analog Converter)

Well not thumping, the lows are sufficient, if you are looking for a bit more in the lows you may want to move up the line to the Grado SR225.